District Digest News Stories

Flood Risk Management: Protecting people from water

NASHVILLE DISTRICT PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Published Jan. 13, 2023
Wolf Creek Dam Russell County, Kentucky, 2019. USACE Photo

Wolf Creek Dam Russell County, Kentucky, 2019. USACE Photo

The Middlesboro channel located in Middlesboro, Kentucky, consistently fills with sedimentation and vegetation which restrict flow capacity. Clearing the channel will restore flow capacity to the channel and reduce the risk of flooding for the community. USACE Photo

The Middlesboro channel located in Middlesboro, Kentucky, consistently fills with sedimentation and vegetation which restrict flow capacity. Clearing the channel will restore flow capacity to the channel and reduce the risk of flooding for the community. USACE Photo

The Nashville District Corps of Engineers performs channel clearing maintenance in Middlesboro, Kentucky, on December 8, 2022. USACE Photo

The Nashville District Corps of Engineers performs channel clearing maintenance in Middlesboro, Kentucky, on December 8, 2022. USACE Photo

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Jan. 13, 2023)— USACE's Flood Risk Management Program is designed to reduce overall flood risk through policies, programs, and expertise. By using structures like flood control storage dams and implementing preventative planning measures which can reduce loss of life, and economic damages or improve the natural environment, the Nashville District is helping to prevent flood risk damages.

Flood risk management is a shared responsibility between Federal, state, and local government agencies in the United States. Many programs and authorities are in place to assist states and communities in reducing flood damages and promoting sound flood risk management. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and other Federal agencies play a role in this effort.

The Nashville District conducts preventative studies, secures funding, and implements flood risk management procedures along the Cumberland River Basin to ensure proper protocols are taken during critical times.

Flood Risk Manager Program Manager for Investigations and Tennessee Silver Jackets Coordinator Ashley Fuentes said Silver Jackets is a national partnering group aimed towards solving issues related to natural disasters and flooding. The program provides flood risk management for Tennessee’s locally owned or publicly owned land.

“We concentrate on outreach and talking to small communities about their flood risk needs. We look at different mapping issues, or flooding issues that are unique to regions or portions of the State that need technical assistance.”

There is a process for communities needing to request flood risk management and prevention. The city needing assistance can send the Corps of Engineers a letter of intent requesting federal aid. Once a meeting is arranged and the problem has been identified, a federally funded field study is conducted.

Two different types of Floodplain Management Services programs are entirely federally funded. The floodplain management services special study, and the floodplain management services interagency nonstructural proposal.

FPMS covers technical services, planning guidance and assistance on floods and floodplain issues. These services and planning guidance are provided to State, regional, and local governments without charge, within program funding limitations.

“We recently completed a FPMS interagency nonstructural proposal for the Harlan River in Kentucky. We worked with the National Weather Service, Harlan County Emergency Management, and Harlan Emergency Managers. We worked with Harlan EMA to update their emergency action plan. The National Weather Service helped by updating their flood action levels from the work funded under this program,” said Fuentes.

The Operations Division manages the operations and maintenance of projects within the Nashville District. Funding is appropriated through Business Lines and the President’s Budget to manage the projects. Management Support Branch Mechanical Engineer Alexander Bohlin is responsible for procuring funding for flood risk management projects

“My role is serving as the Operations Division Flood Risk Management Business Line Manager. This involves working with the Operations and Maintenance Program Manager in building the yearly budget based on input from area offices and entering that data into the budget program. There are other means to get funding outside of the President’s Budget, so I am also responsible for submitting any work packages necessary for consideration for other funding vehicles throughout the year,” said Bohlin.

Bohlin also serves as a Flood Risk Management Maintenance Engineer. “This involves leading a multi-disciplinary team including engineers, biologists, and geologists in order to design, solicit, and ultimately construct whatever maintenance activity may be authorized for that year,” said Bohlin.

“Once the funding gets authorized, the maintenance engineer will begin putting a Project Delivery Team together to tackle design and review, along with any external agency coordination required. The design package is ultimately handed off to our Contracting Department to solicit and award,” said Bohlin.

Recently, funding from the President’s Budget line was used for the Middlesboro Channel Clearing. This work entails restoring flow capacity to the Middlesboro Channel to reduce future flooding risk.

“The channel that runs through Middlesboro KY has a continuing issue with sedimentation buildup, which reduces the flow capacity and increases the risk of flooding. The work that is ongoing right now will restore the flow capacity to the channel by removing sedimentation, as well as install Articulated Concrete Block to armor the critical areas of the levee to further reduce the risk of levee erosion,” said Bohlin.

Bohlin said it is a team effort to coordinate and execute the overall FRM mission for LRN and each division is vital to completing that goal. “We all play a role in this process, for any work that other departments perform that is classified as operation and maintenance, Operations Division builds and handles the budget and distribution of funds once the district receives the allocation.”

Another part of flood risk management is water management. Water Management is responsible for maintaining water levels within the Cumberland River Basin throughout the year to best position Corps of Engineers’ reservoirs to reduce the risk of flooding to downstream communities.

Water Management Section Chief Anthony Rodino said his team works 365 days a year to maintain safe water levels at Corps dams.

“When we see water levels rising in Nashville due to significant rainfall, what we typically do is start cutting back water releases from our storage reservoirs so we can mitigate the damages that may potentially occur along the mainstem of the Cumberland River,” said Rodino.

“Our dams allow us to hold back water from the upper Cumberland River with Wolf Creek Dam and from tributary river flows from the Obey, Caney Fork, and Stones Rivers that feed into the Cumberland River. This allows us the flexibility to significantly reduce the volume of water moving down the Cumberland River while we allow the rainfall runoff on the mainstem of the river to move out of our area. After the rainfall has passed and water levels drop downstream, we then release this stored water in a more controlled and gradual manner over a longer duration. This has the benefit of reducing the overall peak stages downstream during rainfall events, which can result in mitigating flooding and other damages prevented” said Rodino.

In Tennessee and Kentucky, the wet season encompasses the winter and spring seasons. Rodino said capturing that rainfall within our storage reservoirs before it makes an impact to downstream communities is the most productive measure that we can do to mitigate flooding.

 Rodino said, “The district has been in a drier period the past few months, but during late February and early March 2022 there was a large rainfall event for our region. During this event, we cut back water releases at J. Percy Priest, Center Hill, Dale Hollow, and Wolf Creek Dams thereby lowering the volume of water within the mainstem of the Cumberland River. These flood risk management operations prevented higher water levels in Nashville and other communities located on or near the Cumberland River.”

Water management calculates the benefits of Nashville District infrastructure within the Cumberland River Basin by using modeling software that compares what happened with the Corps’ dams in place to what would happen if Corps infrastructure weren’t in place. This helps show the benefits of the Corps infrastructure and the necessity for continued funding for operation and maintenance.

The 10 dams operated by the Corps of Engineers in the Cumberland River Basin prevented an estimated $1.9 million of flood damages during fiscal year 2021.

Flood risk management affects communities across America. USACE is committed to reducing overall flood risk and ensuring communities are given the resources needed ahead of potential hazards. By taking preventative measures, economic damage to public and private sectors can be significantly reduced, and the natural environment can be preserved and protected.

The Nashville District routinely advertises its job opportunities on USAJobs.gov, and also posts them on its public LinkedIn page. The public is encouraged to follow the LinkedIn page for the latest Nashville District employment and contracting opportunities at https://www.linkedin.com/company/u-s-army-corps-of-engineers-nashville-district.

The public can also obtain news, updates and information from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District on the district’s website at www.lrn.usace.army.mil, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/nashvillecorps and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/nashvillecorps.