Table of ConTenTs

DISTRICT COMMANDERCOL Michael J. FARRELL

PUBLIC AFFAIRS CHIEF DeDe CORDELL

EDITORIAL BOARDChris GRAY-GARCIAJohn PRETTYMAN

Carlos LAZOPatrick BRAY

STAFFBob KIDD

Todd PLAINTyler STALKER

The Prospector is an unofficial publication authorized under the provisions of Army Regulation 360-1. It is published by the Public Affairs Office, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District, 1325 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95814. Telephone: (916) 557-5100; Fax (916) 557-7853; e-mail: spk-pao@usace.army.mil. This publication is available on the Sacramento District’s Internet homepage at www.spk.usace.army.mil, and will be printed and mailed to those requesting it in writing. Editorial views and opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Corps of Engineers or the Department of the Army.

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2 Levee inspections: Making communities safer4 Sacramento levee improvements6 Folsom Dam’s auxiliary spillway takes shape8 Completed Napa Creek project already reducing flood risk9 Sutter Basin study leads the way through new planning process

10 One in five Californians face flood threat10 Truckee Meadows flood project nears final Corps approval11 International levee handbook published11 Orestimba Chief’s Report ready

12 Willow poles preserve river habitat without harming levees14 Ship channel dredging helps economy and endangered butterflies15 Regulatory’s big permits: California High Speed Rail project16 Infographic: Modernizing our aging dams18 Corps pilot project builds fish “clubhouses” on lower Yuba River19 Tracking fish guides riverbank repairs, habitat preservation

21 The Department of Defense Energy Conservation Investment Program: Building net-zero installations22 Sacramento District brokers largest-ever Army Reserve property exchange23 Modernizing critical piers at military port24 Cleanup completed nearly a year ahead of schedule25 Tooele Depot goes solar

27 National Public Lands Day keeps Corps parks beautiful28 Lake Kaweah a haven for inland sailing29 Disc golf comes to Black Butte Lake

30 Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics outreach

32 Sacramento District supports Hurricane Sandy relief33 Colorado flood relief

REDUCING FLOOD RISK

CARING FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE FOR OUR ARMED FORCES

THE GREAT OUTDOORS

BUILDING AMERICA’S NEXT GENERATION OF SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS

THERE WHEN AMERICA NEEDS US

Col. MiChael J. Farrell

Commander’s Way ahead

Sequestration, furloughs and government shutdown may, for many, be the story of 2013. But what I hope we’ll also remember, and what you’ll read in these pages, is a more illuminating story - of how despite those challenges, we still got important things done.

As our leaders and America’s needs challenged us to speed up our study pro-cess, in 2013 we finished studies we’ve been working on more for than a de-cade. Our Orestimba Creek plan was approved by the Chief of Engineers in September and is now with Congress for authorization. Our Sutter Basin and Truckee Meadows plans were approved by Corps headquarters’ civil works re-view board in October and December, and will be ready for their final Corps review early next year. Each recommends federal investment in flood problems that have plagued communities for decades. If approved, our projects would make them stronger for years to come.

While we celebrated those planning milestones, we got a lot of construction done in 2013, too. In May we finished our Napa Creek project, re-routing floodwater away from homes and businesses with two new culverts and restoring the eroded creek bed to improve fish and wildlife habitat. We also awarded a $12.5 million contract for the Napa River-Napa Creek Flood Protection Project’s last major phase, the oxbow bypass. It’s the heart of more than a decade of work to reduce flood risk for this community, and we look forward to starting construction in 2014.

In Sacramento, American River levees are stronger now where we completed three seepage cutoff wall projects in 2013, and the new spillway at Folsom Dam is taking shape more visibly every day. Together, levee improvements and modern-izing Folsom Dam are the key to reducing flood risk in one of America’s most at-risk cities, and we continue to pursue this work spanning decades with the persistence of a marathon runner.

In 2013 we continued to build a sustainable future for our armed forces. Throughout the West, our renewable energy projects are helping military installations generate their own power. Solar panel arrays at Fort Hunter Liggett completed in 2013 will help make the post energy self-sufficient, but they also provide shade for its vehicle fleet – and further energy savings. Our real estate office brokered the U.S. Army Reserve’s largest-ever real property exchange in 2013, trading scarce land in the San Francisco Bay area to the City of Dublin for new facilities for the post. It’s the kind of win-win deal America needs as we strive to do more with less across the federal government.

Tangible progress like construction is usually what makes the headlines. But just as important as what we build is what we help preserve. And as they always do, our regulatory, safety and recreation staff are quietly keeping our nation strong by safeguarding precious natural resources and helping Americans enjoy the outdoors safely and sustainably. As Califor-nia seeks to build America’s largest high speed rail line, our regulators are helping make sure this massive construction project avoids or minimizes harm to wetlands we depend on for clean water and ecological health. It’s just one example of what we do every day to preserve our shared environment for future generations. Reducing the risk of disasters, building sustainable infrastructure for our armed forces, preserving and restoring our envi-ronment: These are real solutions to some of America’s biggest problems. Achieving them has not always been graceful or without conflict, but the hard things rarely are.

A Year of Great Accomplishments

Levee inspections: Making communities safer

The Sacramento District oversees 143 levee systems in California, Utah, Nevada and Colo-rado.

Periodic inspections completed

Completed to date: 60

Fiscal Year 14 planned inspections: 36

Fiscal Year 15 planned inspections: 47

Ratings for inspected systems after first periodic inspection

Minimally acceptable: 6

Unacceptable: 54

Reducing flood riskflood risk

THE PROSPECTOR 2

Revamping its levee safety program after Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began a new, more rigorous type of levee inspection in 2010 called a periodic inspection, required for each le-vee system under its jurisdiction once ev-ery five years. They’re the most detailed inspections of levees in decades, if not ever. Walking every mile of every levee system, documenting each maintenance issue with geo-tagged photographs and GPS coordinates, we’ve found a lot of problems that need fixing. But the inspec-tions are doing what they’re designed to do. Levee managers have taken action to correct levee problems, and many are developing detailed plans to continue making improvements over time called system-wide improvement frameworks, focusing on the worst issues first. We’re just half-way into the first cycle of inspec-tions, but already, levees – and the com-munities behind them – are safer now than when we started.

