News Release
| Release Number: | 98-100 |
| Dated: | 12/3/1998 |
| Contact: | Heidi Y. Helwig, 503-808-4510 |
Portland, Ore. -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Portland District will receive $129 million of the fiscal year 1999 federal budget to fund a variety of projects that will benefit the Pacific Northwest. The Corps will receive another $44 million from the Bonneville Power Administration to fund routine operation, maintenance and minor repair costs at Corps-owned and Corps-operated hydropower projects. This resource is a result of a direct-funding agreement between BPA and the Corps, which officially went into effect Oct. 1, 1998.
The Corps is concentrating heavily on fish protection and restoration, as well as other environmental issues. Nearly half of the District's share of the budget--$64.5 million-will pay for Columbia River Fish Mitigation Projects (CRFMP) within Portland District's purview. (Walla Walla District will receive nearly $25 million for CRFMP activities.)
One of the major projects that fall under the Columbia River Fish Mitigation Program is the John Day Drawdown Study. At the direction of Congress, the Corps of Engineers began the first phase of the two-phase study of drawdown options for John Day Dam on the Columbia River this year. Congress allocated $3.3 million for the study.
Lowering reservoirs behind the dams to levels that are substantially below the normal operating range is called drawdown. Lower water levels decrease reservoir width and depth, which increases water velocity. Increased water velocity could move juvenile fish through the reservoir more quickly, thus mimicking historically faster journeys downriver. This may increase survival rates.
Congress has directed that the Corps limit the first phase of the John Day Drawdown Study to two options for lowering, or drawing down, the reservoir: "spillway crest" and "natural river level." In this first phase, which began Oct. 1, 1998, and is to be completed in about one year, the Corps' Portland District will begin to identify the impacts of both options. It will evaluate biological, social and economic benefits and costs, plus potential physical impacts of each.
During the course of the study, the Corps will ask for input from the public, various regional interest groups, and state and federal agencies. Information-sharing open houses, tentatively scheduled for early 1999, will be held at various locations to get public input and discuss drawdown impacts. Corps study team members will be working with special interest groups to gather information prior to the open houses.
Also at John Day, nearly $5 million will be used to fund a number of activities, including follow up work on the juvenile fish monitoring facility, testing spill patterns, extended screens and studying the addition of flow deflectors in bays 1 and 20.
Nearly $22 million of the budget will fund work on Bonneville Dam's second powerhouse downstream migrant fish facility improvements. More than $6 million is in the budget for the Bonneville juvenile surface bypass studies. This work includes physical changes to juvenile fish passageways within the second powerhouse, a new juvenile bypass outfall flume about 2 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 Dam, the Corps will spend about $3.6 million to study juvenile passage effectiveness and survival through the spillway. Other systemwide work, approved through the regional forum-a decisionmaking body comprised of regional fish and wildlife agencies which helps establish fisheries priorities--includes studies of turbine passage, spill survival, gas abatement and adult passage improvements.
In the environmental arena, the Corps is studying ways to promote ecosystem restoration and flood damage reduction through the Tillamook Bay and Estuary Study. A reconnaissance study was initiated in FY 98 for $100,000; the balance of that amount will be spent this fiscal year to complete that study. In addition, funding of $92,000 this fiscal year will allow the Corps to initiate a feasibility study to evaluate flood plain features, stream channels and the estuary to restore natural wetlands, estuarine and coastal habitats and reduce flooding. A draft cost-share agreement with the Tillamook County Soil and Water Conservation District to act as the non-federal sponsor for the study has been developed.
Also funded for $275,000 is the continuation of the Columbia Slough Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility Study. The Corps is evaluating 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 with the Corps.
The Corps will use about $49,000 to complete the Willamette River Floodplain Restoration Study reconnaissance report. Through this study, the Corps is evaluating 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 Corps will complete the reconnaissance phase of the study in April 1999.
Another $2.8 million is proposed to fund a variety of studies for identified water resource problems and opportunities for solutions 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 $533,000 for this fiscal year. 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. A portion of the FY 99 funds will be used to complete the feasibility study. The draft report was released for public comment in October 1998. The study will be completed next fall.
