U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers Research Articles

Republic of Palau

Republic of Palau Donald R. Shuster (bio) The major issues for 2007–2008 were the activities of the Republic of Palau (ROP) executive and the National Congress (Olbiil Era Kelulau, or OEK); relations with the United States, Taiwan, and Indonesia; the special prosecutor; fishing; and activities of the rural states. President Tommy E Remengesau Jr is nearing the end of his eight-year presidency and departing as one of Time magazine's "heroes of the environment" for his Micronesia Challenge initiative. This commitment involves the conservation of 30 percent of a nation's marine environment and 20 percent of its terrestrial resources by the year 2020. All the states of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Palau, the Marshall Islands, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands have signed on to the [End Page 136] challenge. Remengesau attended the Bali international conference on the environment, and Minister of State Temmy Shmull accepted a $3. 6 million grant from the European Union to fund renewable energy and sustainable alternative energy projects. Remengesau met briefly with US Secretary of Interior Dirk Kempthorne while attending the tenth annual Coral Reef Task Force meeting in Washington DC. At a series of conferences to celebrate Israel's sixtieth birthday (1948–2008), Remengesau called on the assembled leaders to develop alternative renewable energy sources, including wind, solar, and water. The conference moderator, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, commended Remengesau for his brevity and passion. Israel has assisted Palau with fish farming, medicine, and radiology. Furthermore, in April Taiwan donated a half million dollars to the Micronesia Challenge trust fund and, perhaps inspired by this action, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, and Spain also agreed to contribute. President Remengesau presented a $67. 9 million budget to the Olbiil Era Kelulau in July 2007, rather than in April as usual. The budget included a $10. 3 million deficit that the president maintained could be covered by an increase in taxes as recommended by a Tax Task Force. The National Congress balked and Palau did not have an approved budget on 1 October 2007, the beginning of the fiscal year. The disappointed president finally approved a compromise budget of $59. 4 million at the end of November. The National Congress agreed on increases to the hotel room tax and fish export tax, and addressed other tax increases on advice from World Bank and Asian Development Bank experts. The big event of the year was the official opening of the US-funded, fifty-three-mile, $149 million Compact Road on Independence Day, 1 October. An engineering marvel that tested the resolve of Daewoo Engineering and Construction Corporation by running badly over budget and beyond all timelines, the road is a magnificent achievement of design and construction. The US Army Corps of Engineers will be responsible for clearing future landslides, and some twenty Daewoo workmen will remain in Palau for the one-year road warranty period. Remengesau is also hoping to enhance his legacy with the completion of the $11. 9 million Koror-Airai arterial road rehabilitation project by Japan's Nishimatsu Construction Company. The current urban road system, built in 1980–1981, is well worn. By executive action, Remengesau created the Oil and Gas Task Force. With representation from most segments of Palauan society, the group, chaired by Senator Santy Asanuma, recognized that it still needed to enlarge its membership, being "duty bound to safeguard and protect the varying interests of all Palauan stakeholders, inclusive of both the national and individual states without prejudice" (TB, 11–17 Jan 2008, 2; emphasis added). The World Bank has provided $223, 300 to finance technical assistance to the task force, including consulting services to develop a hydrocarbon code and model agreement, petroleum operation regulations that respect environmental regulations, and hydrocarbon tax regulations. [End Page 137] This is all taking place without knowing whether or not oil exists in commercially valuable quantities north of Kayangel Atoll, the northern-most island area in Palau. In light of the terrible consequences of the 2006 bankruptcy of the Pacific Savings Bank, Remengesau signed into law a bill amending the Financial Institutions Act of 2001. The amendment will require an annual external audit of all banks...

