New Orleans District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) team members working on the Morganza to the Gulf project hosted their first Industry Day for the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) East and West Floodgates at USACE New Orleans District headquarter Oct. 13, 2023.
Project Management, Engineering and Contracting representatives presented overviews of the Morganza to the Gulf Flood Risk Reduction system, GIWW East and West Floodgates and associated challenges, and the Integrated Design and Construction (IDaC) contracting method.
Feedback on the subjects was received from industry representatives during one-on-one meetings following the presentation.
The authorized Morganza to the Gulf (MTG) project is a hurricane and storm damage risk reduction (HSDRR) project involving a 98-mile alignment of earthen levees, floodgates, environmental water control structures, road/railroad gates, and fronting protection for existing pump stations. This system is being designed to reduce the risk of damage related to flooding for the 1% Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP) in Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes, where a deterioration of coastal marsh has led to an increased risk of inundation.
More information about the GIWW East and West floodgates and IDaC can be found at the following websites: https://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/About/Projects/Morganza-to-the-Gulf/ and https://sam.gov/content/home.
Sixteen years to the day after Hurricane Katrina slammed into Louisiana, Hurricane Ida made landfall just 40 miles down the coast. In addition to their date and location, these storms shared similar characteristics, which has lead to multiple comparisons. Thankfully, lessons learned from Katrina and efforts to mitigate future devastation have been successful.
Following the catastrophic damage caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) embarked on one of the largest and most comprehensive public works projects in American history. The USACE established the Hurricane Storm Damage Risk Reduction System (HSDRRS) to provide the greater New Orleans Area a 100-year level of risk reduction, meaning that infrastructure would be established to defend against a storm surge that has a 1% chance of occurring in any given year.
One of the most critical measures of HSDRRS is protecting levees against the erosion-causing hydraulic forces of wave overtopping. Without protection, overtopping can lead to significant erosion on the landside of the levee and lead to a potential breach of the levee itself. The primary reason that Katrina was so catastrophic was that the 28 to 30 foot storm surge overtopped the levee system, causing massive erosion and scour that lead to multiple levee breaches. The failure of the levee system created extensive flooding that impacted about 80% of New Orleans.
To improve erosion control on the top and side slopes of the levees, the USACE used High-Performance Turf Reinforcement Mat (HPTRM) to armor the levees against overtopping. The HPTRM protection included four feet on the flood side, across the top and completely down the protected size, ten feet past the grade brake.
The USACE requested HPTRMs that meet the standards outlined by the EPA and Storm Water Technology Fact sheet. PROPEX Armormax was selected as one of the systems to be used. Armormax combines HPTRM with Engineered Earth Anchors to lock soil in place and protect against hydraulic stresses.
To ensure its effectiveness, the USACE required rigorous testing before the project began. USACE partnered with Colorado State University (CSU) to build a full-scale wave overtopping simulator (largest in the world). The simulator tested erosion resistance of Armormax for 500-year resiliency overtopping conditions.
Testing showed that Armormax provided increased levee resilience and durability. Additionally, testing showed that using the Armormax system reinforces vegetation on the earthen levees, which reduces the risk of breaching caused by wave overtopping.
On August 29, 2021, the upgraded levee system was put to the real test when Hurricane Ida rolled ashore. The next day the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority East shared that “there were no levee breaches or overtopping within the HSDRRS.”
While Hurricane Ida has been Louisiana’s biggest test since Katrina, Armormax has stood its ground against two other destructive hurricanes. Penn Levee, which is armored with Armormax, withstood overtopping from both Hurricane Ike and Hurricane Isaac.
Solmax has had an ongoing relationship with the USACE for 14 years, and Armormax has been used to stabilize more than 100 miles of levees throughout the New Orleans area. The success of stabilizing the levees in New Orleans had led the USACE to use Armormax on river levees and canals both for erosion control and slope stability throughout the United States.
Ninety-nine percent of counties in the United States have experienced at least one significant flooding event in the last 25 years, and there have been 33 flood events costing a billion dollars in the U.S. since 1980 according to the American Flood Coalition. Similarly, the EPA estimates that the average 100-year floodplain will increase 45 percent by the year 2100.
Due to this anticipated surge, engineers and agencies are taking a more proactive approach to mitigate flood hazards rather than addressing damage after it has occurred. For example, FEMA launched the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program that shifts funds from reactive disaster spending toward investment in community resilience. With this proactive approach, sustainability and resiliency are becoming more important in flood mitigation project design.
