News Release
| Release Number: | 97-116 |
| Dated: | 10/28/1997 |
| Contact: | Heidi Y. Helwig, 503-808-4510 |
Portland, Ore. -- The Portland District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has begun its work for fiscal year 1998 with funds provided by the U.S. Congress in its 1998 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill.
Nationwide, the Corps received a portion of the $20.7 billion-about $4 billion--sharing it with the Department of Energy and the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation.
Locally, the Corps' Portland District will receive during the next year about $187 million to fund its study, construction, preservation, operation, maintenance and care of existing and new river and harbor, flood damage reduction, fisheries, hydropower, navigation and recreation projects.
Though the budget is submitted at the Washington, D.C., level, it is based on detailed requests from Corps personnel in Portland who better understand the needs of the region.
For example, Congress authorized the Corps' Portland District to use FY 98 funds to help study how to reduce the risk of flooding in Portland and the surrounding region. In cooperation with the Portland Metropolitan Regional Government, the U.S. Geological Surveys and the National Weather Service, the Corps will evaluate and recommend potential flood damage reduction measures for the area, such as non-structural alternatives, flood warning systems, floodplain evacuation and emergency response plans.
The Corps also will receive $89 million over the next year for the Columbia River Fish Mitigation program. Portland District will receive $55 million, with the balance going to Walla Walla District.
Through this program, Corps biologists and engineers work to identify problems and evaluate and modify fish passage facilities to improve survival of juvenile and adult salmon, and to rebuild salmon and steelhead runs, including Snake River stocks of Pacific salmon listed under the Endangered Species Act.
The Corps' Portland District will use a portion of its share to continue to install flow deflectors, or flip lips, at John Day Dam. The deflectors change the shape of the spillway, preventing water from plunging so deeply beneath the river's surface, thus reducing the amount of dissolved gasses in the water. The Corps also will begin constructing outfall structures and monitoring facilities at Bonneville Dam. The outfall improvements will release smolts into deeper, faster moving waters where predators are less likely to congregate thus increasing juvenile survival rate.
In efforts to enhance regional fisheries, the Corps also will receive about $647,000 in FY 98 operations and maintenance (O&M) funds to mark hatchery-reared salmon in the Willamette River Basin. This will permit the recreational fishery to continue while at the same time allow for the release of sport-caught adult wild salmon.
At Elk Creek Lake in the Rogue River Basin, the Corps will modify the unfinished dam as part of its long-term management plan for fish passage. The modifications include removing a portion of the dam's spillway and left abutment, realigning the stream above and below the dam, and placing features in the stream and streambank to maintain adequate velocities for fish passage. The Corps was appropriated $3.9 million in FY 98 for this work.
Another project that will affect fish is the Willamette Temperature Control Project at Cougar Dam in the Willamette Valley. The Corps was provided $700,000 to continue preconstruction engineering and design work for a structure, which will allow water to be released from varying depths. Because water at different depths is a different temperature, the structure will allow the Corps to better control the temperature of water released from the project to enhance fisheries.
The Corps will spend a portion of its FY 98 budget to enhance the environment in the Willamette River basin. At least $3.1 million has been apportioned for the lower Amazon Creek restoration and protection project near Eugene, Ore. The city of Eugene is the local sponsor for this project.
Other environmental restoration projects for FY 98 include the Willamette River Flood Plain Restoration study. The Corps will use $100,000 to initiate a reconnaissance study and scoping for a feasibility report for flood plain restoration in conjunction with flood damage reduction measures.
The Corps also will use $100,000 to initiate a reconnaissance study of the Tillamook Bay and estuary. The Corps will use the study to address ecosystem restoration possibilities and other water resources needs of the area.
In the Columbia Slough Ecoystem Restoration project, the Corps will investigate measures to restore the ecosystem of the slough. The Corps was given $150,000, of which $50,000 will be used to complete the reconnaissance study phase. If a project is found to be in the federal interest, the balance will be used to initiate a feasibility study.
