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The Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works announced yesterday additional U.S. Army Corps of Engineers studies and projects funded through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (DRSAA) of 2022, and the DRSAA of 2023.
These actions invest over $454 million to help communities reduce their flood risks from coastal storms and to restore delicate aquatic ecosystems.
“The transformative investments funded through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the 2022 and 2023 Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Acts continue to meet the President’s priorities of protecting the nation’s economic competitiveness as well as our most vulnerable communities,” said Michael L. Connor , Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works.
The updated BIL Construction spend plan provides approximately $27 million to complete construction of the Wood River Levee, Deficiency Correction and Reconstruction, Illinois project; an additional $9.4 million to complete the Kenai River Bluff Erosion, Alaska project; and approximately $13 million to design and continue construction of the Albeni Falls Dam fish passage in Idaho which will help restore fish habitat in the Columbia River Basin.
Also, the updated BIL Construction spend plan includes nearly $100 million for the Continuing Authorities Program to study, design, and construct smaller-scale water resources projects in partnership with local sponsors. The updated spend plan also provides an additional $1 million in Investigations funding to complete reevaluation of the needs of Tampa Harbor in Florida.
The updated DRSAA spend plans provide nearly $261 million in emergency assistance to repair levee systems and replenish beaches damaged in floods or coastal storms.
Also, the updated DRSAA 2022 spend plan provides $135 million to repair the existing storm damage reduction infrastructure at Grand Isle, Louisiana, which sustained significant damage in Hurricane Ida; an additional $48 million to complete repairs of a levee system on the Ouachita and Black Rivers in Arkansas and Louisiana; and $20 million to repair a levee breach and erosion on the left bank of the Pajaro River in California.
The updated DRSAA 2023 spend plan also provides an additional $29 million in operation and maintenance funds to address damages to projects that the Corps maintains and dredge Federal navigation channels in response to recent storms, including $8.5 million to replace steel bulkhead at the Cape Cod Canal project in Massachusetts.