According to the FEMA fact sheet, Natural Hazard Mitigation Save Interim Report, for every $1 spent on federal mitigation grants, an average of $6 is saved. Additionally, the losses avoided by federally funded riverine flood mitigation projects exceed the money spent, with an estimated 7x return on investment.
The cost of Hurricane Ida is estimated at around $75 billion and ranks as the number 5 most expensive hurricane is U.S. history1. Without the mitigation efforts of the USACE, it’s safe to say these costs would have been much higher. Hurricane Katrina tops the list, costing $128 billion.
The commencement of permanent and final repairs of flood-damaged Skagit River levees has turned the once quiet Skagit River Basin into a bustling construction scene of dump trucks, excavators and workers spanning five work sites and three diking districts simultaneously.
The estimated eight-week long repairs kicked off in late July and will address a half-mile stretch of levees at a combined cost of $4,622,400. Additional levee rehabilitation work is planned for Skagit Diking Districts 17 and 22 in the coming weeks.
Under a cost-share agreement, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) will cover 80% of the project cost, while the Skagit Diking Districts funds the remaining 20%.
In response to levee damages resulting from consecutive floods in 2020 and 2021, 2,400 feet of riverward banks will be repaired. In the damaged state the levees flood defense is significantly reduced. Repairs to slope failures, bank stabilization, scoured riprap armor, and cracking of riverward benches will restore the levees to their originally designed and built 50-year level of protection, or a 2% chance of flooding annually.
The impact on recreation and traffic is expected to be minimal and temporary at most work sites. The most noticeable impact will be on a heavily-used walkway for cyclists and pedestrians that connects Lions Park to downtown Mount Vernon.
Like other levee repair projects, the riverbank work will be carried out within the designated "fish window" period between June 15 and August 31, which allows construction crews to operate in the water with the least interference to salmon populations.
Janet Curran, USACE levee program manager, highlighted the significance of the Skagit River and lower Skagit Valley as critical habitats for threatened salmon species. "We are implementing several measures to mitigate impacts on salmon habitat, including the use of anchored root wads to enhance aquatic habitat."
Curran also mentioned that the planting of two rows of willow tree bundles along the repair sites. As the planted willows mature, they will provide shade, cover, and a source of terrestrial insects for juvenile salmon to eat as the young migrate to sea.
Throughout the planning process USACE officials coordinated, consulted and worked with federal, tribal and state agencies, including: Environmental Protection Agency, National Marine Fisheries Services, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, Samish Indian Tribe, Upper Skagit Indian Tribe, Tulalip Tribes of Washington, Washington State Department of Ecology, State Historic Preservation Office and Skagit County.
Torrential downpours in mid-July inundated New England with massive amounts of rainfall. Vermont and New Hampshire received the largest impacts and the water levels rose behind all of the USACE dams in the Upper Connecticut River Basin.
During this storm, at their peaks, the seven USACE dams in the Upper Connecticut River Basin in Vermont and New Hampshire collectively stored 60 billion gallons of storm water, which is equivalent to 91,000 Olympic sized swimming pools, to mitigate downstream flooding. All affected dams operated as designed.
As a result of rising reservoir levels, all recreation areas in the Upper Connecticut River Basin were closed to the public, with Ball Mountain evacuating campers from its popular Winhall Brook Campground.
“Our number one priority continues to be the life, health and safety of all potentially affected by the flooding,” said Col. John A. Atilano II, New England District Commander.
The District’s Emergency Operations Center worked closely with Operations Staff, the Dam Safety Program personnel, and the Reservoir Control Center to monitor the dams. Team members also coordinated with state and federal agencies, to include the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region 1, National Weather Service (NWS) Weather Forecast Offices as well as the NWS Northeast River Forecast Center.
On July 11, the Reservoir Control Center in Concord, Massachusetts assessed the status of the floodwaters and determined the Connecticut River was able to accept additional water. To provide space for the reservoirs to hold additional rain expected, at around 10 p.m., the Ball Mountain Dam team began slowly increasing the water being released from its reservoirs. The team at Townshend Dam released slow flows just before 1 a.m. on July 12.
During the flooding, team members at Ball Mountain, Townshend, North Springfield, Union Village, and North Hartland worked around the clock monitoring pool levels and downstream conditions. Team members at the other Upper Connecticut River Basin dams did not have to staff around the clock but kept a close eye on the water levels.