As part of the Willamette River Basin Review study, the Corps will reexamine basinwide effects of potential changes in operations, downstream releases and conservation storage at its 13 multiple purpose projects in the Willamette Valley. This review will cost about $420,000.
Design and construction of 11 Columbia River Treaty Fishing Access Sites in Oregon and Washington will be funded in FY 98 with $8.4 million. The sites are mitigation for Bonneville Lock and Dam Project impacts on the reserved treaty fishing access rights of four Northwest Indian Tribes. Four sites are on Bonneville pool, three on The Dalles pool, and four on John Day pool.
The Corps will spend about $17 million in FY 98 maintaining and rehabilitating its lock and dam projects. Thirteen million dollars will fund continued rehabilitation of the turbines and generators at Bonneville Lock and Dam's first powerhouse. Four million dollars will be used to continue rehabilitation of the turbines and generators at The Dalles powerhouse.
With two wet winters in a row, Corps projects warranted additional O&M funding in FY 98. Congress authorized the Corps to use $4.8 million in O&M flood supplemental funding to repair damages to Corps projects caused by flooding in fiscal year 1997.
FY 98 projects in the Willamette Valley include: bank protection work at Dorena, construction of a log boom for Hills Creek Lake, roof repair at Dexter, replacement of spillway seals at Lookout Point, regulating outlet repair at Fall Creek, stilling basin repair at Fern Ridge, powerhouse roof repairs at Detroit and Big Cliff, and a stilling basin survey at Green Peter.
In the Rogue River Basin, the Corps will use a portion of the $4.8 million to fund repairs of the spillway at Lost Creek and for trail and boat ramp repairs at McGregor Park. The Corps also will continue spillway erosion investigations at Bonneville Dam and complete dredging work in Bonneville Dam's second powerhouse forebay.
During this fiscal year, Congress has provided $115,000 for the Corps to determine if the Old Dalles Levee, constructed as a feature of Bonneville Lock and Dam, is still required for project purposes. If the Corps determines it is not required, a portion of the funds will be used to initiate actions to transfer the levee to the city of The Dalles.
For navigation interests, the Corps will have $31,000 to scope the feasibility phase of a study at the Port of Morrow near Boardman, Ore. Through the study, the Corps will assess the need for a turning basin at the port.
The Columbia River Channel Improvement Feasibility Study is another on-going navigation project. The Corps and the seven lower Columbia River ports, acting as the non-federal sponsor, are working to determine the feasibility of deepening the 40-foot Columbia River navigation channel from Portland to the mouth of the Columbia River. This year, the focus of the study-now in its fourth year-is on ecosystem restoration and the development of an environmental impact statement, which is expected by June 1998. The Corps was provided $724,000 for FY 98 work.
Aside from special navigation projects, Congress authorizes the Corps each year to maintain the region's channels and harbors on the Columbia and Willamette rivers, and along the Oregon and Washington coastlines.
In Oregon, the Corps' two hopper dredges and its sand bypasser dredge, as well as its three survey boats, will work in the Chetco, Columbia and Coquille rivers. They also will work in the Rogue River at Gold Beach, Siuslaw River near Florence, Skipanon River at Warrenton, areas of the Umpqua River near Reedsport, Coos Bay, Port Orford and Yaquina Bay at Newport. In Washington, they will work at Baker Bay at Illwaco.
In early October, the Corps' headquarters office in Washington, D.C., released its report on eight options being considered for the Corps' minimum hopper dredge fleet. The options, developed by the Corps, range from maximizing the use of the four Corps hopper dredges to placing three of the Corps hopper dredges in a standby/support status and retiring the fourth, offering the balance of hopper dredging work to industry. The options were developed based on concerns expressed by the ports, maritime users and the dredging industry. This year, the Corps also is receiving $140 million, nationwide, to implement a program previously carried out by the Department of Energy--the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP). Under FUSRAP, the Corps is directed to clean up contaminated sites throughout the United States where work was performed as part of the nation's early atomic energy program. The Corps' Portland District has not yet been assigned any projects under this national program.
With each project, the Corps' goal is to effectively balance the competing needs to serve the region and its customers of the Pacific Northwest.