At noon eastern time on Monday, June 11, 2018 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) issued its 2018 Workplan. Although approximately two weeks late, the Workplan contains enough goodies for around the United States as to allow most people to forgive USACE for the delay.… Continue Reading
Many thanks to the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority for filing such thoughtful comments on the Corps of Engineer’s draft 408 guidance. If you filed your own comments, please share them so we can post them here as well.… Continue Reading
As happens on a regular political cycle, there are stories being published again with calls for USACE’s Civil Works mission to leave USACE and move to the U.S. Department of Transportation, or perhaps the Department of Interior. On Thursday, Major General Donald Jackson Jr. sent an Email for distribution within USACE on the proposal to move … Continue Reading
The National Waterways Conference has submitted a letter in response to the notice published in the Federal Register on February 5, 2018, seeking comment on the draft Engineering Circular (EC) on 408 permissions. According to the notice, comments must be submitted by March 7, 2018. 83 Fed. Reg. 5075. The National Waterways Conference requests that … Continue Reading
Today the Administration released its FY19 budget proposal. As you likely know, the budget proposal signifies the starting point for the annual appropriations cycle which will play out in Congress over the course of the calendar year. Large portions of the budget proposal will be deemed “dead on arrival” by Congress, but it’s important to … Continue Reading
Unfortunately, USACE has audio technical problems with its first webinar on the draft 408 policy. For those that are interested in downloading the Powerpoint, you can find it here. Also, here is the draft guidance. Remember, comments should be due on March 7 (30 days after Feb 5 if our math is correct). Finally, here … Continue Reading
Happy New Year!!!!!! Yes, it is actually February, but it is a new year for this blog as we turn our attention to a world full of flood risk reduction actions in the second year of the Trump Administration. We are hearing that on February 6 the Corps will be releasing draft guidance for 33 … Continue Reading
Today’s guest-post is from Laura Morgan-Kessler of Van Scoyoc Associates. It is almost impossible to turn on the news or open your twitter feed today without seeing words like gridlock, partisan, or contentious used to describe the current climate in Washington, D.C. The constant negativity surrounding the events and activities in our nation’s capital has led … Continue Reading
This morning President Trump announced his intent to nominate candidates to a number of administration posts. Among them is RD James to be the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works. Here is the blurb on James:… Continue Reading
On a recent visit to Washington, D.C. to work on client issues, I attended any number of meetings where we discussed Federal appropriations. But before we get to an observation or two, here is a recap on the process for how Congress can choose to invest money into a flood risk management project with the … Continue Reading
Despite reticence in Washington, D.C. about the term “climate change” (see yesterday’s blog post on this topic), there is plenty of discussion in the media and in scientific circles about whether intense, off-the-charts storms like Hurricane Harvey are the result of, or are associated with, climate change. Unfortunately, we are unlikely to see a widely agreed-upon … Continue Reading
The democratic members of the Senate Environment & Public Works (EPW) Committee took the initiative to lay out their priorities for a future infrastructure package. Those priorities, totaling over $500 billion, are included in a July 21, 2017 EPW Minority Letter on Infrastructure to Chairman Barrasso (WY). They include only the types of infrastructure which … Continue Reading
All eyes are appropriately on Houston right now, where record rainfall has led to catastrophic flooding, loss of life, inestimable damages, and years if not decades of recovery and re-building. Around the country, many communities are now sitting up and paying more attention to that question, “what if that happened here?” Here in Sacramento, where … Continue Reading
Today’s post features commentary from guest author Julie Minerva. I often joke with my clients that following issues too closely at the federal level can result in whiplash. To that regard, it has been a very active summer in Washington, DC on the water infrastructure front. Here’s a rapid fire look at some of the top items … Continue Reading
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.… Continue Reading
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 … Continue Reading
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 … Continue Reading
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: Embracing risk-based decision-making. While USACE has always been good at evaluating the risk of flooding from the present condition, or the future condition, it has not been … Continue Reading
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: At this link you can expand the FY17 Work Plan (at the bottom) to see Investigations, Construction, etc. At this link you can … Continue Reading
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 … Continue Reading
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 … Continue Reading
Today’s post features a collaboration between guest author Julie Minerva and Scott and Andrea. After a grueling six-week legislative stretch, Members of Congress have returned home for a two-week district work period (weeks of April 10 and April 17). Senators are scheduled to return to the Capitol on Monday, April 24th, while the House of Representatives will follow one day behind … Continue Reading
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 … Continue Reading
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. As always, if … Continue Reading