New England District technical experts on the ground in Vermont and at the Reservoir Control Center in Concord, Massachusetts assessed the status of the floodwaters and determined the Connecticut River was able to accept additional water. Inspections took place at all the basin dams to ensure they remained in good working order. The inspections are routine during a flood event. Col. Atilano praised the efforts of all the team members working the flood event.
“We have the brightest and most capable minds doing extraordinary work; this mission, as with all our projects and programs, would not be possible without our people,” said Col. Atilano.
In addition to the flood fighting efforts done by our teams at the USACE dams, FEMA mission assigned USACE debris and infrastructure subject matter experts during the flooding. Members of the team were tasked to assess 10 water treatment plants. At the state level, Vermont requested technical assistance, and District experts assisted with modeling support to predict future pool levels at dams identified by the state. The New England District team posted dam updates through all its social media outlets as well as press releases.
While pools are above normal water levels at many of our dams, we continue to release water and lower the pools as allowed by the forecast. The New England District Team will continue to monitor the situation closely and take appropriate action to ensure the safety of the public.
“I want to give a shout out to our dedicated Park Rangers, engineers, hydrologists, the Reservoir Control Center in Concord, Emergency Operations Center, geotechnical team, and all of the hard-working USACE New England team for their dedication and expertise during this event,” said Col. Atilano. “Outstanding work and I know the people of Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut appreciate it!"
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) South Atlantic Division (SAD) commander, Brigadier General Daniel Hibner, signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on June 29, 2023, with the Puerto Rico Power Authority (PREPA), to initiate the permanent repairs of the Guajataca Dam in Isabela, Puerto Rico. The total estimated cost for this project is around $1 billion. The funds will be received from PREPA with funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Disaster Recovery Funds. It is estimated that the permanent repairs will benefit 1,000 people that live directly downstream of the dam and another 250,000 that receive water from the filtration plants in Guajataca, Quebradillas, Isabela, and the mountains of Aguadilla. Governor Pedro Pierluisi was present during the signing ceremony.
“This Memorandum of Agreement sets the path for the final phase of the permanent repairs at the Guajataca Dam. This partnership is set for success, not only because of USACE expertise, but also because we have tremendous support from FEMA and the engagement and commitment of our local sponsor PREPA.” stated Brig Gen Hibner.
In 2017 Hurricane María caused failure of the spillway structure and damaged the water supply line, and the dam outlet works. Project Manager Carolina Burnette explained that the MOA paves the way for the risk analysis, which will take approximately two years. After completing this step, the design phase will occur, followed by the construction phase which is expected to last five years.
Puerto Rico’s governor, Pedro Pierluisi, stated that “this project will bring a dam that was built in 1913 to the twenty-first century. The dam will not only get the repairs needed but it will also have an alarm system that will inform first responders if evacuations are needed or will notify authorities of any other emergency that will put lives or properties at risk. The repairs will provide the Guajataca Dam with the stability, strength, and resiliency it needs for the future.”
Prior to signing of the MOA, Brig. Gen. Hibner met with Governor Pierluisi and other members of his cabinet and briefed them about Task Force Virgin Islands Puerto Rico (VIPR), as well as provided them with updates from the Puerto Rico Power Mission. The SAD Commander explained that “VIPR represents a precedent setting time in the history of USACE in the Island since the program infrastructure in Puerto Rico is larger than the last fifty years combined. This is an opportunity to make history in Puerto Rico. Task Force VIPR is about people: protect life and property of the citizens by mitigating the flood risk with leadership whose focus are the projects in both islands.”
The Power Mission, led by USACE’s District of Savannah, was also discussed before the ceremony. Regarding this mission, Brig. Gen. Hibner commented that USACE is “actively engaged in addressing the power grid challenges in Puerto Rico that have been made worse by recent hurricanes. The Corps is contributing valuable technical expertise to successfully deliver power to the grid and the infrastructure to rapidly respond to power generation and repair issues now and in the future.”
With all 17 permanent pumps inspected and restored, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will remove the contingency pumps installed on the Pratt Drive side of the London Avenue Outfall Canal in New Orleans, La. The process to carefully remove the pumps and all associated piping will begin Monday, July 10, and take approximately one month to complete.