Levee inspections: Making communities safer

Approved System-wide Improvement Frameworkletters of intentFor levee systems with significant maintenance challenges, levee managers are encouraged to develop a long-term corrective action plan that prioritizes fixing the worst safety issues first, called a system-wide improvement framework or SWIF. Under the program, levee managers submit a letter of intent to develop a SWIF as a first step toward developing a comprehensive maintenance plan.

• Sacramento, Calif. (Natomas Basin) – May 2013

• Rural Fresno County, Calif. (Kings River levee systems) – July 2013

• Nicolaus, Calif. (Reclamation District 1001) – December 2013

Inspection results determine eligibility for fed-eral assistance to repair levees damaged by a flood or storm. Inactive levee systems are ineli-gible for aid.

Eligibility status after first periodic inspection

Active: 6

Inactive: 54

Current eligibility status of inspected systems (as of November 2013)

Active: 23

Inactive: 37

3 REDUCING FLOOD RISK

**As of November, determinations of eligibility for federal rehabilitation assistance are temporarily sus-pended as U.S. Army Corps of Engineers headquar-ters revises its guidance for making eligibility deter-minations. Inspections will continue and inspection findings will be communicated publicly while this pause is in effect.

THE PROSPECTOR 4

Article, photos and illustration by Todd Plain

Construction began in July to build seepage cut-off walls into five American River levee sites, and they were tricky jobs. *(See sidebar) The Sacra-mento District built more than 20 miles of seepage cutoff walls into American River levees a decade ago, but work was set aside for later where con-struction was complicated by encroachments like utilities, power lines and bridges. Only a handful of these wall-gap sites remain, with construction to complete them slated to wrap-up in 2016.

Three of these cutoff wall projects were complet-ed in 2013: at the Natomas East Main Drainage Canal in north Sacramento, the E. A. Fairbairn Water Treatment Plant near California State Uni-versity-Sacramento and at Watt Avenue bridge’s north end. Unexpected site conditions at two ad-ditional locations will require work to continue in 2014. These sites were restored to their pre-con-struction condition for the winter and will continue to reduce flood risk at least as well as before until the improvements are complete.

5 REDUCING FLOOD RISK

Levee construction in the city isn’t easy…Seepage cutoff walls are typically built by digging a deep trench in the middle of a levee and filling it with a cement-like slurry. But how do you build a seepage wall in a levee that’s covered by a major bridge? Simple: You ‘inject’ it.

Where seepage wall construction is complicated by existing in-frastructure – like Sacramento’s Watt Avenue bridge – we often turn to a specialized method called jet grouting to inject slurry with surgical precision into tight spaces. Jet grouting the levee beneath the Watt Avenue bridge required close coordination of construction, safety and traffic professionals to minimize disrup-tion of this major throughway throughout the project. Here’s how it worked.

Working at night when traffic is lightest, crews closed a few traffic lanes at a time and cut circular holes through the bridge.

Then, they drilled columns into the levee through those holes, injecting slurry into the levee as the drill ascended.

For several weeks, crews injected a total of 40 overlapping slurry columns, six to eight feet in diameter and nearly 60 feet deep, forming a continuous wall beneath the levee surface.The district is also working to complete a compre-

hensive study that investigates further improve-ments to the flood risk reduction system through-out the city called the American River Common Features General Re-evaluation Report. A draft report, along with a recommended plan for im-provements, is scheduled to be released for public comment in 2014.

Folsom Dam’s auxiliary spillway takes shapeArticle by Tyler StalkerPhotos by Capt. Mike Meyer and Todd Plain

January

April

Construction progress on the new auxiliary spillway at Folsom Dam was a marvel to see in 2013, with the spillway’s control structure growing visibly every day. One of the Corps’ mega-projects, this ap-proximately $900-million, cooperative effort with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, California’s Central Valley Flood Protection Board and the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency – together with down-stream levee improvements – will reduce flood risk for greater Sacramento, Calif., by allowing dam operators to release more water sooner from Folsom Lake during big storms.

THE PROSPECTOR 6

December

June

September

With excavation of the spillway chute mostly com-plete in 2012, 2013 was all about building the con-trol structure, essentially a second dam for the res-ervoir. Crews worked nearly all around the clock, six days a week, forming the dam out of layers of concrete called lifts. In the fall, excavation re-sumed in the spillway’s chute and approach chan-nel which will connect the reservoir to the new dam. The spillway is scheduled to be operational in October 2017.

7 REDUCING FLOOD RISK

Take an inside tour of the constructionVIDEO

THE PROSPECTOR 8

Completed Napa Creek project already reducing risk

(Left) New native species plantings, shown April 12, 2013, line the banks of Napa Creek in Napa, Calif. The plantings, along with tree trunks placed along the bank, will provide habitat for fish and other river species.

(Upper right) A new 70-foot-long pedestrian bridge over Napa Creek in Napa, Calif., installed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers April 9, awaits its final touches before being opened to the public. The bridge replaced an old vehicle bridge that was too low and often blocked debris when the creek rose, causing flooding into neighboring homes and businesses.

See how the project works

Article and photos by Tyler Stalker

Downtown Napa, Calif., has historically ex-perienced major flooding every five to 10 years.

To reduce the risk of flooding, the Sacra-mento District has been working for more than a decade on a series of projects under the Napa River-Napa Creek Flood Protec-tion Project to change the way water moves through the city.

One of those projects, the Napa Creek proj-ect, wrapped up work in 2013 on two sets of underground tunnels, called box culverts, to quickly transport water from Napa Creek to the Napa River.

The tunnels, along with widening the creek channel, have already proved their worth. In March, a large storm passed through the area and caused the creek to swell but not overtop its banks.

“I thought that it was going to come up onto the street and flood us, and it just stopped even though it kept raining,” said life-long Napa Creek resident Gaylen Walters.

Now, the district will turn its focus to the next phase of the Napa River-Napa Creek Flood Protection Project — the oxbow dry bypass, which will create a shortcut in the Napa River where it normally makes a U-turn and often overtops its banks during high water events.

Construction on the new bypass is sched-uled to begin in 2014.

VIDEO

9 REDUCING FLOOD RISK

In February 2011, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decided to change the way it does business.

