Oakland officials try to shore up position on flood gates
By Philip DeVencentis
OAKLAND — Borough officials are pressing for continued protection of flood-prone homes on the Ramapo River, while state and federal agencies study changes in operation of the flood control gates at the Pompton Lake Dam.
Bridge under troubled water
WINNEBAGO, Neb. — A federally funded bridge to somewhere on the Winnebago Indian Reservation has been a bridge to nowhere for much of this year.
Officials defy fed rule on clear-cutting levees
By Zito, Kelly
In defiance of a federal policy intended to bolster the safety of California levees, some Bay Area legislators, regulators and water agencies said Monday that they refuse to remove shrubs and trees from the banks of numerous creeks and culverts.
They say stripping vegetation from 100 miles of levees around the nine counties would cost millions, ruin scenic byways and damage riparian, or riverbank, ecosystems.
"In California, we've seen our riparian habitat reduced to almost nothing - it's fragmented beyond belief," said Chuck Armor, regional manager of the California Department of Fish and Game. "If this policy is implemented, we're going to see this habitat virtually disappear."
In the wake of the levee failures that destroyed New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina five years ago, the United States Army Corps of Engineers has ramped up its levee safety programs. Though the vegetation rule has been around for decades, in April 2009 the agency released an "engineering technical letter" spelling out that unless granted a waiver, 14,000 miles of levees around the country must be free of foliage, with the exception of grasses. However, the agency has made it clear that waivers will not be meted out easily or quickly.
Danger from toppled treesThe corps argues that in driving wind and rain, trees may topple over, pulling levees with them and unleashing untold storm water into neighborhoods, businesses and roadways. There are about 3,000 miles of levees in California.
"Public safety is our No. 1 priority," said J.D. Hardesty, spokesman for the corps' San Francisco District. "After Katrina, there's more focus on making sure everything is up to proper standards."
Around the Bay Area, 19 creeks, canals and rivers are affected, from Uvas Creek in the South Bay, to the Russian River in the north. Agencies that maintain the levees have until April to obtain a waiver, Hardesty said. After that, those levees could be decertified and the supervising agencies will be ineligible for federal emergency funds for levee repair. In addition, nearby homeowners could technically find themselves in a newly expanded flood zone that requires pricy flood insurance.
Implementing the clear-cutting policy will cost local jurisdictions millions, they insist. At a news conference Monday in North Richmond, officials pointed to a thick stand of trees and bushes along Wildcat Creek. It would cost $2 million to bring the area in compliance with federal rules, said Mitch Avalon, deputy director of the Contra Costa Public Works Department and spokesman for a group of Bay Area flood protection agencies.
"I stand before you today at the risk of going to jail," said Avalon.
In a sense, he was only half-joking. On the one hand, Avalon will be in violation of federal policy by declining to chop down trees and bushes. But if crews do fire up their chainsaws, they could be in violation of state and local measures to protect endangered species. Indeed, the Golden Gate Audubon Society said the Bay Area's leafy creeks are important to legions of threatened animals, including the red knot, the clapper rail, nesting osprey, red-shouldered hawk and willow flycatcher as well as the red-legged frog, steelhead and salmon.
Case-by-case evaluationWhat's more, they contend that especially among older levees, trees, stumps and roots help stabilize the structures and reduce erosion.
Instead of enforcing a blanket vegetation removal policy for the entire nation, Avalon and others want the corps to evaluate each levee and its ecosystem, age, stability and meaning to the surrounding community. For activist Whitney Dotson, Wildcat Creek is a key piece of the broad effort to restore Richmond's 32 miles of shoreline, much of it lost over the years to industrial development.
And there is yet another reason to flout the vegetation rule, the officials said Monday.
When Wildcat Creek was built for flood control in the 1980s, the Corps of Engineers incorporated trees and bushes into the design after the community rebelled against a bare-bones channel. Nearly three decades later, mature oaks, shrubs and vines stand in stark contrast to piles of rusting cars in an adjacent junkyard.
"I guarantee you in 10 years, the corps will come back and say, 'Replant the trees,' " said Rep. John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove (Sacramento County).
"I guarantee you in 10 years, the corps will come back and say, 'Replant the trees.' "
Rep. John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove
Copyright © 2010 San Francisco Chronicle
Plum Island Shakes Off Its Hannibal Lecter Past
PLUM ISLAND, N.Y. (AP) - The classified ad might read: "Island for sale. Gem of a property, teeming with fish and wildlife, only a two-hour drive from nation's largest metro area. Features power plant, sewage treatment. Ripe for development."
