LOS ANGELES -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District is pleased to announce several studies and projects throughout Southern California and Arizona that will receive funding under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, or IIJA.
Some of the major projects that will be funded throughout the District, include navigation improvements at the Port of Long Beach in Los Angeles; the Los Angeles River Ecosystem Restoration Project; shoreline protection along the San Diego County coastline; and a flood-risk management project for the Little Colorado River in Winslow, Ariz., among others.
This comes on the heels of a Jan. 19 announcement by the U.S. Army that included a list of Civil Works studies, projects and programs the Corps of Engineers will implement nationwide in Fiscal Year 2022 with $22.81 billion in supplemental funding provided in two recently enacted laws — the IIJA and the 2022 Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act.
“We are so pleased with this announcement,” said Col. Julie Balten, commander of the Los Angeles District. “This supplemental funding under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will continue to strengthen our economy and our partnerships here in the Pacific Southwest, assist with building and maintaining much-needed infrastructure in our communities, protect our vital shorelines from coastal erosion and assist our ports and harbors by keeping our federal waterways safe and navigable.”
CONSTRUCTION WORK PLAN
In the Los Angeles District, more than $65 million is slated toward the completion of the Little Colorado River project in Winslow; $28 million will go toward the Los Angeles River Ecosystem Restoration Project, which will allow initiation of the Public Private Partnership (P3) project agreement with the City of Los Angeles and officially begin construction efforts; more than $30 million will go toward shoreline protection along the coastline in Encinitas and Solana, Calif.; another nearly $8 million is slated for the preconstruction, engineering and design phase for navigation improvements at the Port of Long Beach; and more than $4.1 million is being allocated to complete Brine Pipeline access improvements in South Perris, Calif.
OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE WORK PLAN
Under the Operations and Maintenance FY22 work plan, more than $8.8 million is designated for the Los Angeles County Drainage Area for repairs to Sepulveda, Hansen and Whittier Narrows dams, a master plan update for the Santa Fe Dam, and channel assessment and inspections along the Los Angeles River; more than $8.2 million will support dredging operations and surveys at Newport Bay Harbor; about $1.8 million is slated to address repairs at Mojave River Dam; more than $1.1 million will go toward the Santa Ana River Basin project to address the electrical modernization Phase 2 at Fullerton Dam; and more than $400K is slated for the repair of the breakwater and surveys at Dana Point Harbor, among others.
In Arizona, more than $330K in funding is allocated for the design of a new bulkhead gate installation system and other upgrades at Alamo Lake Dam; and more than $600K will go toward testing relief wells and modernization efforts at Painted Rock Dam.
SECTION 595 PROGRAM - ARIZONA
In 2021, legislation was passed to expand the existing Section 595 Environmental Infrastructure Program to include the State of Arizona, under the 2020 Water Resources Development Act. The program provides critical assistance to communities and tribal nations across Arizona to address their aging water and wastewater systems.
More than $18 million in funds included in the IIJA under the Section 595 Environmental Infrastructure Program for Arizona include 10 projects, like $3.5 million for the construction of a waterline in Maricopa County; $3 million to connect the Camp Verde School District and an area assisted living facility to the Yavapai-Apache Wastewater Treatment Plant; more than $2.2 million to install reclaimed water pipeline and rehabilitate an existing infiltration gallery at the Queen Creek Restoration Project in Superior, Ariz.; and more than $2.2 million for wastewater treatment plant improvements in Buckeye, Ariz., among others.
INVESTIGATIONS WORK PLAN
Under the 2022 Investigations Work Plan, the San Diego County Shoreline (Oceanside) Mitigation project will receive more than $1.8 million to complete the feasibility phase of the study; and the Imperial Streams Salton Sea project will receive $1.5 million to initiate and complete the feasibility study phase.
PL 84-99 PREPAREDNESS ACTIVITIES
Additionally, about $5.4 million in funding is slated for Public Law 84-99 Emergency Management preparedness activities to complete initial eligibility inspections throughout the Los Angeles District, which includes projects throughout 226,000 square miles of Southern California, Arizona, and portions of Nevada and Utah.
Other construction projects receiving funding in the FY22 Work Plan, include:
• South Perris, Calif., to complete well siting for wells 211-214 – $360K
• Cambria Seawater Desalination project for Cambria Design and Environmental documents – $200K
• City of Inglewood, Calif., for work on Finding of No Significant Impact report, environmental documents and initiating a Project Partnership Agreement – $250K
Under the FY22 Continuing Authorities Program Work Plan:
• Carpinteria shoreline – Continuing Feasibility Study – $500K
Additionally, more than $160K under the Operations and Maintenance FY22 Work Plan will fund project condition surveys of navigation structures at the following Southern California ports and harbors: Morro Bay, Port San Luis, San Diego Harbor, Ventura Harbor, Channel Islands Harbor, San Diego River and Mission Bay, Port Hueneme, Oceanside Harbor, Redondo Beach (King Harbor), Long Angeles-Long Beach harbors and Marina Del Rey.
More details regarding the amounts provided to various programs, projects and activities by state for each of the five appropriations accounts for FY22 may be found at: https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Budget/.