Studies were getting too expensive, too detailed, and some were taking decades to complete. As a result, the Corps set out to improve its study process. The Sacramento District’s Sutter Basin Pilot Feasibility Study was chosen as one of two Corps studies selected nationally to participate in a pilot program designed to help make Corps studies faster and cheaper.

While the Corps’ planning process was drastically changed in April 2012 before the conclusion of the pilot studies, the

Sutter study continued to lead the way through the Corps’ planning moderniza-tion process.

With approval from the Corps’ civil works review board in the rear view mirror, the study is now moving through its final review by the state and affected agen-cies before going to Corps Commanding General Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Bostick.

With his signature, the study report, then called a Chief’s Report, will be ready for approval by the president’s administra-tion and consideration for Congressional authorization and funding. The Chief’s Report is scheduled to be complete in spring 2014.

“Our team has been extreme-ly dedicated to making this a successful study, and now we’re ready to finish strong,” said Laura Whitney, project manager for the Corps.

The Sutter Basin is a low-ly-ing area of California’s Cen-tral Valley, at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains. The region has frequently suffered serious flooding since settlers reclaimed it 150 years ago, with more than 19 floods since 1950, and 38 deaths from the 1955 flood alone. The plan is to strengthen and add erosion control to approximately 41 miles of levees along the Feather River to help reduce the risk of flooding for more than 95,000 residents.

Solving significant flooding issues doesn’t happen overnight, and the Sutter study has endured a long journey to get to this point.

After floods in 1986 and 1997, a fea-sibility study was initiated in 2000 but struggled to get going. In 2007, the study became more focused after the creation of the Sutter Butte Flood Control Agency, which joined California’s Central Valley Flood Protection Board as a local spon-sor for the project. And the study really began to make steady progress in 2010, when local voters approved an assess-ment to study and construct a flood risk reduction project for the region.

“The need for improved flood protection is very real to our communities,” said Mi-chael Bessette, director of engineering for the Sutter Butte Flood Control Agen-cy. “People are tired of being afraid when the river rages, and they have stepped up and cast votes to tax themselves to fix the problem and now we must deliver.”

The study’s unsteady progress made it difficult, and illustrates one reason why Corps studies needed to change.

“[The new process] has taken a study that was struggling with time and funding, and, with the new ideas under the plan-ning modernization, is moving it to com-pletion in an expedited manner, where it’s getting the visibility, prioritization, funding and resources that it needs,” said Alicia Kirchner, chief of planning division for the Sacramento District.

Sutter Basin study leads the way through new planning process

The shaded area in this map shows the impacted region of the Sutter Basin Feasibility Study. In October 2013, The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers headquarters approved a plan to strengthen and add erosion control to nearly 41 miles of levee along the Feather River to reduce the risk of flooding for more than 95,000 residents in the Sutter Basin.

Article by Tyler Stalker

THE PROSPECTOR 10

One in five Californians lives in a flood plain and nearly everyone in California is at risk from flooding.

That’s the warning delivered by a compre-hensive report on flood risk throughout the state, developed by the California Depart-ment of Water Resources and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ South Pacific Division. “California’s Flood Future: Recommenda-tions for Managing California’s Flood Risk,” finalized in November 2013, describes for the first time the specific flood threats and their consequences in every county in Cali-fornia.

“What we found is that floods have the po-tential to affect just about everyone who lives in California,” said Kim Carsell, the Corps’ lead planner for the project. “Even if you’re not flooded, things you depend on – utilities, hospitals, the farms that grow your food – could be. So a flood would still be a big prob-lem for you; and really, for the nation.”

The report is intended as a guide for how

California can most effectively reduce the threat of its growing flood problem in the near and long term.

Every one of California’s 58 counties has had a major flood during the last 20 years, the report revealed, and more than $575 bil-lion in infrastructure and $7 billion in crops are exposed to flooding. California has one of the world’s largest economies, so a major flood here would have national and even in-ternational impacts.

The report also concludes that existing flood risk reduction infrastructure in California does not meet the state’s needs, and that even currently-planned future projects would not be enough to address its growing flood threats.

Historically, projects to reduce flood risk in California have often been built to address isolated, local problems - a levee here, a dam there - not always considering the con-nections between flooding issues within their larger watershed. Among its seven major

recommendations, the report concludes that the future of flood risk reduction is about designing and prioritizing projects with mul-tiple benefits: projects that reduce flood risk throughout a watershed, while also restoring the environment and improving water supply reliability.

California’s lead planner for the report, Terri Wegener, said it is just the first phase in a long-term effort to re-imagine how the state manages flood risk and plan projects that make the most efficient use out of limited resources.

“It is much smarter and more cost effective to reduce flood risk now than to spend bil-lions of dollars trying to recover from a major flood,” she said.

One in five Californians face flood threat

Truckee Meadows flood project nears final Corps approvalNew Year’s Day, 1997. An above-normal snowpack sat on the Sierra Nevada moun-tains above Reno, Nev. It should’ve been a day of skiing, jubilance and new resolutions. Instead, a tropical rainstorm slowly moved through the region, setting off three days of record flooding along the Truckee River in Reno and Sparks that caused more than $500 million in reported flood damage.

Helping prevent a repeat of the 1997 flood has been the focus of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District’s Truckee Meadows Flood Control Project ever since. The District’s recommended plan was ap-proved Dec. 17 by the Corps civil works review board at its national headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Other government agencies and the public will now have one more chance to review the plan before it is submitted for a decision by

Corps Commanding General Lt. Gen. Thom-as P. Bostick, which is expected to be in April 2014. With his signature, the study report, then called a Chief’s Report, will be ready for approval by the president’s administration and consideration for Congressional autho-rization and funding.

“This has been a long time coming,” said Corps project manager Glen Reed. “We be-lieve our plan provides a great opportunity for federal involvement in a valuable project for the region, and we are ecstatic to be ap-proaching the finish line.”

The Truckee Meadows project was initially authorized by Congress in 1988, but was de-ferred during its design phase when increas-ing real estate costs made it economically unfeasible. The Corps continued to evalu-ate possible solutions during the intervening years, including a detailed evaluation of a

locally-developed plan resulting from a com-munity coalition process, but could not find a recommendable solution.