The Willamette Basin Review feasibility study is funded at $440,000. Through this 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. At public workshops in April 1998, the Corps presented preliminary alternative operating options and gathered input on those options. Final alternatives, based partly on that input, are now being developed. Before a decision is made, however, the Corps and the state of Oregon, the non-federal sponsor, are developing and will review detailed economic analyses of each alternative.
The Willamette Temperature Control project on Cougar Lake, Ore., in the Willamette Valley is funded in FY 99 for $1 million. The District is working toward an FY 2000-construction start for facilities that will allow the Corps to release water from various depths of the lake where water temperatures are more beneficial to Spring Chinook salmon resident trout in the McKenzie River.
Other construction projects funded in FY 99 include maintenance of Elk Creek Dam. Construction on the dam was halted in 1988 because of an injunction. The Corps will use $300,000 to continue dam security, water quality analysis and operation of the fish trap and haul facility.
The Bonneville Major Rehabilitation project, which is funded for $8 million for fiscal year 1999, will enable the Corps to complete the rehabilitation of units 4 and 6. The total scope of the effort includes rewinding five generators and replacing 10 turbine blades.
Another $2 million will fund major rehabilitation work at The Dalles Dam, which includes completion of a generator rewind and procurement of generator exciter equipment. Future work includes rewinding nine generators and replacing turbine blades on 14 generator units. Both projects should be completed by 2007, assuming full funding in future years.
The Corps also is continuing its work on in-lieu treaty fishing access sites along the Columbia River. At a total of $2.5 million for FY 99, the Corps will continue construction of 11 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. Eight sites should be completed before the end of this fiscal year.
Just more than $58 million is proposed for the Corps' FY 99 routine operation and maintenance activities. Corpswide, operating staffs are searching for ways to increase efficiency and service with fewer dollars. In Portland District, nearly $22 million will fund the operation and maintenance of 22 multiple-purpose projects along the Columbia River, in the Willamette and Rogue River basins, and on Willow Creek near Heppner, Ore. This will fund navigation, recreation and a portion of the other joint purposes at the projects. It also will fund the maintenance and operation of the Sediment Retention Structure at Mount St. Helens.
Beginning in FY 99, the hydropower purpose at these projects will be funded directly by the Bonneville Power Administration, which will provide about $44 million. 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. The Columbia River locks alone support an average of 30 million tons of commerce a year. About $35.5 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 (mouth of the Columbia and Vancouver to The Dalles), Coquille, Chinook, Umpqua and Siuslaw rivers, in the Rogue River at Gold Beach, Skipanon Channel at Warrenton, and in Coos Bay, Baker Bay, Depoe Bay, Tillamook Bay, Yaquina Bay and Port Orford. Two non-routine projects are the repair of the Yaquina Bay and Harbor North Breakwater at Newport, estimated at $1.9 million, and the East Astoria Boat Basin, north breakwater repair, estimated at $5.2 million.
Flood damage reduction projects are budgeted to receive more than $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 through 1997 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 funds to carry out this program is $2.2 million.
The Continuing Authorities Program, including environmental authorities, allows the Corps to fund a number of smaller projects for flood damage reduction, navigation, ecosystem restoration and emergency bank and shoreline protection. In FY 99, Portland District is slated to receive more than $5.8 million for this type of work. One project funded at about $3.3 million for FY 99 under this program is construction of the Amazon Creek Wetlands Restoration Project near Eugene, Ore.
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 management, 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 among these competing needs to serve the region and its people.
Worldwide, the Corps of Engineers will receive nearly $4 billion during this fiscal year for its Civil Works Program to fund studies, design, operation, maintenance and management of navigation, flood damage reduction and multiple-purpose projects. Portions of the budget also will be used for a number of environmental restoration projects or studies. The U.S. Congress passed the Energy and Water Appropriations Bill for fiscal year 1999 in October. Fiscal year 1999 began Oct. 1, 1998, and ends Sept. 30, 1999.