USACE, in partnership with the U.S. Navy Supervisor of Salvage and Diving, installed 34 temporary pumps to provide emergency pumping capacity while work was underway to inspect and restore the permanent pumps at the London Avenue Permanent Canal Closures and Pumps structure. These pumps provided a combined 1,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) in pumping capacity to ensure the pump station could perform as needed while the 1,800 cfs Pump #1 was under repair. These contingency pumps are no longer necessary as the London Ave. PCCP has been restored to its full design capacity of 9,000 cfs.
Once all temporary components have been removed, USACE will begin restoration of the impacted greenspace. This work will include seeding and fertilizing the site, mulching and aerating the existing trees, pruning the crape myrtle trees, and planting two additional oak trees. A licensed horticulturalist and arborist will be hired to ensure the effort is done appropriately.
In February 2023, USACE identified corrosion as the primary cause of failure at Pump #1 at the London Avenue PCCP. In response, USACE began efforts to restore Pump #1 and worked with the PCCP Joint Venture contractor to inspect and repair, if necessary, the remaining 16 pumps at the three PCCP locations to ensure the pump stations would perform as designed during the 2023 Atlantic Hurricane season. These inspections and repairs were completed on June 1, 2023, with all pumps deemed available and reliable for hurricane season.
Following hurricane season, USACE will begin a long-term effort to deliver pumps that are sustainable, reliable and meet the 35-year design life. This work will take place outside of hurricane season and is anticipated to take multiple years.
Prior to 2023, the last major flood USACE Rock Island District battled was in 2019, a year many in the Quad City area remember vividly due to a temporary barrier failure that caused flood waters to rush into downtown Davenport, Iowa. Although flood fighting appears to be the same process each time, a number of things were done differently this year to improve response and preparedness.
Flooding this spring was primarily caused by melting snowpack in the northern portion of the river basin. It is believed that the last snowmelt-driven flood in the Rock Island District happened in 1965 and was a major flood of record. The flood of 2023 however progressed differently due to drought in the upper Midwest and allowed the predictions for the flood, by the National Weather Service, to be more accurate because no significant rain events needed to be factored in.
“The District had essentially a week to 10 days to prepare for the flood, as predicted.” said Anthony Heddlesten, lead Flood Area Engineer for the Rockford Area, which includes the Quad Cities. “The flood crest prediction was somewhere between 21 and 23 feet at Rock Island and the crest was right in that area.”
According to Heddlesten, several positive outcomes came from the flood fight in 2023. “Every flood is slightly different and all of them are growth opportunities for future planning.”
Bringing in an expert to assist communities with proper installation of the widely used HESCO gabion basket barriers was a major benefit.
“The HESCO expert immediately hopped right in (literally and figuratively) to help install the temporary barriers correctly and ensure our communities had the best knowledge and layouts to be successful,” said Heddlesten.
The use of new equipment such as inflatable culvert plugs and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) was also a big plus.
“Culvert plugs were a huge relief to local sponsors in terms of how much they had to pump,” said Heddlesten. “And using UAV (drones) to see issues from an aerial view, that were not apparent on the ground, was very useful.”
Heddlesten also noted that new technologies played a major role in support of the flood fight this spring.
“The UAVs, used for getting aerial views, had the ability to do thermal imaging, and new electrical resistivity testing equipment helped us search for voids and issues in levee and flood control structures.”
Increased training and improved outreach and communications with communities served also provided a positive outcome during the flood fight this year.
“USACE had more time to prepare and train new employees this year because of the accurate projection on when flooding would occur,” said Heddlesten. “We also had better engagement with levee districts active in the PL84-99 program and the counties and communities along the river to keep them informed of all the support we could offer.”
Flood fighting isn’t a primary role for most of the flood area engineers in the District but when the Emergency Operations Center activates, those who are properly trained are ready to take on the collateral duty assignment and assist.
According to Sarah Jones, Emergency Management Chief, “our FAEs are successful because they have developed strong relationships with public sponsors through the Continued Eligibility Inspection Program. Their knowledge of the levee system features, local flood fight plans, and flood fight techniques make them invaluable to the levee sponsors and local communities they serve. Many of our flood team members have served for decades. That tells you something about the mission, and their servant hearts. It’s one of my favorite parts about this job.”