In 2012 the study was re-scoped to focus exclusively on flood risk management and modest recreation enhancements. The re-sulting plan recommends building flood risk reduction infrastructure including levees, culverts and floodwalls along the Truckee Meadows reach of the Truckee River, and would add river access points for fishing and boating, as well as picnic areas and trails.

The Truckee River Flood Management Au-thority is the project’s local partner and sup-ports the Corps plan as part of their compre-hensive strategy to reduce flood risk along the Truckee River. The TRFMA plan was ap-proved by local authorities Dec. 13

Read the report

Article by Chris Gray

Article by Tyler Stalker

REPORT

11 REDUCING FLOOD RISK

Orestimba Chief’s Report readyThe U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Orestimba Creek Feasibility Study has been approved by Corps Commanding General Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Bostick – the final level of Corps approval. The plan – now an approved Corps of Engineers Chief’s Report – has been submitted to the White House Office of Management and Budget for approval.

The study recommends building a levee along the city of New-man’s northwest perimeter to reduce flood risk for the city and sur-rounding agricultural areas. Currently, high flows overtop the banks of Orestimba Creek, spilling onto adjacent agricultural land and eventually flowing into the city. Newman has repeatedly suffered large floods, most recently in 1998.

The study was recommended for Bostick’s approval during a civil works review board at Corps headquarters in May.

“We have had unwavering support from Stanislaus County, the City of Newman, and the State of California throughout the entire fea-sibility study,” said Corps project manager Michelle Williams. “It is this support which has led to the completion of this milestone.”

Corps projects require authorization and funding from Congress before construction can begin. If authorized, the project would be-gin with preconstruction engineering and design work.

The first International Levee Handbook – which includes work by Rachael Hersh-Burdick and Joe Forbis, engineers from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District – was celebrated in an official launch Oct. 3 in the City Hall of Arles, France.

Hersh-Burdick and Forbis were two of seven Corps engineers who represented the United States in compiling this valuable resource for levee agencies around the globe to help keep communities safe and waters flowing.

This manual of levee safety best practices includes contributions from participating agencies in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United States and totals 1,345 pages.

The Corps shared policies and procedures from its national Levee Safety Program and helped fund the project. The handbook isn’t binding on any of the contributors, Forbis said, but is intended as a useful reference for making levee safety decisions based on the best-available science and shared experience.

“This handbook was written to be very user-friendly,” said Hersh-Burdick. “For example, the operations and maintenance chapter answers critical questions: How do I determine whether a reported levee crack is a problem? How can we keep this from occurring in the future? How can my agency determine whether fixing this is be-yond our capabilities?”

On a working level, participating in the writing of this handbook has helped the Corps create connections worldwide to have access to additional information, said Hersh-Burdick.

“It was important to get all the key parties who could contribute to the levee safety effort together so we could learn from the experiences each of us have had with extreme events,” Hersh-Burdick said.

Adove: Rachael Hersh-Burdick visits a construction site in Aix-En-Provence, France, during installation of a slurry cutoff wall to bolster a levee’s resistance to seepage. (Photo courtesy Rachael Hersh-Burdick.)

Below: Three U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contributors to the new levee hand-book are pictured with the completed publication. From left to right are Eric Hal-pin, headquarters; Joe Forbis, Sacramento District; and Michael Sharp, Engineer Research and Development Center. (Photo courtesy Rachael Hersh-Burdick.)

International levee handbook publishedArticle by Bob Kidd

Article by Tyler Stalker and Patrick Bray

A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District project to plant willow poles along 30,000 feet of levees in the Sacramento and San Joaquin river systems was mostly completed in 2013, designed to preserve habitat for threatened fish.

The work follows extensive environmental and engineering analy-sis to ensure that the small, native shrubs will provide maximum habitat benefit without harming the levees. Planting began in Jan-uary and concluded for the season in February.

“Throughout these river systems, we’re trying to modernize anti-quated levees in a way that balances the environment and public safety,” said Paige Caldwell, the Sacramento District emergency manager. “Planting these willow poles is a great example of how we can preserve critical habitat without increasing the risk of living behind the levee.”

Corps policy generally discourages trees on levees because they can destabilize levees and make it harder to inspect access them in a flood. But where trees have critical environmental or cultural value, through the Corps levee safety program’s variance process, trees are acceptable where they can be shown not to increase the risk to public safety. The variance request process requires thor-ough engineering analysis to determine the impact of vegetation on levee stability. The Sacramento District is the first Corps district to receive a vegetation variance approval under the policy.

The plantings will be allowed to grow naturally, but the agencies that maintain the levees will be required to trim the willow poles if they grow larger than 4 inches in diameter so they don’t inhibit

THE PROSPECTOR 12

Willow poles preserve river habitat without harming levees

Article by Chris GrayPhotos by Chris Gray and Randy Gon

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13 CARING FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

Willow poles preserve river habitat without harming levees

inspection or threaten levee integrity.

The habitat project is the final step in com-pleting emergency levee repairs the district began in 2007. Levees throughout the Sac-ramento and San Joaquin river systems in California’s Central Valley were heavily erod-ed by high river flows following winter storms in 2005 and 2006. The district repaired the levees between 2007 and 2009 using large rock called rip rap, which strengthens the le-vee and inhibits erosion.

But both river systems are home to a num-ber of threatened fish species, and trees and shrubs lining their banks provide shaded habitat that is critical to their survival. Be-cause erosion was repaired with rip rap, changing the makeup of the river bank, the plantings are needed to ensure their habitat is unharmed. The district designed the plant-

ings in cooperation with the National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

A variance was required only for about 14,000 linear feet of plantings, where the only suit-able planting location was closer to the levee than Corps policy generally allows, in what’s called the vegetation-free zone. The remain-ing 16,000 feet of plantings will be placed far-ther than 15 feet from the water side toe of the levee, where the Corps’ vegetation policy doesn’t apply. None of these plantings are being placed on the levee.

The district’s variance is the second variance the Corps has approved in California. In June 2009, the Corps approved a variance for the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency and the Central Valley Flood Protection Board for trees to stay on nearly all of the 42 miles of

levees surrounding Sacramento’s Natomas area. The extra-wide levees the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency has built there make it safe for trees to stay on the old levee.

