News Release
| Release Number: | 99-018 |
| Dated: | 2/24/1999 |
| Contact: | Public Affairs Office, 503-808-4510 |
Portland, Ore. -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Fiscal Year 2000 (FY 00) budget, as proposed by President Bill Clinton, will fund a variety of Portland District projects with a combined price tag of $158 million.
The entire Corps' Civil Works budget includes $4.2 billion for projects that will, nationwide, fund the sound development of the nation's water resources, the efficient operations, maintenance and management of the nation's navigation, flood damage reduction, and multiple-purpose projects, the equitable regulation of wetlands, and the restoration of important environmental resources, according to Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Dr. Joseph W. Westphal.
Of the FY 00 projects, the Columbia River Fish Mitigation Project will receive the bulk of the monies--about $100 million-to fund improvements in fish passage facilities at existing projects in the Corps' Portland and Walla Walla districts. Nearly $62.5 million of this budget is headed for John Day, The Dalles and Bonneville projects.
At John Day, about $10.1 million is proposed to fund follow up actions to the juvenile fish monitoring facility and to continue development of extended screens. Other projects that will already be underway in FY 00 include completion of the juvenile fish bypass improvements at Bonneville Lock and Dam, funded for about $4.0 million. The project includes physical modifications to juvenile fish passageways within the second powerhouse, a new juvenile bypass outfall flume about two miles long, a smolt monitoring facility, and a new outfall structure in the river. The Corps will complete the outfall and downstream migrant improvements by April 1999. The juvenile fish monitoring facility will be ready for downstream migrating juveniles by April 2000. The Corps also will evaluate surface bypass prototypes and extended length fish screens at the first powerhouse.
At The Dalles, the Corps would use its piece of the regional monies to fund surface bypass studies and review survival of juveniles passing over the spillway. Other systemwide work includes studies of bypass improvements, turbine passage, gas abatement and adult passage improvements, and initiation of a lower Columbia comprehensive study which will be the tool to tie all of the technical studies together and reach conclusions on lower Columbia dams' configuration and operations for the future. The Corps' Walla Walla District will execute the remainder of the $100-million program.
The Corps will use $1.8 million to fund studies of identified water resource problems and opportunities for work that will benefit the region. In conducting the studies, the Corps will compare alternative solutions, determine the costs and benefits of alternative plans and recommend specific courses of action to Congress. Congress may then authorize funds for construction of a recommended project.
The ongoing Columbia River Channel Improvements Study is funded at $892,000 under this program. The Corps and the seven lower Columbia River ports acting as the non-federal sponsors are working to determine the feasibility of navigation improvements to the 40-foot Columbia River navigation channel from Portland to the mouth of the Columbia River. The FY 00 funds will be used to begin preconstruction, engineering and design if the feasibility study recommends one of the alternatives addressed in the report.
The Willamette Basin Review feasibility study is funded at $291,000. Through this study, the Corps will analyze the feasibility and impacts of modifying operating and storage plans for its 13 Willamette Valley reservoirs to better serve current and future water resource needs. The Corps will present final alternatives sometime this summer.
Also funded for $95,000 is work to complete the Columbia Slough ecosystem restoration feasibility study. The Corps will evaluate potential improvements, such as flow management options and habitat restoration in the slough corridor and Smith-Bybee lakes. The City of Portland, Bureau of Environmental Services, is the non-federal sponsor working on the study.
The Corps will receive $300,000 to continue the Willamette River Floodplain Restoration Study. Through this study, the Corps will evaluate opportunities to modify existing floodplain features that may further reduce flood damages by increasing natural flood management capability. Corps reservoirs in the Willamette Basin control only 27 percent of the Willamette Basin drainage. A restored floodplain could help absorb excess flood waters, slow the velocity of the water, and create habitat for a variety of plants and animals, including fish species. The District will complete the reconnaissance phase of the study in September 1999.
Another study promoting ecosystem restoration and flood damage reduction is the Tillamook Bay and Estuary Study. Funded for $200,000, the study will allow the Corps to evaluate modifications to existing flood plain features, stream channels and the estuary to restore natural wetlands, estuarine and coastal habitats and reduce flooding.
