News Release
| Release Number: | 97-021 |
| Dated: | 2/7/1997 |
| Contact: | Heidi Y. Helwig, 503-808-4510 |
Portland, Ore. --The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can't help but reflect as the anniversary of the February 1996 flood draws near. It is not an easy anniversary to miss because it was not only the greatest flood to hit the region since 1964, but it also generated work for the Corps' Portland District that is still being done. When more flooding occurred during November and December 1996, it compounded the already heavy workload of flood recovery actions.
The initial flood fight began the first week in February 1996. The Corps swung into emergency mode, making round-the-clock water management decisions for dams in the Willamette and Columbia river basins. As a result, more than $2.9 billion in flood damages were prevented in fiscal year 1996 within the region and, just as importantly, more than 2 feet were shaved off the river's height in downtown Portland and at various locations throughout the Willamette Valley.
Again, in late December 1996 and early 1997, the Corps prevented an estimated $34.2 million in flood damages in the Rogue River Basin and more than $1 billion in the Willamette River Basin, excluding the Portland area.
When the initial threat of flooding was over last spring, the Corps' efforts turned to recovery. Some emergency response and recovery efforts had immediate but limited impact, such as providing sand bags and pumps to local agencies, preparing damage survey reports for businesses and expediting in-water work permits for those who needed to do emergency work.
Other work, however, had a much longer life and is, in fact, still ongoing. That work: repair of federal and non-federal flood damage reduction and bank protection projects, such as levees and dikes.
Though the missions of the Corps include emergency response, the Corps cannot move into an area and perform flood fight or post-flood recovery work without a request from state or local emergency management officials.
Therefore, late last February, the Corps began receiving applications for assistance to repair public-sponsored projects damaged during the Feb. 7 to Feb. 15 flood. When flooding occurred in November and December of 1996 and in January of this year, more applications were received.
To date, the Corps received approval to work on 26 projects within Portland District; 24 projects have been contracted out. Of those, 20 have been completed.
Many of the requests for assistance came in because of overtopped, eroding, weakened or seeping levees and bank protection projects, according to the Corps' Jerry Christensen, Civil and Environmental Design. The Corps and private contractors are working to restore the levees and bank protection projects to pre-flood conditions.
During both the February 1996 flooding and the most recent high water, the Corps dispatched field personnel to various locations throughout Oregon and southwest Washington to survey damaged levees or bank protection projects. During the most recent high water, technical assistance was provided to city, county and diking district managers and engineers in Lake Oswego, Sauvie Island, Ashland and Clatskanie, Ore., and Lewis County, Wash. Also, more than 120,000 sandbags were distributed to five western Oregon counties to help local flood fight efforts. Fewer Corps' resources were required by state and local officials during this bout of high water because they were more knowledgeable about what steps to take before calling the Corps.
When not fighting emergencies, members of the Corps' Readiness Branch tour the state county-by-county to help clarify each agency's responsibilities before, during and after a flood. In 1996, the workshops proved beneficial. "When the latest high water (during November 1996 and January 1997) hit the region," said Les Miller, chief of the Corps' Readiness Branch, "emergency and public works officials appeared to be better prepared to respond to different situations."
The Corps' dredge Essayons and its crews also got involved in the 1996 recovery efforts. After the continued high flows created by the Flood of '96, there was heavier-than-normal shoaling in the Columbia River navigation channel, making the normally 40-foot-deep channel as shallow as 34 feet in places. The Corps dredged the channel immediately to allow for safe ship passage.
The Essayons and the District's other hopper dredge, the Yaquina, and the sand bypasser Sandwick, normally begin each dredging season in March. However, the dredges may begin working as early as mid-February, said Dave Beach of the Corps' Channels and Harbors Project. "We are seeing some signs of similar additional shoaling as a result of the high flows in December 1996 and January of this year," Beach said.
In emergency situations, such as those in 1996 and early 1997, and in quieter times, too, the Corps constantly balances competing needs. The multiple-purpose projects in the Rogue, Willamette and Columbia river basins are operated to provide flood damage reduction, hydropower, navigation, irrigation, fisheries, water supply, water quality and recreation.
During the flood damage reduction season each year--between Nov. 1 and Jan. 31 for the Rogue River Basin and mid-November to Jan. 31 for the Willamette River Basin--the Corps' main goals are to contain projected inflows and maintain safe amounts of storage space.
Regulators understand the need to store water behind the dams, keeping as much water as possible out of the rivers during periods of heavy rain. When Corps lakes which are designed to store water during a storm become too full, however, it decreases the ability of the dams to reduce the effects of flooding. Thus, adequate storage space must be regained to be prepared for any future storms.
During the summer months, when flooding is no longer a threat, the Corps allows the lakes to fill to provide enough water for boating and other summer water activities.
While still in the midst of flood-recovery work that began last year, the Corps stands ready to meet the fair- and foul-weather needs of the region. The Corps is committed to serving its customers in any way it can. Its goal is to continue to effectively balance competing needs in 1997 to serve the region and its people.