When you feel like you’re just walking down the block, your presence as a member of the USACE team brings a level of trust, confidence, a feeling of safety to the people around you, said Heddlesten. “It just really makes you proud to be a part of the team and even though having to respond to a disaster is not something you want to do, it’s a very rewarding experience being able to bring that help to our neighbors.”
The Institute for Water Resources’(IWR) Hydrologic Engineering Center (HEC), located in Davis, CA, takes home the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Innovation of the Year Award for adding Post-Wildfire Modeling capabilities to its software. These software capabilities provide prediction tools that engineers can use to anticipate a unique type of flooding that can follow a combination of fire and floods.
The software development was led by a USACE project delivery team with collaboration between HEC, the Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory, and USACE District Engineers, who incorporated the post-wildfire modeling capabilities into HEC's hydrology and hydraulic software. What resulted was award-winning predictive capabilities that advances the nation’s fight against floods, and especially post-wildfire flooding.
Hydrologic Engineering Center Director, Chris Dunn, highlighted the significance of the achievement. “The team’s efforts culminated in truly groundbreaking capabilities which are of great value to the nation and to the engineers who use the tools. The engineers analyze watersheds where wildfires have occurred, and they attempt to predict what could happen in watersheds where wildfires may occur in the future. The incorporation of these capabilities into HEC-HMS and HEC-RAS will better help engineers, emergency planners, and the public understand their risks and appropriately prepare. A big part of our jobs is to understand and help others understand their risks. These capabilities have helped us to do so in a big way.”
According to Stanford Gibson, HEC’s Sediment Transport Specialist, the modeling tool is increasingly relevant due to an uptick in wildfires in the western United States and the destructive or deadly nature of wildfires, and the potential for mud and debris flows to follow. “Wildfires are kind of a big deal these days. But after the wildfire, the danger isn’t over. The fire changes the landscape, so subsequent rain can cause sudden mud and debris flows. We added analysis tools to our software – which is already industry standard for flood risk – to forecast the impact of these events and plan emergency management actions,” Gibson said.
Specifically, the models are now superpowered by a library of new equations to handle the unique physics of these events which improves the agency’s ability to more anticipate the likelihood and magnitude of a post-fire event, where it will flow and how deep the flooding will be. “This is crucial for emergency assessments and mitigation measures,” said Dr. Jay Pak, HEC Hydraulic Engineer, “as it allows USACE to more accurately predict post-fire flood risk and respond accordingly. Additionally, the establishment of a long-term modeling framework enables USACE to continuously simulate post-fire flooding, debris flow risk, and ecology recovery in downstream ecosystems and communities over a 10-year period,” Pak said.
These capabilities are critical for USACE as the agency has a role in responding to post-wildfire hazards. “As the nation’s premier flood risk agency, our partners turn to us when they face any kind of flood risk, whether the water is blue (traditional flood water) or brown (mud and debris-filled flood waters). They expect us to have the capabilities to forecast their flood risk and evaluate mitigation alternatives, no matter the scenario, which requires increased analysis since the physics of mud and debris flows is more complicated than water. This effort got the tools our Corps districts need into their hands to meet these expectations for post-wildfire hazards,” Gibson said.
In addition to increasing predictive capabilities and response efforts, the software also increases opportunities for collaboration among key partners, thanks in part to the research and development touchpoints occurring between state, local and federal agencies utilizing the software. Pak emphasized that such cross-agency collaboration can lead to more effective and efficient emergency response and risk mitigation measures, such as was recognized in the innovation award. “The team behind this innovation can be proud of the fact that we developed new capabilities in the HEC-Hydrologic Modeling System (HEC-HMS) and the HEC-River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) from scratch through research, software development, technical transfer, and applications. This is a significant achievement that required a lot of hard work, collaboration, and expertise from multiple organizations and individuals. The fact that we were able to develop these capabilities from scratch demonstrates our innovation, creativity, and dedication to improving emergency assessments and mitigation measures for post-fire hydrological phenomenon. This award is a recognition of our hard work and a testament to the impact that our innovation can have on protecting communities and infrastructure from the effects of post-fire flooding,” said Pak. He also added, “Personally, this was a dream come true for me as it provided a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to utilize my previous Ph.D. research in developing new capabilities for post-wildfire hydrology and debris flow.”
