The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) delivered to Congress its Fiscal Year 2021 Work Plan for the Army Civil Works program on Jan. 19, 2021, and work at several dams is included.
In the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, Public Law 116-260, Division D is the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2021. Of the appropriations provided for the Army Civil Works program, $7.3 billion is appropriated in five accounts: Investigations; Construction; Operation and Maintenance; Mississippi River and Tributaries; and the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP).
The act allocates about $5.1 billion of the total for these five accounts to specific programs, projects and activities (PPA). USACE is responsible for allocating the remainder in these accounts, about $2.3 billion, to specific PPAs. The allocation of these additional funds is presented in the Work Plan.
The Army Civil Works program includes funds for the planning, design, construction, and operation and maintenance of water resources projects, with a focus on the highest-performing work within the three main Civil Works mission areas: commercial navigation, flood and storm damage reduction, and aquatic ecosystem restoration. It also funds programs that contribute to protection of the nation’s waters and wetlands; generation of low-cost renewable hydropower; restoration of certain sites contaminated as a result of the nation’s early atomic weapons development program; and emergency preparedness and training to respond to natural disasters.
The additional funding not allocated to specified PPAs in the five appropriations is subdivided into numerous categories and subcategories within these broad areas:
- Navigation: $1.3 billion
- Flood risk management: $0.5 billion
- Other authorized project purposes: $0.4 billion
- FUSRAP: $0.20 billion
The Work Plan identifies the projects, programs, and activities within the Civil Works program that will receive the FY 2021 funding and how much each will receive. With the total funding for this fiscal year, the Work Plan funds to completion 10 feasibility studies, 17 projects in the preconstruction engineering and design phase, and 17 construction projects or elements of projects.
Dams are included in several of the studies funded in the Work Plan. They include:
Studies Funded for Completion in FY 2021: Cape Fear Locks and Dams 1-3, NC (Disposition Study)
Construction Projects Funded for Completion in FY 2021:
- Albeni Falls Dam (Fish Passage), ID
- Melvin Price Lock and Dam, IL & MO (Deficiency Correction)
- General Edgar Jadwin Dam and Reservoir, PA
Public Law 116-260 requires USACE to fund eight new studies in the Investigations account, one new study in the Mississippi River and Tributaries account, and seven new projects in the Construction account. The Army selected nine previously unfunded studies and seven previously unfunded construction projects
Among the eight new studies funded in the Investigations account is Claiborne and Millers Ferry Locks and Dams (Fish Passage), Lower Alabama River, AL. And among the seven selected construction projects is Albeni Falls Dam (Fish Passage), ID.
The mission of the USACE is to deliver vital public and military engineering services; partnering in peace and war to strengthen our nation’s security, energize the economy and reduce risks from disasters.