From reclamation to restoration: Trinity River common vision for the 21st century

For most of the past 150 years, the dream for the Trinity River in north central Texas was that of a federally‐funded navigation canal with barges transporting goods more than 300 miles to and from the Gulf of Mexico. An 1898 promotional button proclaimed the dream: “Dallas ‐ The Inland Seaport of Texas.” Since then the region has grown into America's largest metropolitan region located on an inland waterway. The region's population now exceeds 6 million; its area is about 33,000 square kilometers. When the 19th‐century dream of a barge canal died in the early 1980's because of changing federal priorities, it was replaced by new local pressures to fill and reclaim significant portions of the floodplain. Studies by the US Army Corps of Engineers with the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) demonstrated the devastating effects that massive reclamation would have on existing properties, especially to the downstream Dallas levee system. From these important discussions emerged an unprecedented local/state/federal partnership to more comprehensively address the problems and opportunities of the river corridor and watershed towards a Trinity River Common Vision for the 21st‐century: • Safe Trinity River, with stabilization and reduction of flooding risks; • Clean Trinity River, with fishable and swimmable waters; • Enjoyable Trinity River, with recreational opportunities linked by a Trinity Trails System within a world‐class greenway; • Natural Trinity River, with preservation and restoration of riparian and cultural resources; • Diverse Trinity River, with local and regional economic, transportation, and other public needs met. This paper describes the evolution of the Trinity River Common Vision over the past 20 years, highlights successful regionwide projects to stabilize and reduce flood risks such as the innovative Corridor Development Certificate process, and shows the remarkable progress of the region's three largest cities ‐ Dallas, Fort Worth and Arlington. All illustrate the movement from reclamation to restoration, from structural to non‐structural, from a 19th‐century barge canal to a 21st‐century Trinity River Common Vision.

Improving the Grade on Water Resources Infrastructure

Although many of the practices and procedures that guide the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Civil Works Program are well established and proven, there are too many other practices within Congress, the executive branch, and the USACE that are archaic and counterproductive. These practices do a disservice to the taxpayer without enhancing the built environment or the natural environment. If there ever was any doubt about the risk posed to the public by inferior water resources infrastructure, and the importance of the program to our economic and environmental well-being, I believe that Hurricane Katrina dispelled it. I provide recommendations to improve our twenty-first century water resources infrastructure through the development of a national water policy, revision of the Principles and Guidelines, improvements to funding mechanisms, and better management of the Civil Works Program and the USACE. I also incorporate some of the infrastructure planning lessons from Hurricane Katrina.

Recruitment of Estuarine-Dependent Nekton Through a New Tidal Inlet: the Opening of Packery Channel in Corpus Christi, TX, USA

The US Army Corps of Engineers recently dredged and permanently reopened Packery Channel, historically a natural tidal inlet, to allow water exchange between the Gulf of Mexico and the Laguna Madre, TX, USA. The main objective of this study was to characterize estuarine-dependent recruitment and community structure in seagrass habitats adjacent to Packery Channel pre- and post-channel opening. We sampled fish and crustacean abundance using an epibenthic sled in Halodule wrightii seagrass meadows in both control and impact locations over 2 years, 1 year before the opening of Packery Channel (October 2004–May 2005) and 1 year after (July 2005–April 2006). Using the before–after control–impact design, we found significantly fewer nekton post-channel opening. However, we found significantly higher mean densities of newly settled estuarine-dependent species (Sciaenops ocellatus, Micropogonias undulatus, Lagodon rhomboides, Callinectes sapidus, and penaeid shrimp) post-opening. Multivariate analyses showed significant community assemblage changes post-opening with increased contribution of estuarine-dependent species post-opening. Our results show that estuarine-dependent nekton are using Packery Channel as a means of ingress into areas of the upper Laguna Madre’s seagrass meadows that were previously inaccessible, which may lead to higher fisheries productivity for some of these economically and ecologically important fishery species.