Bechara sector economy under water
Floods cost $80 million this year
Business at the Bechara industrial sector has lost upwards of $80 million this year, because of negligence by governmental officials.
The Water Wars: Isakson, Chambliss bill should be DOA
The Water Wars: Isakson, Chambliss bill should be DOA
Georgia Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson have introduced, in the closing hours of the pre-election Congress, legislation on water access that one of their peers, Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) says is "dead on arrival."
FEMA delays flood mapping rollout in Ill. region
The federal government again is delaying its rollout of new Mississippi River floodplain maps for southwestern Illinois, giving the region crucial time to shore up its aging levees amid property owners' worries of being forced to buy expensive flood coverage.
Port chief: Shippers are willing to wait on deeper Savannah harbor past Panama expansion date
SAVANNAH, GA. — The Georgia Ports Authority's chief said Thursday shippers tell him they're willing to wait for a deeper Savannah harbor as long as work gets under way by the time bigger ships start using an expanded Panama Canal.
Water wars in the south-east: Chattahoochee blues
Are Georgia, Alabama and Florida fighting over water or over growth?
Corps of Engineers levee armoring plans have state officials concerned
State officials and the Army Corps of Engineers disagreed Wednesday on whether there's enough money left to properly complete construction of the New Orleans area levee system and interior drainage improvements.
Judge rules contractor liable for levee work
NEW ORLEANS — A government contractor isn't immune from claims that it performed shoddy work that resulted in the failure of a New Orleans levee system during Hurricane Katrina, a federal appeals court has ruled.
Leppert cites progress, calls for lower homeowner taxes
In a wide-ranging address on the state of Dallas, Mayor Tom Leppert on Wednesday called for a reduction in homeowners' tax burdens, took issue with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and cited a long list of positive strides he said the city has made in recent months.
Corps to curtail pace of diversion
More study set to address downstream fears
News Wednesday that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decided to push back the timeline of the Fargo-Moorhead diversion didn't come as much of a surprise to most local leaders.
EPA: Louisiana's sand berms not stopping much oil -
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, center, speaks with reporters on the Bay Joe Wise shoreline, an island that has grown by 600 acres after crews filled in areas of open water, on the coast of Louisiana, Monday, Aug. 16, 2010.
Corps of Engineers' New Orleans remediation plan revives landowner protests
The Army Corps of Engineers'plan to do millions of dollars worth of remediation work along three New Orleans outfall canals has reignited charges by a 17th Street Canal homeowners coalition that the government uses their property for flood protection without compensating them.
Corps of Engineers fields numerous questions over outfall canals work in N.O.
With the Army Corps of Engineers poised to launch a multimillion-dollar effort to fortify three New Orleans outfall canals so they can safely hold more water, about 200 residents gathered Thursday evening to press federal officials about their construction plans.
Corps says no to water supply in its manual
Leaning on a July 2009 federal judge's ruling, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers doesn't plan to address water supply in Lake Lanier as part of its update of the water control manual for the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin.
KBR Says Not Responsible For Soldiers' Health Problems
The military contractor KBR told a federal judge in Portland Monday, that the company should not be held responsible for the health problems of 21 Oregon National Guard soldiers.
The soldiers say the military contractor knew, or should have known, that a water treatment facility it was working on in 2003, was contaminated with hexavelant chromium, a potent carcinogen.
The judge threw-out KBR's first argument -- that it was the Army Corps of Engineers, and not KBR, that was responsible for clean-up.
Now the company is saying Iraq was so dangerous the military, not KBR, was in control meaning KBR should be allowed to claim a combat activities exemption from being sued.
The company also argued it's entitled to sovereign immunity, like the government, because it was essentially doing government work.
The soldier's attorney, David Sugarman, disagrees.
David Sugarman: "It wouldn't be very hard to done what they were supposed to do -- assess the hazard, report, disclose it and not hide it."
The judge says he expects to rule soon on whether the case can go forward.
‘Urgent’ dam repairs delayed
SOUTHBRIDGE — All earthen dams leak, and the Corps of Engineers flood control dam at Westville Lake is no exception.
Whether holding back the flood waters of rising streams during heavy rain and flooding or the drinking water supply of small towns and big cities, earthen dams are designed that way.
When the seepage is greater than expected and colored by the soil particles it’s carrying from the base of the dam, then there’s trouble — enough in this instance to warrant a Corps priority classification. The need for repairs, the Corps said, is “urgent and compelling.”