“We follow the exact same variance policy that we ask other levee managers to follow,” Caldwell said. “And that’s essential to making sure we all have a sound scientific and en-gineering basis for making judgments about whether or not vegetation is a risk.”

Learn more about willow pole placement VIDEO

Continued from previous page

Ship channel dredging helps economy and

endangered butterflies

Article by Todd PlainPhotos courtesy of the U.S. Department of Natural Resources

THE PROSPECTOR 14

Lurking below Central Valley waters lays a hidden enemy for Cali-fornia’s waterborne commerce, requiring annual assistance from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District to keep it at bay.

Roving piles of sand, or shoals, collect along channel bottoms and wreak havoc for barge pilots trying to make their way in and out of the Sacramento River Deep Water Ship Channel and the Stockton Deep Water Ship Channel.

Since the 1960s, the Corps has regularly dredged the channels to their authorized depths—30 feet for the 43.5-mile Sacramento Deep Water Ship Channel, and 35 feet for the 41-mile Stockton Deep Wa-ter Ship Channel—to keep commodities smoothly flowing in and out of the Central Valley.

This year and for the for the very first time, that enemy—sand piles dredged from the San Joaquin River—will become an ally. Thanks to a partnership of the Corps, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Port of Stockton, material dredged from Stockton’s ship channel will be pumped to the Antioch Dunes National Wildlife Refuge to improve habitat for the endangered Lange’s metalmark butterfly, as well as the Antioch Dunes Evening Primrose and Contra Costa Wallflower.

In all, about 40,000 cubic yards of sand is expected to be collected and placed on more than 10 acres of a 41-acre parcel of the wildlife refuge.

“The ports are responsible for locating placement sites for dredged material and the Corps is responsible for keeping the channels at their authorized depths,” said Gary Kamei project manager for the Corps. “To their credit, the Port of Stockton coordinated with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife for the sand placement—it was their idea.”

Frequently, dredged materials are used to improve the stability of Delta levees. But the ports are always looking for the best and most environmentally-friendly place to deposit the mud, silt and sand.

“Finding positive ways to reuse dredged material is an ongoing mis-sion for the Port of Stockton,” said Jeff Wingfield, the port’s director of environmental and government affairs. “The newly provided sand should really help to restore the Antioch Dunes ecosystem.”

The first placement at the dunes was recognized during an informal ceremony Nov. 9, immediately preceding a tour for the public. About a dozen visitors learned about this idea that began a few years ago when the USFWS began looking for clean sand to restore the dunes.

“It’s really a win-win for everybody,” said USFWS spokesman Doug Cordell. Cordell added that the refuge gets free sand and the port is not charged a fee for depositing the material at the dunes. “It may take a couple years to become fully established but it’s a big step in the right direction for the refuge.”

Visitors stand atop newly dredged river sand at the Antioch Dunes National Wildlife Refuge in Antioch, Calif., Nov. 9, 2013, the result of a unique partnership among the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District and the Port of Stockton. The sand – dredged from the Stockton Deep Water Ship Channel to ensure navigability – will help restore the Antioch Dunes ecosystem, creating habitat on the refuge for such endangered species as the Lange’s metalmark butterfly, the Antioch Dunes Evening Primrose and the Contra Costa Wallflower. (Photo by Louis Terrazas)

The location of the Antioch Dunes National Wildlife Refuge which will benefit from dredged materials from the Stockton Deep Water Ship Channel.

15 CARING FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

THE PROSPECTOR 18

Corps pilot project builds fish “clubhouses” on lower Yuba River

Creating an underwater environment that protects young salmon along the lower Yuba River in northern California – that’s the goal of a pilot study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District.

Juvenile salmon, like teenagers, enjoy finding a place to hang out and eat with friends, so Corps biologists have placed experimental fish hideouts along the lower Yuba, imitating natural drift wood de-posits.

The Large Woody Material Management Program is designed to enhance rearing conditions in the lower Yuba River for spring-run Chinook salmon and Central Valley steelhead and includes placing collections of specifically-sized logs and tree roots at varying loca-tions along the lower Yuba.

The wood used in the study was collected from New Bullards Dam and placed at Lost Island Bar on the lower Yuba. Key large wood pieces, either root wads or branches longer than 24 feet, were used to anchor each fish hideout complex. Placement of wood for the pilot study was completed Dec. 11.

“There are two primary objectives for the pilot study – to evaluate the stability of the manmade complexes during flood flows; and to docu-ment how varying flows in the river transport pieces of the structures downstream,” said Brian Mulvey, a Sacramento District fisheries biol-ogist. Specific pieces of the wood have been tagged for later identifi-cation, which will be used to assess the effectiveness of wood place-ment in the lower Yuba River and help develop a long-term program.

“We are working to replenish the supply of large woody material back in the lower Yuba, providing in-stream cover for juvenile fish, while still respecting the safety needs for boating and rafting,” said Mulvey.

This pilot study, along with previous work to add suitably-sized gravel to enhance salmonid spawning along the lower Yuba, are part of the Corps’ voluntary conservation measures associated with Daguerre Point Dam, which was constructed to prevent hydraulic mining debris from washing downstream and blocking the navigation channel of the Sacramento River.

Article by Bob KiddPhotos by Patrick Bray

VIDEOThe importance of sustaining fish habitats

The banks of the Sacramento River are constantly eroding; that’s a big threat to levees throughout the Central Valley. Under the Sacramento River Bank Protection Project – a joint effort between the district and the state’s California Central Valley Flood Protection Board – the Sac-ramento District repairs major erosion sites. Reducing flood risk is a priority mission for the Corps, but it’s equally important to make sure that repair work helps restore and preserve habitat for five threatened or endangered fish species that travel down the Sacramento River.

So, how do you repair riverbank erosion in an environmentally-friendly way? Follow the fish.

District biologists monitor fish behavior in the Sacramento River to help the Corps restore habitat after its repair work by tagging and tracking them.

Here’s how it works.

In March, biologists tagged several hundred one-year old steelhead trout and late-fall Chinook salmon at the Coleman National Fish Hatchery in Anderson, Calif.