Mitigation under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act: where it comes from, what it means

The requirement to mitigate impacts to wetlands and streams is a frequently misunderstood policy with a long and complicated history. We narrate the history of mitigation since the inception of the Clean Water Act Section 404 permit program in 1972, through struggles between the US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Army Corps of Engineers, through the emerging importance of wetland conservation on the American political landscape, and through the rise of market-based approaches to environmental policy. Mitigation, as it is understood today, was not initially foreseen as a component of the Section 404 permitting program, but was adapted from 1978 regulations issued by the Council on Environmental Quality as a way of replacing the functions of filled wetlands where permit denials were unlikely. EPA and the Corps agreed in 1990 to define mitigation as the three steps of avoidance, minimization, and compensation, principles which must be applied to permit decisions in the form of the environmental criteria in EPA’s 404(b)(1) Guidelines. Through the 1980s and 1990s, the compensation component of mitigation has become nearly the sole focus of mitigation policy development, and has been the subject of numerous guidance documents and memoranda since 1990. Avoidance and minimization have received far less policy attention, and this lack of policy development may represent a missed opportunity to implement effective wetland conservation.

Public Versus Private Capital: Is There a Difference?

Large capital investments present some significant conceptual difficulties when it comes to accounting for cost recovery, economic life and economic return. When the private sector owns and operates such assets, there are relatively standard, if sometimes controversial, accounting concepts to deal with such issues, most notably depreciation. When the public sector is the owner and operator of such capital, the general absence of private equity and the consequent lack of a PL the economic capital stock model that is being used by the Federal Highway Administration and the US Army Corps of Engineers; and performance budgeting for assets. In reviewing and analyzing these approaches the following questions will be considered: Is public capital different from private capital and if so, why so and how so? How should accounting and budgeting procedures differ in the public versus the private case? What public processes will ensure optimal management of capital? What pubic policies are recommended? What unique challenges do PPP's represent?

Implementing Benefit/Cost Analysis in Federal Agencies: Concepts, Practices, and Issues

This paper reviews benefit-cost practices at US agencies. The first issue to be addressed, and the one that provides a conceptual foundation for all that follows, is What do we mean by benefit/cost analysis? and How do we define and measure After discussing that issue, the paper examines and categorizes benefit-cost analysis methods used for evaluating infrastructure investments by four different agencies: US Environmental Protection Agency; US Army Corps of Engineers; US Department of Agriculture; and the US Federal Aviation Administration. The preliminary criteria developed raise as well as answer methodological questions. In particular, is the current set of choices of analytical tools large enough? Are there additional tools, or hybrids of existing tools, which should be developed to answer the questions at hand? Do the tools actually capture all of the benefits?

An Australian Industry Viewpoint: The Contractor Delivering Results for the Rehabilitation of Nations at War

WorleyParsons conducted many difficult contracts for the US Army Corps of Engineers overseeing the reconstruction of Iraq, restoring oil services, the electric grid, and road, rail and port infrastructure. WorleyParsons faced four major challenges in delivering these major projects. First was a difficult contractual relationship where the contractors (US Army Corps of Engineers) issued contracts according to their goals which sometimes differed from those of the operators—of which there were many in the Iraqi Government. Second, the Iraqis’ understanding of their own infrastructure was poor, and activity to repair or improve it was consequently difficult. Third, the state of supporting infrastructure and engineering expertise was problematic, causing difficulties in the delivery of higher-order infrastructure. Fourth, security was an ever-present concern, and the sporadic involvement of coalition forces in securing worksites prevented steady progress from being made. Flexibility and a focus on security were the two major lessons learned by the engineers of WorleyParsons during their time working in Iraq. Finally, for private contractors to operate efficiently and effectively on reconstruction projects during conflict, support, partnership, trust and information sharing at all levels between military and contractor personnel must be established and nurtured at all times. This will help to minimise friction and maximise the potential benefits that civilian contractors can bring to these types of reconstruction operations.