In FY 00, the Corps will use $500,000 to complete phase 1 of the John Day Drawdown Study. In this congressionally-directed study, the Corps will study lowering the John Day pool to spillway crest or the natural river level. The basis behind the study is that lowering reservoirs behind the dams to levels that are substantially below the normal operating range increases water velocity. Increased water velocity could move juvenile fish through the reservoir more quickly, thus mimicking historically faster journeys downriver. This may increase juvenile fish survival rates.
The Willamette Temperature Control project on Cougar Lake, Ore., in the Willamette Valley is funded as a new construction start at $1.7 million. The Corps will use the money to fabricate gates for the diversion tunnel and continue design of facilities that will allow the Corps to release water from the lake at temperatures more beneficial to Spring Chinook salmon and resident fish in the McKenzie River.
A little over $88.8 million is proposed for planning, design and construction of navigation, water resources and fisheries enhancement projects.
The Bonneville Major Rehabilitation Project, which includes rewinding five generators and replacing 10 turbines, will receive a proposed $10.8 million in FY 00 to repair the powerhouse bridge cranes and to start work on another unit. Another $2.3 million is proposed for major rehabilitation work at The Dalles Dam, which ultimately includes rewinding nine generators and replacing nine turbines. Depending on subsequent fiscal funding, completion of the projects is scheduled for September 2009. The Corps also is continuing its work on treaty fishing sites along the Columbia River. At a proposed total of $6.4 million, the Corps will continue with design and construction of several sites on the Columbia River at the Bonneville, The Dalles and John Day pools for Native American Indian tribes which have treaty fishing rights on the river.
Just over $62 million is proposed for the Corps' FY 00 operation and maintenance activities. Corpswide, operating staffs are searching for ways to increase efficiency and service with fewer dollars. In Portland District, nearly $19.5 million will fund the operation and maintenance of multiple-purpose projects along the Columbia River and in the Willamette and Rogue River basins. This will fund navigation, recreation and a portion of the other joint purposes at the projects. The Columbia River locks support an average of 30 million tons of commerce a year.
Beginning in FY 99, the hydropower purpose at these projects was funded directly by the Bonneville Power Administration. This direct funding by BPA will continue in FY 00 and it is anticipated Portland District will receive $46.9 million for routine operation and maintenance. The multiple-purpose projects produce an average of 29.6 million megawatt hours of electricity annually for a wholesale value of $494 million.
One of the District's missions is maintaining waterways in the Columbia and Willamette rivers and along the Oregon and Washington coastlines for commercial and recreational uses. About $37.6 million will be used to maintain navigation projects. This funding also includes dollars to operate the Willamette Falls Locks at West Linn, Ore.
Work performed at these navigation projects includes dredging, monitoring and maintenance of navigation structures and hydrosurveying. Navigation projects are funded at the following locations: in Oregon on the Chetco, Columbia, Coquille, Umpqua and Siuslaw rivers, in the Rogue River at Gold Beach, Skipanon Channel at Warrenton, and in Coos Bay, Depoe Bay, Tillamook Bay, Yaquina Bay and Port Orford. Funding also is proposed to initiate a major rehabilitation study for the North Jetty at the mouth of the Columbia River.
Flood damage reduction projects are budgeted to receive just over $5.4 million. The initial investment in flood damage reduction projects throughout the District, including reservoir and bank protection projects, was $1.2 billion dollars. Flood damages prevented since those projects were constructed total more than $19.9 billion.
Through the Corps' regulatory program, the Corps regulates the building of structures in navigable streams and the discharges of dredged and fill materials in wetlands. Portland District's allotment of these funds is proposed at $2.4 million.
The Continuing Authorities Program allows the Corps to fund a number of other projects including flood damage reduction, navigation, ecosystem restoration and emergency and shoreline protection. In FY 00, Portland District is slated to receive more than $1.9 million. One project funded under this program is construction of the Amazon Creek Restoration Project near Eugene, Ore. FY 00 funds are estimated at $600,000.
This is just a small sample of the work the Corps' Portland District is looking forward to in FY 00. The Corps is committed to serving its customers, the people of Oregon and Washington, through the Corpswide Civil Works program. Corps projects in the Columbia, Willamette and Rogue river basins are operated to serve multiple purposes: flood damage reduction, irrigation, fish and wildlife, navigation, hydropower, water supply, water quality, recreation and environmental management and restoration. The Corps' goal is to perform its missions to support an effective balance of these competing needs to serve the region and its people. --30--