Tagged fish are released at two locations in the river, and more than 100 acoustic receivers throughout a 75-mile stretch of the Sacramento River will pinpoint the location and identity of individual fish and re-cord how they’re moving through the system. Dave Smith, a research ecologist for the Corps, has spent the last two years inputting fish-tag data into a computer model developed by the Corps’ Engineer Re-search and Development Center in Vicksburg, Miss. The model helps evaluate habitat restoration work and provides environmental benefit information for Corps projects and other agencies.

Tracking fish guides riverbankrepairs, habitat preservation

Article and photos by Todd Plain

19 CARING FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

Article by Bob KiddPhotos by Patrick Bray

Fish tracking guides riverbank repairsVIDEO

Building a sustainable future for our

Armed Forces

THE PROSPECTOR 20

The Department of Defense Energy Conservation Investment Program: Building net-zero installations

Army and sustainability?

Using those two words in the same sentence several years ago would have probably been considered the punch line to a joke. But today, a military base that is both envi-ronmentally friendly and meets the needs of war fighters is quickly becoming a reality.

Fort Hunter Liggett – with nearly 162-thou-sand acres of forest, mountains and rivers – is located in Monterey County, Calif., and is one of several U.S. Army pilot installations selected to be net zero energy and net zero waste by 2020. This means the installation will create as much energy as it uses, and reuse and recover all of its waste products. “The net zero initiative is going to provide en-ergy security for this installation and it’s also a priority for the Army,” said Col. Donna Wil-liams, garrison commander for Fort Hunter Liggett.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is leading the way in managing construction on major energy projects at Fort Hunter Liggett and is

nearing completion on the second phase of four solar microgrids.

“Phase one of the solar project was complet-ed last year and it’s generating one mega-watt of power. Phase two is going to add another one megawatt of power,” said Bob Roy, project engineer with the Corps’ Sacra-mento District.

One megawatt is enough energy to power up to 300 homes.

Phase two became operational in August 2013, and like phase one, will serve the dual purpose of providing a shaded carport for military vehicles, as well.

“It’s not very complicated and is a very simple conversion system,” said Roy. “The panels absorb the sunlight energy; it gets transferred into an inverter system which im-mediately converts it to AC energy and gen-erates the power.”

Energy independence at Fort Hunter Liggett

has both an environmental and tactical ad-vantage.

“Prior to the installation of these solar proj-ects, we were susceptible to power outages quite frequently,” said Roy. “That interrupts the ability to train the troops indoors and out-doors.”

In addition to Fort Hunter Liggett, the Corps of Engineers has a key role in helping the U.S. military meet its energy goals across the nation. The Corps is working with the Army and Air Force to develop 1 billion watts of renewable energy on installations by 2025, enough to power about 250,000 homes.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers strives to protect, sustain, and improve the natural and man-made environment of our nation, and is committed to compliance with applicable en-vironmental and energy statutes, regulations and Executive Orders. Sustainability is not only part of the Corps’ decision processes, but is also part of its culture.

Article by John PrettymanPhotos by Carlos Lazo and John Prettyman

21 BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE FOR OUR ARMED FORCES

See more about going “green” at Fort Hunter LiggettVIDEO

Sacramento District brokers largest-ever Army Reserve property exchange

Representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District attended a groundbreaking ceremony March 6, 2013 at the U.S. Army Garrison Camp Parks Reserve Training center in Dublin, Calif., to kick off the first construction phase of the largest Army Reserve Property Exchange Agreement in Department of Defense his-tory.

The Sacramento District’s real estate office is overseeing the transfer of 180 acres in the southwest corner of Camp Parks in exchange for an estimated $66 million in new facilities to be built over the next several years.

“This groundbreaking signifies the start of many great things for the Army Reserve soldiers here,” said Col. William Leady, the district’s commander who attended the ceremony. “And I’m proud of our real estate office for their role in making this real property exchange a reality, and with no cost to the taxpayers.”

The Army Reserve has congressional authority to exchange its land for new

facilities using private funding. Instead of attempting to tap federal resources, Camp Parks’ new facilities will be paid for and constructed in six phases by SunCal, a privately-held land developer that won the Army’s competitive selection process in 2008. After each phase is completed, the district’s real estate office will facilitate the documentation necessary for the deeds of transfer.

The district took over the Army Reserve’s land exchange program covering every-thing west of the Mississippi in 2006. Real estate chief Sharon Caine and her office will handle the official documents and deeds between Army Reserve headquar-ters in Virginia and the developer. Since taking over the program, Caine’s office has completed two land exchanges and is working on six more.

“The area surrounding Camp Parks is a lot more populated than when it was established in the 1940’s, and the south-west corner of the center has somewhat divided how the

community has grown,” said Caine. “My office and staff help make sure the Army Reserve gets a fair deal and both parties receive what they’ve agreed upon—reunit-ing the community, while helping upgrade facilities at this important training center.”

The first phase will include a new access control point, which includes a modernized main gate; a 4,300-square-foot admin-istration/police department building; a 1,200-square-foot visitor center; and a mail room. The first phase is expected to be completed and operational by April 2014.

Completion of the first phase will open up a key corridor of land that has been slowly engulfed on three sides by the growing city of Dublin.

Camp Parks was built during World War II and commissioned in January 1943, and is mainly used for training of National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers and Naval Reserve sailors.

Article and Photos by Todd Plain

THE PROSPECTOR 22

Modernizing critical piers at military port

Since 1942, the Military Ocean Terminal Concord – or MOTCO – has been a vital ammunition distribution center in support of the deploying forces during the Korean, Vietnam and Gulf wars.

But this facility in the eastern San Francisco Bay Area has not been able to efficiently carry out its mission for a long time, with only one of its three piers being partially operable for more than five years.

That’s why the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento Dis-trict is working on a plan to safely modernize the terminal while addressing environmental concerns.

“The environmental impact statement the Department of the Army has been developing with us covers three viable scenarios for pier modernization - all of which would allow MOTCO to meet its mission safely and efficiently,” said Pete Broderick who is managing the project for the Corps.

Broderick and his team are using public input to determine the best approach to modernize the piers, and hope to outline that plan in the final environmental impact documents expected in fall 2014 with construction tentatively scheduled in 2016.

Without modernizing the piers, MOTCO is in danger of losing its function, which represents nearly 25 percent of the nation’s total ammunition shipping capability.

