Additional FY2017 Funding Will Support Flood Control, Harbor Dredging, Levee Maintenance, Environmental Infrastructure Projects
U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, today announced the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will allocate an additional $67.5 million in FY2017 appropriations funding to support flood control, navigation and other projects throughout Mississippi.
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017 provided funding above the budget request for the Army Corps to use at its discretion to advance ongoing Civil Works projects and ensure continued improvements to the national economy and public safety. The new funding for Mississippi is outlined in the Army Corps FY2017 Work Plan.
“The Army Corps of Engineers Work Plan invests additional funding provided by Congress on projects that were not included or insufficiently funded in the 2017 budget request. I am pleased the Army Corps will direct significant resources to Mississippi to improve the management and operation of waterways, levees, and public works,” Cochran said.
Cochran serves on the appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over the Army Corps, and advocated Mississippi projects for Work Plan funding.
The Work Plan directs funding toward flood control projects in the Yazoo Basin and other tributary basins, including the Delta Headwaters, Upper Yazoo, Big Sunflower River and Yazoo Backwater Area projects. The plan funds maintenance dredging at Mississippi harbors on the Mississippi River and the Gulf Coast. It also provides funding to support wastewater projects for Jackson County and the cities of Jackson and Crystal Springs.
The additional $67.5 million brings total Army Corps funding in the state to more than $136.9 million this fiscal year, when combined with $70 million for Mississippi-specific Army Corps projects funded in the recent FY2017 Consolidated Appropriations Act (PL.115-31). The state will also benefit from $22 million provided in the legislation for research activities primarily carried out at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) in Vicksburg.
The following is a review of projects affected by the FY2017 Work Plan:
The Work Plan will direct additional Mississippi River &Tributaries (MR&T) construction funding to the following projects in Mississippi, none of which were included in the budget request:
- $11.0 million to continue construction on Upper Yazoo Projects, which includes levee and channel features along the Yazoo, Tallahatchie, and Coldwater rivers from Yazoo City to Arkabutla Lake in DeSoto County;
- $8.25 million to the Delta Headwaters Project, which consists of 16 watersheds in Mississippi ranging from one to 600 square miles, and provides important flood control, water quality, and sediment reduction benefits in 16 counties;
- $6.0 million to complete Yazoo Backwater Area Project sediment control structure construction which will help control backwater flooding from the Mississippi River in a 2,000-square-mile area between Vicksburg, Hollandale and Belzoni;
- $2.45 million to continue Big Sunflower River sediment control structure construction to improve drainage in a 752 square-mile area from Greenville to just north of Vicksburg;
- $8.1 million to assist Mississippi River Channel Improvement activities; and
- $4.6 million for design, mitigation and asphalt paving on Mississippi’s mainline levee.
Work Plan funding will supplement FY2017 funding for MR&T Operation and Maintenance projects, including:
- $2.6 million for Yazoo Backwater Area Project levee, structure, and gate maintenance and replacement (FY2017 total: $3.14 million);
- $1.26 million for Grenada Lake structure maintenance, recreation services, and berm construction (FY2017 total: $6.75 million);
- $950,000 for Jesse Brent Lower Mississippi River Museum in Vicksburg operation and maintenance, and for Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks management of 14,910 acres of Wildlife Management Areas at Lake George, Muscadine and Sky Lake (FY2017 total: $950,000);
- $847,000 for Arkabutla Lake dam and structure maintenance, and recreation services (FY2017 total: $6.33 million);
- $629,000 for Sardis Lake operation and maintenance, and levee slide repairs (FY2017 total: $7.29 million);
- $576,000 for Greenville Harbor maintenance dredging and navigation project surveys (FY2017 total: $600,000);
- $425,000 for Enid Lake dam and structure maintenance, recreation services, and environmental stewardship (FY2017 total: $5.44 million);
- $150,000 for Vicksburg Harbor maintenance dredging and navigation project surveys (FY2017 total: $192,000);
- $100,000 for Big Sunflower River project operation and maintenance, Muscadine Complex maintenance, and mitigation area maintenance (FY2017 total: $285,000);
- $25,000 for Inspections of 98 miles of levee and associated structures (FY2017 total: 92,000);
- $6.3 million for Mississippi River channel dredging and bank revetment work; and
- $1.7 million for gravel replacement and maintenance of Mississippi River levee roads.
Work Plan funding under the Army Civil Works Program will supplement operation and maintenance, including the following dredging projects:
- $3.0 million for Gulfport Harbor to support full dredging increment for bar channel (FY2017 total: $8.22 million);
- $1.0 million for Pascagoula Harbor to support dredging for bar channel (FY2017 total: $2.36 million);
- $600,000 for Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway to support cultural resources site monitoring and protection; and wall replacements to protect Piney Grove Campground campsites (FY2017 total: $29.8 million);
- $566,000 for Rosedale Harbor to support maintenance dredging (FY2017 total: $575,000);
- $276,000 for Mouth of the Yazoo River to support annual clearing and snagging of the channel to maintain authorized dimensions of the Yazoo River, Vicksburg Harbor and Yazoo Canal confluence (FY2017 total: $310,000);
- $99,000 for Claiborne County Port to support maintenance dredging (FY2017 total: $100,000); and
- $81,000 for Yazoo River to support maintenance dredging on the Mississippi River in Warren County (FY2017 total: $102,000).
The Work Plan funds Environmental Infrastructure projects no included in the budget request, including:
- $3.0 million for Jackson County to support design of a system to reclaim treated wastewater effluent from points in southern Jackson County; and
- $2.72 million to support a wastewater interceptor rehabilitation system for the City of Jackson, and repair and replacement for Crystal Springs.
Courtesy of the Office of Senator Thad Cochran.
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