Emergency management international: improving national and international disaster preparedness and response

Since 1998, the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has been responsible for managing activities of the Civil Military Emergency Preparedness (CMEP) programme, in Europe and Central Asia. CMEP supports international partner nations' national and regional strategies related to disaster preparedness and consequence management for all hazards including the development and exercise of national and regional plans. The use of available technologies including the internet, remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and reliable civil-military planning processes, are key programme components. More than 55 seminars, workshops and Table Top Exercises (TTXs) have occurred since the programme's inception. In 2005, USACE developed Emergency Management International (EMI), a programme designed to provide CMEP – and a broader range of USACE expertise – globally. This paper explains these programmes and provides a review of their evolution and the services offered. We examine the necessary conditions for effective disaster planning, preparedness and response for large disasters requiring national and international coordination and cooperation and examples of techniques used and outcomes of CMEP activities. The paper concludes with a discussion of a proposed approach to addressing all hazards responses for oil-related disasters in Africa.

A simple method for estimating flood flow around bridges

The software program HEC-RAS from the Hydrologic Engineering Center (HEC) of the US Army Corps of Engineers is probably one of the most commonly used methods in the world for computing water surface profiles in rivers. The energy method (one of the four bridge subroutines within HEC-RAS) computes the bridge backwater (the upstream surface increase) by applying standard step calculations five times from the end of the expansion reach up to the beginning of the contraction reach, using two different transition loss coefficients and different reach lengths. The aim of this study was to estimate the backwater in a less cumbersome and practical way, without sacrificing accuracy. A one-step energy method is suggested, based on a comprehensive set of laboratory bridge backwater data from compound channels. The proposed method gives an absolute mean error of 10% when applied to these laboratory data and an absolute mean error of 25% when applied to field data collected by the United States Geological Survey including actual flood profiles through many bridges.

Multireservoir real-time operations for flood control using balanced water level index method

This paper presents a real-time simulation-optimization operation procedure for determining the reservoir releases at each time step during a flood. The proposed procedure involves two models, i.e., a hydrological forecasting model and a reservoir operation model. In the reservoir operation model, this paper compares two flood-control operation strategies for a multipurpose multireservoir system. While Strategy 1 is the real-time joint reservoir operations without using the balanced water level index (BWLI) method, Strategy 2 involves real-time joint reservoir operations using the BWLI method. The two strategies presented are formulated as mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) problems. The idea of using the BWLI method is derived from the HEC-5 program developed by the US Army Corps of Engineers. The proposed procedure has been applied to the Tanshui River Basin system in Taiwan using the 6 h ahead forecast data of six typhoons. A comparison of the results obtained from the two strategies reveals that Strategy 2 performs much better than Strategy 1 in determining the reservoir real-time releases throughout the system during flood emergencies in order to minimize flooding, while maintaining all reservoirs in the system in balance if possible. Consequently, the proposed model using the BWLI method demonstrates its effectiveness in estimating real-time releases.

Water quality characteristics of two reservoir lakes in eastern Connecticut, USA

AbstractThe Mansfield Hollow Lake (MHL) and Willimantic Reservoir (WR) are two reservoirs located in eastern Connecticut in the north‐eastern USA. The MHL was constructed by the US Army Corps of Engineers in 1952, being primarily fed by the Fenton, Mount Hope and Natchaug Rivers. The WR lies downstream from the Mansfield Hollow Dam. The physical and chemical characteristics of MHL, WR, and the three streams discharging into them were intensively evaluated during four sampling quarters in 2001 and 2002. This study focused on possible sources of eutrophication, and occurrence of trace amounts of selected priority pollutants, in the sediments and waters of MHL and WR. Analytical results for total dissolved nitrogen and phosphorus and chlorophyll‐a indicated that, in terms of eutrophication status, the waterbodies can be classified as mesotrophic. Comparison of the analytical results in this study to historical limnological data reported for lakes in southern New England and eastern Connecticut indicates that the median levels of total nitrogen, total phosphorus, dissolved inorganic carbon, calcium, magnesium, and iron measured in this study were higher than previously reported median values.

