Posted on May 14, 2018
By Katrina Elsken, Okeechobee News
Work on the Kissimmee River Restoration had a serious setback from Hurricane Irma in 2017, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers still expects to finish the project in 2020.
Turbulence barriers were no match for the torrent of water rushing down the river from the upper Kissimmee after the hurricane dumped 8 to 12 inches of rain water into the basin.
It takes 12 billion gallons to raise the big lake one inch. The storm runoff dumped so much water that it raised the level of Lake Okeechobee by a foot in less than a week, and four feet by the end of the month. As the major source of water to the lake, much of that runoff came down the river.
The surge of water washed out backfill used to fill in the canal in the area designated Reach 2. Fill dirt and sand now blocks access to oxbows in formerly restored sections of the river.
Some of the fill dirt washed downstream, contributing to the turbidity in Lake Okeechobee.
Hurricane Irma set the restoration back about $11 million, according to Jenn Miller with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District. But despite the setback, the project is still projected to be completed in 2020.
“As a result of Hurricane Irma, a significant amount of backfill was displaced in Reaches 2 and 3 resulting in approximately $11 million in damages for the Kissimmee River Restoration Project,” she explained. Surveys to determine the extent of the damages in Reach 2 backfill footprint are complete and the survey effort for Reach 3 footprint are scheduled to commence this month, she explained.
Repairs should qualify for funding under the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, she added.
The allocation of funds under the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 are still being determined, she explained.
On April 30, the corps headquarters announced the initial set of work to be accomplished with a portion of funding provided for disaster recovery in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018. This included operation and maintenance funding for flood risk management projects.
“We will have better clarity on our path forward once additional allocations are announced,” Ms. Miller added.
On April 30, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) announced an initial set of work to be accomplished with a portion of the funding provided for disaster recovery in Public Law 115-123, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, signed into law Feb. 9, 2018.
Among other things, Public Law 115-123 provides $17.398 billion to USACE for disaster recovery in six appropriations accounts: Investigations; Construction; Mississippi River and Tributaries; Operation and Maintenance; Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies; and Expenses.
According to the corps press release, the initial allocation of approximately $360 million of the $608 million of appropriations in the Operation and Maintenance account will be used to address the highest priority needs identified by USACE at 32 projects in 12 states.
The funding for this short-term repair work is to be used for repairs to USACE projects damaged by natural disasters and to perform emergency dredging of shoaled material deposited at USACE projects by natural disasters.
“The short-term repair work will alleviate the impacts of the project damages and shoaling on human safety, flood-prone property, commercial navigation costs, ecosystem values, and other project outputs such as recreation, hydropower and water supply,” said R.D. James, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works.
Additional operation and maintenance work will be identified as information on damages incurred at USACE projects and the estimates of the cost to address those damages are refined.
The 2017 storm was not the first time heavy rainfall impacted work on the river restoration. The project was initially scheduled for completion in 2015.
Source: Okeechobee News
