May 5, 2021
The densely populated coastal regions of New York and New Jersey face serious flood threats as climate change, increased storm frequency and rising sea levels exacerbate vulnerability.
Without action, 2.9 million people and $2.1 trillion in assets in New York City and Newark, NJ, alone are at risk of flooding by 2070.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plays a major role in assessing flood risk and identifying solutions to reduce it. However, to date, the Corps’ approach has not matched the scale and scope of flood threats to communities and vital infrastructure.
In light of last year’s Water Resources Development Act, the Corps must include implementation guidance to pursue a holistic approach in their upcoming New York-New Jersey Harbor and Tributaries Study (NYNJHATS).
U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.), along with U.S. Representatives Sam
Graves (Mo.) and Emanuel Cleaver II (Mo.), led a bipartisan, bicameral letter
urging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to quickly and fully utilize
the tools and resources Congress provided in the Water Resources Development
Act (WRDA) of 2020 and the FY2020 Energy and Water appropriations bill to
reduce flood risk and improve flood protection along the Lower Missouri River.
In addition to Blunt, Graves, and
Cleaver, the letter is signed by congressional members from the Lower Missouri River
Basin states, including U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley (Iowa), Deb Fischer
USACE to repair the Hamburg Ditch 6 levee May 4, 2021, by Zlatan Hrvacevic
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, in conjunction with the city of Hamburg, Iowa, will tomorrow (May 5) conduct a groundbreaking ceremony to kickoff construction to rehabilitate the Hamburg Ditch 6 levee.
“I’m excited to join Mayor Cathy Crain and the city of Hamburg on this important project agreement to raise flood protection around the city of Hamburg,” said Col.
Mark Himes, Commander, USACE-Omaha. “I look forward to working with the city in the upcoming construction.”
USACE and the city of Hamburg signed the Section 1176 project agreement Feb. 9 to allow raising the Hamburg Ditch 6 levee eight feet, significantly increasing the flood risk management benefits the levee provides to the city.
The Western Dredging Association (WEDA) has just announced the release of the Journal of Dredging Volume 19 - Issue 2, which provides the dissemination of technical and project information on dredging engineering topics.
Got Mud? For Coastal Cities, Humble Dirt Has Become A Hot Commodity
In a hotter climate, dirt is a hot commodity.
With sea levels expected to rise three to six feet by the end of the century, coastal communities are moving fast to construct major shoreline projects to protect themselves. As the size of these projects expands, the primary building materials dirt and mud are getting scarce.
Dirt (what you dig up on land) and mud or sediment (the wetter variety already in rivers and bays) are the raw materials of climate change adaptation. They re used to build levees, the massive earthen barriers that hold back waves, and to raise elevation so buildings can sit higher than the floodplain.