Genetic effects of habitat fragmentation on blue sucker populations in the upper Missouri River (Cycleptus elongatus Lesueur, 1918)

The blue sucker, Cycleptus elongatus, is a large catostomid fish that occurs in main stem rivers throughout the Mississippi basin of North America. Although not federally listed as threatened or endangered, populations are not considered stable in any of 21 states where they occur. Included in the range is the Missouri River, which flows more than 3,200 km from Montana to St. Louis, Missouri. Historically, C. elongatus was distributed con- tinuously throughout the main stem Missouri and its major tributaries, but from 1952 to 1963, six major impound- ments were constructed on the upper Missouri by the US Army Corps of Engineers. The resulting reservoirs have inundated and fragmented large riverine habitat from Yankton, South Dakota to the headwaters. C. elongatus still occurs in remnant stretches between reservoirs; how- ever, little is known of the impacts of the dams on these populations. In order to test for such effects, 231 individ- uals from nine sites were genotyped at 14 variable microsatellite loci. An additional 142 individuals from six sites in the Mississippi River were also genotyped for comparative purposes. In the Missouri, allelic richness was reduced in inter-reservoir sites relative to those in the free flowing lower river. In addition, significant isolation by distance occurs in the Missouri, a pattern not present in the unimpounded Mississippi. These results are consistent with reduced intradrainage gene flow in the Missouri River and are the first to indicate effects of impoundments on genetic structure in the system. This information will assist gov- erning agencies in making informed decisions regarding conservation of C. elongatus in the Missouri River drain- age and throughout the range.

Performance Criteria, Compliance Success, and Vegetation Development in Compensatory Mitigation Wetlands

The US Army Corps of Engineers often requires wetland creation or restoration as compensation for wetlands damaged during development. These wetlands are typically monitored postconstruction to determine the level of compliance with respect to site-specific performance standards. However, defining appropriate goals and measuring success of restorations has proven difficult. We reviewed monitoring information for 76 wetlands constructed between 1992 and 2002 to summarize the performance criteria used to measure progress, assess compliance with those criteria, and, finally, to evaluate the appropriateness of those criteria. Goals were overwhelmingly focused on plant communities. Attributes used to assess the quality of restored plant communities, including percent native species and the Floristic Quality Index, increased over time but were apparently unrelated to the number of species planted. Compliance frequencies varied depending on site goals; sites often failed to comply with criteria related to survival of planted vegetation or requirements that dominant plant species should not be exotic or weedy, whereas criteria related to the establishment of cover by vegetation or by wetland-dependent plants were often met. Judgment of a site's success or failure was largely a function of the goals set for the site. Some performance criteria were too lenient to be of value in distinguishing failed from successful sites, whereas other criteria were unachievable without more intensive site management. More appropriate goals could be devised for restored wetlands by basing performance standards on past performance of similar restorations, identifying consistent temporal trends in attributes of restored sites, and using natural wetlands as references.

Public Participation as Participatory Communication in Environmental Policy Decision-Making: From Concepts to Structured Conversations

This essay attempts to distinguish between traditional notions of public participation and participatory communication, particularly as currently practiced in non-US settings. In addition, specific tools for facilitating participatory communication are identified and discussed. The essay is based on the author's extensive experience as a conflict mediator and public participation consultant and scholar. For the past 15 years, the author has served as a consultant on matters of environmental conflict resolution, public participation, and community-based collaboration for federal and state agencies and NGOs, including the USDA Forest Service, the USDI Bureau of Land Management, the US Army Corps of Engineers, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, and the Nature Conservancy.

Application of multicriteria decision analysis tools to two contaminated sediment case studies

Environmental decision making is becoming increasingly more information intensive and complex. Our previous work shows that multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) tools offer a scientifically sound decision analytical framework for environmental management, in general, and specifically for selecting optimal sediment management alternatives. Integration of MCDA into risk assessment and sediment management may require linkage of different models and software platforms whose results may lead to somewhat different conclusions. This paper illustrates the application of 3 different MCDA methods in 2 case studies involving contaminated sediment management. These case studies are based on real sediment management problems experienced by the US Army Corps of Engineers and other stakeholders in New York/New Jersey Harbor, USA, and the Cocheco River Superfund Site in New Hampshire, USA. Our analysis shows that application of 3 different MCDA tools points to similar management solutions no matter which tool is applied. MCDA tools and approaches were constructively used to elicit the strengths and weaknesses of each method when solving the problem.

