News Release
| Release Number: | 97-022 |
| Dated: | 2/7/1997 |
| Contact: | Public Affairs Office, 503-808-4510 |
Portland, Ore-- Like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle, dollars provided in the President's Budget for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will fund pieces of the work needed to preserve the resources and infrastructure that benefit the Northwest's citizens.
President Clinton's proposed budget, transmitted to Congress on Feb. 6, 1997, includes $3.8 billion for the Corps' fiscal year 1998 (FY98) Civil Works Program. The funds will not be available, however, until the president signs an appropriations bill passed by the U.S. Congress.
In the portions of Oregon and Washington served by the Corps' Portland District, the budget proposal translates to $249.4 million. That money will allow efficient operation, maintenance and management of navigation, flood damage reduction and multiple purpose projects. Those dollars also will ensure the Corps' work in environmental restoration and fisheries enhancement activities.
Of that budget, the Corps' Portland District has requested nearly $1.4 million for studies of identified water resource problems and opportunities to do work that will benefit the region. In doing that work, 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.
Under this program, the ongoing Columbia River Channel Improvement Study is funded at $724,000. Currently work is underway to determine the most beneficial of various improvement alternatives: structural -- dredging to deepen the current 40-foot channel to 41, 42 or 43 feet; non-structural -- using river current forecast programs (LOADMAX) to take advantage of the amount of water in the river most effectively; regional port -- ports at Longview and Astoria will be evaluated; and no action -- continued maintenance of the 40-foot channel. The FY98 funds will be used to complete the draft report and continue the public involvement process. The study is scheduled to be completed in 1999.
Also funded for $150,000 is a Columbia Slough ecosystem restoration study. "Potential improvements that will be evaluated include flow management options and habitat restoration in the slough corridor and Smith-Bybee lakes," said Dave Brown, Project Management Division. FY98 dollars will be used to complete the reconnaissance phase of the study, prepare a project study plan, negotiate a cost sharing agreement for the feasibility study phase (50 percent federal/50 percent sponsor), and begin the feasibility study. "The City of Portland is the sponsor working with us on this study," Brown said.
Funding of $420,000 is included to continue the Willamette River Basin Review feasibility study. The Corps is analyzing 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. Workshops will be held this spring to update the public on the status of that study.
"We have $100,000 for one of only 10 new start reconnaissance studies Corps-wide," Brown said. "We will begin the Willamette River Floodplain Restoration study in FY98. Corps reservoirs control only 27 percent of the Willamette Basin drainage. We will evaluate opportunities to modify existing floodplain features that may further reduce flood damages by increasing natural flood management capability."
This study will examine the feasibility of restoring natural wetlands and promoting ecosystem restoration. A restored floodplain could absorb excess flood waters, slow the velocity of the water, and create habitat for a variety of plants and animals, including fish species. The study will begin in FY98 and is scheduled to be completed by January 1999.
Nearly $157 million is proposed for planning, design and construction projects. Those projects include flood damage reduction, navigation and water resource improvements.
One large piece of the total is targeted to the Columbia River Fish Mitigation Project. a total $83.6 million is allotted to fisheries -- with just over $42 million headed for the John Day and Bonneville projects. At John Day, $17.9 million will be used to complete construction of the juvenile fish monitoring facility and construct flow deflectors which will decrease gas levels in the river when large amounts of water are spilled for fish. At Bonneville, $24.3 million is for continuing work on the juvenile fish monitoring facility and beginning outfall relocation work and juvenile bypass improvements at the Bonneville second powerhouse.
The FY98 budget contains a request for $3.2 million for John Day drawdown studies. Other system-wide fisheries work includes studies of surface bypass, turbine passage, gas abatement, light and sound guidance, and adult passage improvements. The $83.6 million allotment is a portion of the national budget's $127 million to continue the Corps' contribution to the Pacific Northwest Salmon Recovery Program. The goal is to protect and rebuild stocks of Pacific salmon listed under the Endangered Species Act.
Two other projects in this category include continued work on treaty fishing sites along the Columbia River. A total $8.4 million is for construction of facilities for Native American Indian tribes which have treaty fishing rights on the Columbia River in Oregon and Washington. Another $3.9 million will be used for modifications on the uncompleted Elk Creek Dam project in southern Oregon's Rogue Basin. The primary use of FY98 dollars will be to modify the project to allow passive fish passage.
This portion of the budget also will fund ongoing rehabilitation projects at Bonneville and The Dalles dams. Thirteen million dollars ($13 million) is targeted to continue turbine and generator rehabilitation at the nearly 60-year-old Bonneville project. At The Dalles, $4 million is targeted to begin the same type of rehabilitation work. The goal is to improve hydropower efficiency and system reliability.
Just over $91 million will let the District perform its operation and maintenance role. Nationally and regionally, less operations and maintenance dollars are available, continuing a downward trend that has existed for several years. Corps-wide, operating personnel are searching for ways to increase efficiency and service, and do both with less available dollars.
In Portland District, $54 million of that amount will go to operate and maintain the District's multiple-purpose hydropower projects along the Columbia River and in the Willamette and Rogue basins. Those projects produce an average of 25.5 million megawatt hours of electricity annually for a wholesale value of $424 million.
Dollars are also allocated to maintain the District's recreation facilities at the multi-purpose projects. In 1996, 84 million visitor hours were logged at District sites, with an estimated economic impact of $335 million.
Navigation projects, used to maintain the region's channels and harbors in the Columbia and Willamette rivers and along the Oregon and Washington coastline, will receive $31.1 million. That money will be used for dredging to maintain navigation projects that average about 100 million tons of commerce annually. Nearly 30 million tons of commerce move through the region annually on the Columbia River alone. This funding also includes dollars to operate the Willamette Falls Locks at West Linn, Ore.
Navigation projects, dredging and hydrographic surveying (waterways mapping to determine channel dimensions) 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.
Flood damage reduction projects are budgeted to get just over $5 million. Of that amount $61,000 is for inspection of Willamette Basin Bank Protection projects, $213,000 to inspect non-federal bank protection projects, and $415,000 to operate and maintain the Mount St. Helens Sediment Retention Structure.
The initial investment in flood damage reduction projects throughout the District, including both reservoirs and bank protection projects, was $1.2 billion dollars. Flood damages prevented since those projects were constructed totals more than $15 billion.
Nationally, the president's budget includes $112 million to fund the Corps' regulatory program, which regulates the building of structures in navigable streams and the discharge of dredged and fill materials in wetlands. Portland District's allotment of these funds is not known at this time.
Corps-wide, $50 million is in the budget for individual studies and projects under the Continuing Authorities Program, which provides dollars for many smaller flood damage reduction, navigation, and emergency bank and shoreline protection projects.
In a change for the FY98 budget, construction new starts and other new construction work are fully funded, upfront, including projects in the Continuing Authorities Program. This means that the total Federal funding needed to complete any designated new starts is included in the FY98 budget. There are no new construction starts in Portland District in FY98.
The Portland District is committed to serving its customers, the people of Oregon and Washington, through its portion of the Corps-wide Civil Works program. Corps projects in the Columbia, Willamette and Rogue river basins are operated to serve multiple needs: 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.