Every winter, two key budget documents and the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) Capital Week briefings in Washington D.C. provide information about the U.S. Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) civil works program. This year, the President released his Fiscal Year 2024 (FY2024) budget proposal in March. You can examine the details of the Fiscal Year 2024 Civil Works Budget of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers online. Although the Corps’ next year’s budget is large and diverse, what mainly interests me is the current fiscal year work plan. This work plan tells me what USACE will actually be working on this year.
USACE delivered that work plan to Congress on February 27, and it allocates FY2023-appropriated funds to start, continue, or complete studies, construction projects, and operations and maintenance activities. Because Congress didn’t pass a budget until three months into the fiscal year, the process of providing certainty of funding for these activities was delayed six months.
The SAME Capital Week briefings confirm the information provided in the documents described above and provide an opportunity to query USACE leaders on how they intend to execute their program.
Highlights of the USACE Civil Works Program Work Plan
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 provided $8.31 billion in FY2023 for the Civil Works program appropriated into five accounts: Investigations, Construction, Operations and Maintenance, Mississippi River and Tributaries (MRT), and Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP).
In the Appropriations Act, Congress allocated $6.4 billion for specific programs, projects, and activities in a “Statement of Managers Amount.” USACE is responsible for allocating the remainder appropriated, or $1.9 billion.
The work plan lays out in detail the funding for every program, project, and activity, as shown below:
So what does that mean to your community, state and/or clients?
You can find the details of the USACE work plan, including spreadsheets that list all major studies and construction projects, organized by the five major accounts here. Each spreadsheet shows all the studies or projects in that account, and they are organized by state.
Given Mead & Hunt’s Water Resources offices in California, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Wisconsin, some of the studies I’m most interested in are:
- Redbank and Fancher Creeks, California
- Sacramento River, Yolo Bypass, California
- Lower Missouri River Basin, Kansas, Missouri, and Iowa
- Little Blue River Basin, Jackson County, Missouri
- Planning Assistance to States
The construction projects that caught my eye were:
- McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System, 12-FT Channel, Arkansas and Oklahoma
- American River Common Features, Natomas Basin, California
- West Sacramento, California
- Continuing Authorities Program (CAP – Section 14 & Section 205)
The operations and maintenance projects that caught my eye included:
- Missouri River – Sioux City to the Mouth
- Council Grove Lake, Kansas – Bulkhead modification
- Harlan County Lake, Nebraska – Rehabilitate lagoon
- Hugo Lake, Oklahoma – New bulkhead
- Kaw Lake, Oklahoma – New spillway bridge design
- McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System, Oklahoma – Major maintenance of tainter and miter gates
- Skiatook Lake, Oklahoma – Design work to rehabilitate low flow gate and wet well
- Tenkiller Ferry Lake, Oklahoma – Tainter gate repairs
- Wister Lake, Oklahoma – Replace sluice and emergency gates
- Denison Dam, Lake Texoma, Texas – Cumberland Levee repair
- Lake Kemp, Texas – Paint tainter gates
I intend to learn more about these studies and projects by visiting the owning USACE District’s website and talking to them. You can do the same for the studies and projects that most interest you. I look forward to comparing notes at the upcoming SAME JETC from May 2-4 in San Antonio, Texas to see what we might be able to work on together. You will be able to find me at Mead & Hunt’s booth.