RRFS에 의한 금강수계의 주요지점별 유역유출지표 개발

In this study, we attempted to develop a watershed runoff index subject to main control points by dividing the Geum River basin into 14 sub-basins. The Yongdam multipurpose dam Daecheong multipurpose dam and Gongju gage station were selected to serve as the main control points of the Geum River basin, and the observed flow of each control point was calculated by the discharge rating curve, whereas the simulated flow was estimated using the Rainfall Runoff Forecasting System (RRFS), user-interfaced software developed by the Korea Water Corporation, based on the Streamflow Synthesis and Reservoir Regulation (SSARR) model developed by the US Army Corps of Engineers. This study consisted of the daily unit observed flow and the simulated flow of the accumulated moving average flow by daily, 5-days, 10-days, monthly, quarterly and annually, and normal monthly/annually flow. We also performed flow duration analysis for each of the accumulated moving average and the normal monthly/annually flows by unit period, and abundant flow, ordinary flow, low flow and drought flow estimated by each flow duration analysis were utilized as watershed runoff index by main control points. Further, as we determined the current flow by unit period and the normal monthly/annually flow through the drought and flood flow analysis subject to each flow we were able to develop the watershed runoff index in a system that can be used to determine the abundance and scarcity of the flow at the corresponding point.

Protecting The Big Easy From the Next Big One

The US Army Corps of Engineers holds the primary responsibility for the construction, maintenance, and operational supervision of the New Orleans levee system. After hurricane Katrina, Congress told the corps to restore the system to at least pre-Katrina levels. But now comes the hard part. Congress has told the corps that its next task is to build up the New Orleans hurricane protection system to shield the city from all but a 100-year storm - a hurricane of a ferocity that would be expected, statistically, to occur only once in a century

Evaluation Methodologies for Unpaved Road Surface Condition in Municipal District of Aquiraz, Ceará, Brazil

Changes are described that were made in the evaluation method for unpaved surfaces developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) so that the method could be applied to the municipal district of Aquiraz, in Ceará, northeast Brazil. The main objective of these changes is to take advantage of the experience of USACE, reflected in the curves used to determine the deduct values from the defects, and to make adjustments according to a series of surveys involving endogenous variables (materials, topography, etc.) and exogenous variables (climate, traffic, etc.) for the unpaved road. The curves are nomograms representing the severity levels of each type of defect considered by the method, except for the dust excess defect. Seven curves are used to define an index of the road surface condition, called the unsurfaced road condition index, which is a function of the total deduct value. The ALYNOMO method, which was based on data obtained during studies of three unpaved roads located in the municipal district of Aquiraz, was compared with the USACE method to verify the changes made. A modification in the application principle of the USACE method was made so that it can provide evaluations identical (or very close) to those obtained by the ALYNOMO method. The new method is called VENO.

Re-examination of peak stress and scaled distance due to ground shock

Ground motions associated with the passage of blast transients are important in two respects. Firstly, they develop as a result of the dynamic pressure pulse and are integrally related to the strains suffered by the soils. Secondly, ground motions subject nearby structures, buried or aboveground, to possible damaging vibrations. An accurate assessment of ground shock parameters, especially peak stresses, is thus essential for a reliable design against blast loading. Reliable ground shock parameters can be obtained from full-scale tests or small-scale tests complemented by numerical analyses. The US Army Corps of Engineers TM5-855-1 manual is widely used for estimates of ground shock parameters. This paper examines the TM5-855-1 estimation of the peak stresses in the light of small-scale field explosion tests in Singapore residual soils. The TM5-855-1 equations for ground shock predictions are not dimensionally consistent and become cumbersome when the need for units conversion arises. To overcome this problem, dimensionless parameters are proposed. A better understanding of the peak pressure–scaled distance plot in TM5-855-1 is provided using the dimensionless parameters.