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Multiagency Deal Aims to Address Salton Sea

/in , , /by /Calexico Chronicle by Mike Salorio

The cavalry is coming, so to speak, in the form of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which entered into a feasibility study agreement with local and state government agencies to find shovel-ready solutions for saving the Salton Sea.

The significance of the collaboration was highlighted at a signing ceremony held at the North Shores Beach and Yacht Club near Mecca on Friday, Dec. 16, where the Salton Sea Authority, California Natural Resources Agency, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers entered into the Imperial Streams Salton Sea Feasibility Cost-Share Agreement, which will develop and propose solutions to save the ever-receding Salton Sea.

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Army Corps Study of Salton Sea Could Yield Billions for Long-Term Restoration

/in , , /by /The Desert Sunby Janet Wilson

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has agreed to review both short-term and long-term options for restoring the Salton Sea, which could ultimately net billions for major public works to restore the crashing ecosystem of California’s largest water body. First up, the federal agency will, by March 1 of next year, complete streamlined federal environmental reviews of projects that are part of the state Salton Sea Management Program’s 10-year plan that is supposed to be completed by 2028, including some that are underway.

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Local Water District Awarded $4.5 Million in Funding for Desalination Program

/in , , /by /KVCR Newsby Jonathan Linden

In late January, the EMWD (Eastern Municipal Water District) was awarded nearly $4.5 million by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The funds will go towards the water district’s desalination infrastructure. Kevin Pearson is a spokesperson with the EMWD. “EMWD has a portion of its service area that has a salty groundwater basin, it’s naturally occurring, it has a higher salt contents than drinking water standards,” said Pearson.

Pearson says the water district uses reverse osmosis to purify the water and also discussed the award’s significance. The funds will go towards a study on future well sites and improvements to pipeline access.

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Opinion: Feds Should Focus on Natural Solutions in Flood Preparation

/in , /by /Marin Indepedent Journalby Natalie Snider and David Lewis

Our country faces a flood crisis. More people and places are at risk, with climate-induced flooding threatening widespread social, environmental and economic impacts.

We need a holistic approach to reduce flood risk now. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has focused on building levees, spillways and hardened infrastructure to address episodic storm events. But, by focusing solely on storm surge, they leave millions exposed to chronic flooding from sea level rise, tides and extreme rainfall.

Our country faces a flood crisis. More people and places are at risk, with climate-induced flooding threatening widespread social, environmental and economic impacts.

We need a holistic approach to reduce flood risk now. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has focused on building levees, spillways and hardened infrastructure to address episodic storm events. But, by focusing solely on storm surge, they leave millions exposed to chronic flooding from sea level rise, tides and extreme rainfall.

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Corps of Engineers Considers Nature-Based Flood Control

/in , /by /U.S. Newsby Travis Loller, Associated Press

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is known for damming rivers and building levees to keep waterways at bay. But a new initiative seeks natural flood control solutions as climate change brings increasingly frequent and severe weather events that test the limits of concrete and steel.

It only makes sense to use Mother Nature’s flood defenses as one of the tools to combat destruction from intense rains in the middle of the country and storms and sea level rise on the coasts, says Todd Bridges, who heads the Corps Engineering with Nature initiative.

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New Report Confirms Benefits of Forecast-Informed Reservoir Operations at Lake Mendocino

/in , /by /WaterWorld

Modern forecasting methods fueled by advances in understanding and predicting atmospheric river storms have enabled U.S. Army Corps of Engineers operators to better optimize water resources at Lake Mendocino, a Northern California reservoir. A multi-agency report issued Feb. 4, 2021, describes how these forecasting tools have helped operators increase the lake’s dry season stores of drinking water, improve its ability to alleviate flood risk, and enhance environmental conditions in the downstream Russian River to support salmonid species.

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House-Passed Bill Includes Nearly $385 Million to Fix Whittier Narrows Dam

/in , , /by /Press-Telegram (Whittier)by Mike Sprague

Four years after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers upgraded the flood risk for the Whittier Narrows Dam from high urgency to very high urgency, the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday approved a budget package that included nearly $385 million to fix the dam.

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LA River Restoration Effort Lands $1.8 Million

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Daily Newsby City News Service

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded more than $1.8 million to help fund a cleanup and revitalization effort for 700 acres of open space along the Los Angeles River from Griffith Park to downtown, local officials announced today.

The funding will go toward pre-construction engineering and design for the Los Angeles River Ecosystem Restoration Project. The project received $400,000 in 2016 and $100,000 in 2017.

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A 3-Decade-Long Water Dispute Heads To The Supreme Court

/in , , /by /NPR by Debbie Elliott

For three decades, Georgia and Florida have been battling over how to share a precious resource: water. Georgia has it, and Florida, which is downstream, says it’s not getting its fair share. The dispute is once again headed to the U.S. Supreme Court, where Florida wants the justices to cap Georgia’s water use. But a court-appointed special master recently rejected that idea.

More than 6 million people depend on water that starts at Lake Lanier, a reservoir northeast of Atlanta. It generates hydropower as its water is released from a dam into the Chattahoochee River.

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Flood Risk Heightened for California Dam

/in , , /by /AP News

A California dam could fail during an extreme storm and send water flooding into Mojave Desert communities that are home to about 300,000 people, authorities said Friday.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that it has changed its risk characterization of the Mojave River Dam from low to high urgency of action. The Corps says it estimates that only 16,000 people in those communities would be affected by flooding.

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