“The longer we wait, the worse it gets,” said Broderick. “So we’re doing everything we can to get it moving as quickly as possible.”

Article by Todd PlainPhotos by Carlos Lazo

23 BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE FOR OUR ARMED FORCES

Photo courtesy of MOTCO

Cleanup completed nearly a year ahead of scheduleArticle by Carlos LazoPhotos by David Eisen

After only one month, the crop on a three-acre farm at Fort Hunter Liggett in central California was ready for use.

“We were fortunate that field con-ditions remained continuously in our favor,” said Brad Clark, “help-ing us to complete the job 11 months ahead of schedule.”

The crop in question?

Soil.

Clean soil to be more precise, pro-duced by excavating soil contami-nated by a fuel spill many years ago and removing it to a nearby “land farm.”

Clark is the project manager for Ahtna, the contractor working on the land farm project, managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District.

The project required the excava-tion and treatment of about 6,500 cubic yards of contaminated soil in the industrial area of Fort Hunter Liggett. Contaminated by a gaso-line spill from a leaking under-ground storage tank at a former fuel depot, the site was ready to clean up. The problem was that traditional excavation would have required the demolition of two buildings critical to Fort Hunter Liggett’s day-to-day mission, and displaced more than two dozen workers.

“It would have cost substantially more and taken a much longer period to complete,” said David Eisen, the project manager with the Sacramento District.

To perform the work without im-pact to active operations meant limiting the footprint. The district, in coordination with the contrac-tor and the installation, decided to use an auger for excavation.

A 36-inch diameter, continuous-flight auger removed contaminat-

ed soil from an area 45 by 65 feet in size, one hole at a time. In total, 320 holes were drilled to a depth of 60 feet in a honeycomb pattern to bring the contaminated soil to the surface. As borings were drilled and soil removed, the holes were backfilled with concrete, and a few with pea gravel to maintain natural groundwater flow at the site.

“Auger excavation is not a typical method for remediation of impact-ed soil,” said Nicholas Kent, a ge-ologist with the Sacramento Dis-trict, “but all other methods were less likely to completely remedi-ate the site and would have taken multiple years to see results.”

The soil was moved by truck to the land farm, a three-acre treat-ment site about two miles away. To prevent soil tracking during the two-mile ride to the land farm, measures included rumble strips and broom sweeping of the truck, followed by a full inspection. To prevent storm water pollution, cell liners, trenches, straw wattle, silt fencing and truck shaker-plates were installed at the land farm.

At the land farm, the decontami-nation treatment consisted of aer-ation and bioremediation. Aera-tion is the process of exposing the contaminant to the air to promote volatilization and removal. Biore-mediation is a “composting” op-eration where nutrients and water are added to the soil and remain-ing contaminant is used as “food.”

“Gasoline volatilizes readily in warm weather. Instead of using expensive chemicals, energy-in-tensive vapor treatment systems, or trucking waste to a landfill, we’re using the sun to help us out,” Kent said. “Since the summers at Fort Hunter Liggett are quite hot, this cleanup method is perfectly suited for use at the installation.”

Air monitoring was performed throughout the project to ensure

THE PROSPECTOR 24

Continued on the next page

Tooele Depot goes solarSeveral rows of solar dishes point toward the sun at Tooele Army De-pot in Utah, part of a $9.6 million dollar project managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District. The project, which includes the placement of more than 420 solar dishes on 3.5 acres, will provide the installation with 1.5 megawatts of energy - enough

to power 300 to 400 homes. Each solar dish is a mirrored, parabolic dish which reflects and focuses the heat from the sun onto a Stirling engine to generate electricity. (U.S. Army photo courtesy of Kathy Anderson)

25 BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE FOR OUR ARMED FORCES

the safety of both onsite workers and work-ers in nearby facilities.

As a “green” remediation approach, the proj-ect also contributed to the Army’s sustain-ability goals and Fort Hunter Liggett’s Net Zero Waste goals.

Fort Hunter Liggett was selected as a net-zero waste installation by the Department of the Army, which aims at reducing the amount of waste generated, re-purposing waste, maximizing recycling of waste to reclaim re-cyclable materials and recovery to generate energy as a by-product of waste reduction, with disposal being non-existent. Almost all the project material was diverted for reuse

or recycling. Removed pavement and cinder blocks were stockpiled for processing into future roadway materials and 100 percent of the removed and treated soil will be used as fill material for future construction.

The team was prepared to continue tilling and disking at the land farm for as long as a year after the excavation was complete. But after just one month of land farming, analyti-cal sampling demonstrated that the soil al-ready met criteria for reuse.

The Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board approved the unconditional reuse of the soil 11 months ahead of the original schedule. All soils were made avail-able to the installation for beneficial reuse

with no limitations, in compliance with the Net Zero Waste goal.

“We were fortunate that field conditions re-mained continuously in our favor during proj-ect execution, helping us to complete the job 11 months ahead of schedule,” said Clark.

“We were prepared for any wet weather, but didn’t encounter any significant rain. We also had many days that were above 100 degrees in temperature.”

The project is now moving forward toward low-threat regulatory case closure.

Post-remediation groundwater monitoring will continue for at least one year.

Continued from previous page

How our recreation mission connects the public with nature

and the outdoors

outdoorsthe gre at

THE PROSPECTOR 26

Park ranger Trevor Wagner works alongside a Cub Scout from Pack 423 of Manteca during National Public Lands Day Sept. 28, 2013, at New Hogan Lake near Valley Springs, Calif. (Photo by Bob Kidd)

Boy Scouts with Troop 257, Clovis, help condition the sand volleyball court at Hensley Lake, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District park near Raymond, Calif., during National Public Lands Day Sept. 28, 2013. (Photo by Sharon Anderson)

Boy Scouts with Troop 352 of Valley Springs, Calif., help build a trail during National Public Lands Day Sept. 28, 2013, at New Hogan Lake, the U.S. Army Corps of En-gineers Sacramento District park near Valley Springs. (Photo by Bob Kidd)

Fully prepared in safety goggles and gloves, a young volun-teer beams with enthusiasm during National Public Lands Day, Sept. 28, 2013, at New Hogan Lake, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District park near Valley Springs, Calif. (Photo by Bob Kidd)

National Public Lands Day keeps Corps parks beautiful

27 THE GREAT OUTDOORS

Lake Kaweah a haven for inland sailing

As the hyper-competitive America’s Cup was underway in San Fran-cisco in September 2013, the Sierra Sailing Club continued boat-ing, laughing and sharing their relaxed approach to sailing at Lake Kaweah, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District park near Lemon Cove, Calif.