Gibson also reflected upon the team’s achievement, acknowledging the truly innovative approach required. “The hydraulics include some pretty “crunchy” math. Mud and debris flows aren’t water and require new physics and theory. It delves into the world of rheology (which partly studies the flow of complex liquids) and non-Newtonian physics (which studies fluids that depart from Newton’s viscosity assumptions), both of which are fun for someone like me,” said Gibson. “But by getting it into HEC-RAS, the flood risk model that our agency (and ~100,000 people around the world) already use, we got these capabilities into the field, and they were used in planning and emergency management studies in four different USACE districts within a year of release. We trained more than 40 people on these tools at the first class in late April, which means that within a couple years of their release they are just part of the Corp’s wildfire response,” Gibson added.
Gibson also addressed key players in the achievement saying, “We collaborated with USACE Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) to develop the algorithms and library…particularly Dr. Ian Floyd, ERDC research physical scientist, and Dr. Alex Sánchez, senior hydraulic engineer at HEC did a lot of the HEC-RAS development.
The PDT is also releasing web videos on the theory and practice behind these new methods. The post-wildfire team has developed seven videos on these topics that have been viewed over 7,500 times since their release. The team has embedded these videos directly into the online user help features, making them directly accessible from the software.
Visit https://www.hec.usace.army.mil/confluence/rasdocs/rasmuddebris to learn more about this innovative capability or https://www.hec.usace.army.mil/software/hec-hms/training.aspx to access a training material link which is a portal to the HMS capabilities and videos.
About HEC:
The primary goal of the Hydrologic Engineering Center (CEIWR-HEC) is to support the nation in its water resources management responsibilities by increasing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) technical capability in hydrologic engineering and water resources planning and management. One way CEIWR-HEC accomplishes this goal is by bringing state-of-the-art research and development into state-of-the-practice, which advances hydrologic engineering and water resources planning.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District will begin the process early Thursday morning to take full control of water releases from Isabella Lake as temperatures heat up.
Beginning at approximately 12 a.m. Thursday, operators will begin a phased process to briefly stop the release of water from Isabella Lake into Isabella Partners’ hydropower plant at the foot of the main dam. Once releases have stopped, power plant operators will drain the conduit and fully open the plant’s gates. Then dam operators will begin releasing water again, gradually increasing the outflow to the current target of approximately 6,200 cubic feet of water per second.
This flood risk reduction measure will enable USACE to fully control the rate at which controlled water releases enter the Kern River ahead of increased temperatures and reservoir inflows due to snowmelt runoff. Currently, the hydropower plant controls that rate.
It will take approximately six hours to stop flows through the hydropower plant, with releases expected to be reduced by 1,000 cfs each hour. After power plant operators evacuate the conduit and fully open the hydropower plant gates, USACE will restart releases at 500 cfs and will increase outflow by 500 cfs per hour for about 12 hours, or until the release reaches the target outflow.
USACE strongly discourages activities in or around downstream waterways because currents are expected to fluctuate significantly, increasing danger for anyone in the water or along banks.
USACE continues to coordinate controlled water releases with local and state agencies to add flood control space in our reservoirs and to help reduce the impacts of snowmelt runoff or potential future precipitation. Our number one priority continues to be the life, health, and safety of the public.
For emergency information and planning resources, please visit:
Kern County Emergency Plans: https://kerncountyfire.org/education-safety/emergency-plans/
Kern County Emergency Alert Program: https://kerncountyfire.org/education-safety/ready-kern/
California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services: www.caloes.ca.gov
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, closed several Mississippi River locks and dams to all commercial and recreational traffic this past weekend and anticipates more closures in the coming days.
The current lock and dam closures with the St. Paul District include:
• Lower St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam, Minneapolis;
• Lock and Dam 1, Minneapolis;
• Lock and Dam 3, Welch, Minnesota;
• Lock and Dam 4, Alma, Wisconsin;
• Lock and Dam 5, Minnesota City, Minnesota;
• Lock and Dam 5A, Fountain City, Wisconsin;
• Lock and Dam 6, Trempealeau, Wisconsin; and
• Lock and Dam 8, Genoa, Wisconsin;
Corps officials anticipate closing Lock and Dam 10, Guttenberg, Iowa, within the next day.
All of the locks are expected to be closed for around a week to 10 days depending on the location and river levels and when it is safe to resume navigation. Lock and Dam 2, Hastings, Minnesota; Lock and Dam 7, La Crescent, Minnesota; and Lock and Dam 9, Lynxville, Wisconsin, are not expected to close at this time.
