News Release
| Release Number: | 98-011 |
| Dated: | 2/3/1998 |
| Contact: | Heidi Y. Helwig, 503-808-4510 |
Portland, Ore. -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Fiscal Year 1999 (FY 99) budget, as proposed by President Bill Clinton, gives priority to preserving existing infrastructure and restoring environmental values, said Acting Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Dr. John Zirschky.
The $3.2 billion requested for the Corps' Civil Works program will be available in FY 99 when 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 $174 million. The District will use the money to fund operation, maintenance and management of navigation, flood damage reduction and multiple-purpose projects.
Also, there is an ever-increasing focus on environmental management and restoration, fish protection and enhancement and hydropower and pump station design missions. A portion of those dollars will ensure the Corps' environmental work continues.
The biggest environmental challenge facing Portland District may well be that of safe fish passage through hydropower dams. To meet this challenge, the president requested a national budget of $117 million to fund the Columbia River Fish Mitigation Program. Portland District will use about $91.3 million to fund its work as participants with the region in that program. The Corps' Walla Walla District will execute the remainder of the program.
Another $2.9 million is proposed to fund Portland District 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 Improvement Study is funded at $635,000 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 99 funds will be used to complete major work items of the feasibility study, which is scheduled for public comment in October 1998. Also included is a new comprehensive study on the ecosystem on the lower Columbia River; $100,000 is included in the FY 99 budget for the reconnaissance study.
The Willamette Basin Review feasibility study is funded at $440,000. 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. At public workshops in April, the Corps will present alternative operating options and gather input on those options.
Also funded for $275,000 is the continuation of 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 $278,000 to continue the Willamette River Floodplain Restoration Study, which is currently being initiated. 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 April 1999.
Another study promoting ecosystem restoration and flood damage reduction is the Tillamook Bay and Estuary study. Funded for $168,000, 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.
The Willamette Temperature Control project on Cougar Lake, Ore., in the Willamette Valley is funded in FY 99 for $29,000. The District is working toward an FY 2000-construction start for facilities that will allow the Corps to release water from the lake at temperatures more beneficial to Spring Chinook salmon in the McKenzie River.
A little over $106 million is proposed for planning, design and construction of navigation, water resource and fisheries enhancement projects. Of the FY 99 projects, the Columbia River Fish Mitigation project will receive the bulk of the monies--about $91.3 million-to fund improvements in fish passage facilities at existing projects. Nearly $79 million of this budget is headed for the John Day, The Dalles and Bonneville projects. At John Day, about $18.8 million is proposed to fund follow up actions to the juvenile fish monitoring facility and to construct extended screens.
Projects that will be underway in FY 99 include the juvenile fish bypass improvements at Bonneville Lock and Dam, funded for about $32 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.
At The Dalles, the Corps would use its piece of the regional monies to fund surface bypass studies. Other systemwide work, approved through two regional bodies which establish fisheries priorities, include studies of surface bypass, turbine passage, gas abatement and adult passage improvements.
Other construction projects funded in FY 99 include modifications to Elk Creek Dam. The Corps will use $300,000 to continue dam security and water quality analysis. FY 98 funds are being used at Elk Creek Dam to provide passive fish passage at the unfinished dam. 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 Bonneville Major Rehab project, which includes rewinding five generators and replacing 10 turbine blades, is expected to take at least five more years. The FY 99 proposed budget for the work is $8 million. Another $900,000 is proposed for major rehab work at The Dalles Dam, which includes rewinding nine generators and replacing turbine blades. Completion of the project is scheduled for September 2007.
The Corps also is continuing its work on treaty fishing sites along the Columbia River. At a proposed total of $1.7 million, the Corps will continue construction of 31 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 $57 million is proposed for the Corps' FY 99 operation and maintenance activities. Corpswide, operating staffs are searching for ways to increase efficiency and service with fewer dollars. In Portland District, nearly $20 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 will be funded directly by the Bonneville Power Administration. 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 $32.4 million will be used to maintain navigation projects. Through the Dredge Material Management Study, the Corps will develop a 20-year dredge material management plan for the existing 40-foot Columbia River navigation channel. A portion of the District's Operation and Maintenance Budget of $57.1 million will fund the work. 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. One of the projects is the repair of the Yaquina Bay and Harbor North Breakwater jetty, estimated at $1.5 million.
Flood damage reduction projects are budgeted to receive just over $5.3 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 $2.3 million.
The Continuing Authorities Program allows the Corps to fund a number of smaller projects including flood damage reduction, navigation, ecosystem restoration and emergency and shoreline protection. In FY 99, Portland District is slated to receive more than $4.2 million. One project funded under this program is construction of the Amazon Creek Restoration Project near Eugene, Ore. FY 99 funds are estimated at $3.3 million.
This is just a small sample of the work the Corps' Portland District is looking forward to in FY 99. 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.