How laid-back is this inland sailing group? Each and every one of the club’s 45 members is designated as the commodore – so everyone is equally in charge and empowered to invite more sailors to join in the boating fun.

“When we get together, we don’t call it a regatta, but we do get out there and sail the heck out of it,” laughed Commodore Richard Moy-nahan of Visalia. “And we’re always glad to answer questions about sailing.”

Half a dozen SSC boats can be seen traversing Lake Kaweah on any given Tuesday or Thursday. The club’s fleet includes 41 sail-boats ranging from eight to 25 feet in length and members live as far away as Tehachapi. The most popular boat in the club (representing about half the fleet) is a 16-foot sea kayak with outriggers, equipped with both a sail and a pedal drive system.

If the wind dies, the little craft can be pedaled back to shore using

the power of a pair of gear-driven “seal flippers” underneath the hull, said Moynahan.

Spring offers some of the strongest wind for Lake Kaweah, “but we’ve been lucky all this summer,” said Moynahan.

“Any day with winds of four miles per hour or better – we’re good to go,” he said. “We had eight to 20 mph winds a few days ago, though Internet weather stations in the area were indicating much lower than what we found at lake level.”

Along with being less formal, sailing at Lake Kaweah is also far less expensive than entering a team in the America’s Cup, said Moyna-han. A new sailboat and trailer may cost around $5,000 and used boats can sometimes be found for a few hundred dollars “plus some repair work.”

“I’ve been interested in sailing the past 20 years and actually began by sailing radio-controlled models,” said Moynahan. “All of the basics that you learn sailing models transfer to sailing full-size boats.”

The appeal of sailing is rooted in the senses, said Moynahan: “The sound the water makes on the side of the hull, rippling past, and the power in the sail as it pulls you across the lake.”

Article by Bob KiddPhotos courtesy of the Sierra Sailing Club

THE PROSPECTOR 28

Disc golf comes to Black Butte Lake

Numerous independent sources, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, have reported an increased number of flying disc sight-ings over Black Butte Lake, the Corps park near Orland, Calif.

More and more discs are showing up at Black Butte Lake, thanks to the continued development of an18-hole disc golf facility at the park, accomplished through a partnership between the Orland ACES Disc Golf Club and the Corps.

“This is a terrific example of a community organization investing in a public park facility,” said Bill Miller, Black Butte Lake senior ranger.

“Visitation in this part of our park has risen 200 percent since the ACES built the disc golf course.”

“This continues to be a great cooperative relationship,” said Rick Leis, president of the Orland ACES. “Our club enjoys a great relation-ship with all the rangers and maintenance crew at Black Butte and we’re happy to help in any way we can.

“The concrete tee pads that we installed in late April were the final touch in bringing this course up to professional standards,” said Leis. “Black Butte Lake has become widely known among disc golf enthu-siasts as the best course in the Northern Valley.”

Work on the course began in 2006 and the course baskets were in-stalled in December 2009. The Orland ACES – short hand for “Army Corps of Engineers Supporters” – Disc Golf Club installed everything.

The ACES also installed alternate pin positions on the course and added rubber mats for tees on a temporary second 18-hole course, which is used solely for large tournaments.

“The majority of those who play the course at Black Butte Lake simply come out and play with a single Frisbee and have a great time,” said Leis. But dedicated disc golf players carry a shoulder bag of assorted specialized discs when they play – like an assort-ment of golf clubs.

Along with building and upgrading the disc golf course, ACES members also participate in other Black Butte projects, including this past year’s National Public Lands Day.

“Most of our volunteer workers are dedicated disc golfers who ap-preciate what we have and want to continue to improve the experi-ence for everyone,” said Leis. “Enthusiasts fill a wide spectrum of individuals from doctors to students, with ages varying from 10 to 70.”

Most dedicated disc golfers are very community-oriented, which is reflected in last year’s event motto “Community Enhancement Thru Disc Golf Advancement” and this year’s “Live to Disc, Disc to Give,” said Leis.

“It’s an inexpensive sport, offers lots of exercise and is accessible to pretty much everyone.”

Article and photos by Bob Kidd

29 THE GREAT OUTDOORS

THE PROSPECTOR 30

Graphic by John Prettyman

31 BUILDING AMERICA’S NEXT GENERATION OF SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS

THE PROSPECTOR 32

There when America needs us

Hurricane Sandy formed in the Western Caribbean Sea and affected Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti and the Bahamas before making landfall Octo-ber 29, 2012 in the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. Recovery efforts lasted well into 2013 with the Sacramento District deploying 16 per-sonnel throughout the year.

Hurricane Sandy’s landfall and storm surges knocked out power to most of lower Manhattan as seen November 2, 2012 - two days after the storm hit. (DoD photo by EJ Hersom)

(Left) Hurricane Sandy approaches the Atlantic coast of the U.S. in the early morning hours of Oct. 29, 2012. (NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon, using VIIRS Day-Night Band data from the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership.)

One of many Corps debris removal missions throughout the Hurricane Sandy disaster area was on Fire Island, a remote barrier island off New York’s Long Island. The Corps coordinated debris removal operations with local, state and federal agencies to minimize disruption of the island’s sensitive ecosystem. Removal operations lasted March 2 to March 31, 2013. (Photos by Chris Gray)

Corps cleans up Fire Island

Sacramento District supports Hurricane

Sandy relief

33 THERE WHEN AMERICA NEEDS US

Colorado flood reliefPhotos courtesy of the Colorado Army National Guard

DTOS photos by Carlos Lazo

Following a presidential disaster declaration Sept. 12 for the massive flooding in Colo-rado, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers became involved in the federal response. The Sacramento District’s mobile command center - the deployable tactical operations sys-tem, or DTOS (above) - left Sacramento for Aurora, Colo. Sept. 14. In all, four district employees responded to the disaster.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Sacramento District

1325 J. Street

Sacramento, ca 95814