August 15, 2017 was a busy day for the Trump Administration. While interacting with the press and other politicians regarding the protests and counter-protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, the White House was also issuing an Executive Order with potentially far-reaching effects on flood management.
As many in the industry have learned recently, the FY 17 budget only included approximately $3 million nationwide for processing 33 U.S.C. Section 408 review. This is the Section under which the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) claims jurisdiction to review and approve any alterations or encroachments to Federally authorized water resources facilities such as levees and channels. As a result, in the last few weeks the funds were all expended and, even after a $500,000 reprogramming, the USACE has only been able to fund a limited number of 408 reviews nationwide. In order to address this issue, and keep review moving, USACE just issued new guidance for a simpler form of funding USACE’s review.
One of the best ways to learn about the direction of national flood risk management is to attend the annual conference of the National Association of Flood and Stormwater Management Agencies (NAFSMA). The NAFSMA conference is an amazing meeting of decision-makers and thought-leaders from around the country, with important topics discussed at a plenary session-only conference. And one of my favorite sessions is where the Director of Civil Works for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has a chance to present. Following are some high-level thoughts shared by Mr. Dalton on his June 21 Memorandum that we highlighted yesterday:
A June 21, 2017 Memorandum issued by James Dalton, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Director of Civil Works, is designed to streamline a number of USACE processes, including:
With not too much extra waiting, the key documents were released by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Instead of a long post, here are the key links to the documents you need:
Good day! As many of you know, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had scheduled a press conference for Tuesday, May 23 to go over the President’s proposed USACE budget for FY18. The rumor had been that the FY17 Work Plan would be released at the same time. This would have been a pretty monumental accomplishment for USACE and the Assistant Secretary of the Army, especially since Congress did not mandate a workplace until mid-June. But, there is a certain logic to releasing both on the same day as the FY18 Budget should flow from the policy decisions made in the FY17 Work Plan.
On Friday May 5 President Trump signed the budget deal that allows the Federal government to move from its one week continuing resolution to an adopted budget for the 2017 Fiscal Year. The budget deal includes a healthy set of appropriations for flood risk reduction and puts the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) on a path toward moving more projects ahead this year. But the late passage of the budget (after 7 months of the 12 month fiscal year), will hamstring certain USACE actions.
Good day! Today we feature a series of little squibs of what has been happening in the past two weeks. All of the information below is confirmed, and all of it is notated with additional context. But we did want to share with you one item, which we cannot confirm, but which we are hearing about. Rumor has it that DWR has already designed significant parts of the spillway repair for Lake Oroville, has had meetings with four hand-selected contractors, and is currently getting ready to award a contract for the first phase of the repair dealing with road construction. These same rumors peg completion of the project to December 15, an aggressive schedule for any project let alone one this complicated.
Today’s post features a collaboration between guest author Julie Minerva and Scott and Andrea.
This morning the Trump Administration released its America First Budget (aka the Skinny Budget) for FY18. The text of the document contains much of the same rhetoric you heard in the President’s inaugural address as the budget proposes to focus on advancing the safety and security of the American people. Overall the budget proposes to increase spending for the Department of the Defense by $54B and it does this by eliminating or reducing most domestic discretionary budget items by an equivalent amount. For some agencies the America First Budget cuts straight into the bone. For the potential impact to flood protection programs, read on!
Things have appeared relatively quiet at Oroville Dam for the past couple of weeks, but a lot has been happening. DWR has been clearing debris from the diversion pool and has successfully started up releases through the Hyatt Powerplant, but the drawdown had some negative impacts downstream. Here is our latest update.
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