Erik W. Matthews, project engineer, said a detailed engineering analysis, including plans for long-term repair, originally due next month, may not be ready before November.
In the interim, he said, testing devices called piezometers have been installed in the core of the dam. They are attached to solar-powered transmitters and provide engineers in Concord with a continuous update on dam conditions.
Foundation grouting, Mr. Matthews said, is one interim measure that would improve the safety of the dam.
Like grout used in homes and businesses to fill the cracks on tile floors, this fast-setting cement is designed to fill the cracks in the fractured bedrock on which the 560-foot long, 78-foot high dam rests.
The grout or cement would also fill those cracks in the soil just above the bedrock to stem seepage, while long-term repairs are subjected to cost and risk analysis.
“A concrete cutoff wall in the middle of the dam would definitely solve the problem. Then again, that could cost upward of $50 million at a time when resources are scarce,” Mr. Matthews said.
Life jacket use urged by Oklahoma lake officials
Nine people have drowned since May in Oklahoma lakes maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers.
Nine people have drowned since May in Oklahoma lakes maintained by the Tulsa District of the Army Corps of Engineers. None of the victims wore life jackets.
Louise Medina swims with her granddaughter Gabrielia Ortiz, 4, at a beach in Lake Arcadia, Friday, July 2, 2010, in Edmond, Okla. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman
"It was varying circumstances, but it was all circumstances where the individuals were not wearing a life jacket when they went into the water," Tulsa District Corps of Engineers spokeswoman Sara Goodeyon said.
"A lot of people get in their cars and it's second nature to put on a seat belt. When people are in or near the water, it should become a habit to put on a personal flotation device," Goodeyon said.
Many lakes offer loaner life jackets. Canton, Copan, Council Grove, Eufaula, Fort Gibson, Hugo, Keystone, Oologah, Pine Creek, Robert S. Kerr, Sardis, Skiatook and Texoma participate in the loaner program offered by the Corps of Engineers.
"They literally are hanging on a board. All a visitor has to do is walk up to that board. We ask that when they return it, they hang it right back up on that board," Goodeyon said.
Army Engineers Defend Gulf Response
The leader of the Army Corps of Engineers in New Orleans pushed back over the weekend against accusations by Louisiana officials that his agency has neglected its responsibilities by failing to quickly review and approve controversial projects like the construction of sand and rock barriers along the coast to block oil from BP's leaking well in the gulf.
"As many of you have undoubtedly read or heard, some media and local officials have stated that we have not been working in an expeditious manner befitting the nature of the emergency the Gulf Coast is now facing," Col. Al Lee, commander of the New Orleans Sector of the Army Corps, wrote in a note prefacing an official newsletter. "These allegations are simply false."
The colonel's leading critic has been Governor Bobby Jindal, who reacted with anger last week when the Army Corps rejected a plan drafted by local parish officials and endorsed by his administration that called for dumping more than 100,000 tons of limestone into tidal inlets between the Gulf of Mexico and Barataria Bay, a rich estuary. During the permitting process, federal and local coastal scientists as well as an Army Corps of Engineers team determined that the construction of the rock walls in the inlets would cause more harm then good by increasing erosion and setting the stage for the breaching of existing barrier islands along the coast.
"Time and time again we have battled with them to get our plans approved," Mr. Jindal said in a speech on Tuesday, shortly after the rock plan was rejected. "We need the federal government to get in this war to win it. They continue to reject our plans while they put forward no plan of their own. This is not acceptable. They need to either lead, follow or get out of the way."
New flood maps will cost property owners thousands
New flood maps will cost property owners thousands
Local and federal officials soon will complete a multiyear effort to update many of Northern Virginia's flood maps, in a process that will reshape the area's insurance landscape and cost hundreds of property owners thousands of dollars.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has been working with the Army Corps of Engineers and officials from Alexandria, and Fairfax and Arlington counties, for the last six years to develop more accurate area flood maps.
Those maps determine which property owners must buy federally mandated flood insurance policies. Flood insurance costs the average property owner $570 annually, but can run into the thousands depending on where a resident's property lies within the flood zone.
"We were seeing higher and higher amounts of damage and insurance claims from outside of the floodplain," said FEMA spokesman David Bollinger, outlining his agency's reasons for redrawing the flood maps.
Bollinger said property owners who were not previously mapped into the floodplain soon could be included, and therefore would have to buy flood insurance.
About 7,000 properties in Fairfax, Arlington and Alexandria lie within the current flood maps, which date to the 1980s and 1990s.