The Prospector Spring 2011

T HE PROSPECTORVol. 82, Issue 3 Spring 2011 www.spk.usace.army.mil

US Army Corpsof EngineersSacramento District

Building HillDistrict completes new$15 million hydrant fuel systemat Hill Air Force Base in Utah

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) 557-7461; Fax (916) 557-7853; e-mail: [email protected]. 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. Follow the Sacramento District on our social media sites; www.facebook.com/sacramentodistrict - www.youtube.com/sacramentodistrict - www.twitter.com/USACESacramento and www.flickr.com/usacesacramento.

DISTRICT

COMMANDER

COL William J. LEADY

PUBLIC AFFAIRS

CHIEF

DeDe CORDELL

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Carlos J. LAZO

EDITORIAL BOARD

Chris GRAY-GARCIA

WRITERS

David KILLAM

Hunter MERRITT

Bob KIDD

Todd PLAIN

Tyler STALKER

Michael J. NEVINS

Katrina NATIVIDAD

TaBle of ConTenTs

2011 Spring Edition

On the CoverTwo contractors work on an underground pipe for the new hydrant fuel system at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, in June 2010.

Photo by Delfin Dayrit, Utah Resident Office

2 Air Force selects district as center for standardization

3 Building Strong People - Park Ranger

4 Linking education to career fields for students

5 Building dedication at Presidio of Monterey

6 Yuba River salmon habitat restoration wraps-up

7 Jerry Vincent on volunteering for deployment

8 Real estate hits $230 million mark under HAP

9 District completes fuel station at Hill Air Force Base

10 Staff place high in Black Butte triathlon

11 F-22 facility recognized by concrete association

12 Park rangers practice self-defense

13 500-ton facelift for dam

14 Multi-benefit project moves forward at Hamilton City

16 Napa Creek update

18 District completes largest ever Army land exchange

19 Ground-breaking ceremony at Hunter Liggett

20 Corps engineers judge high school regatta

21 Regulatory division moves

23 Major General Dorko visits the Sacramento District

Change Based on a Rock Solid Foundation

Col. William J. Leady

Commander’s Way aHead

As you probably know I have had the honor of serving as the South Pacific Division commander from Janu-ary 7 to June 3 of this year. This was a temporary assignment until the Army could place a ‘permanent’ commander. Colonel Michael Wehr has taken command of the division and I am thrilled to be back on the Sacramento team. I want to thank Lt. Col. Andy Kiger, who did a great job as the district commander while I was at the South Pacific Division.

The United States Army Corps of Engineers – the Sacramento District, specifically – is a great organization serving the American public. We have always been building a strong Nation, and continue to do so today, providing flood risk man-agement, civil works projects, recreation, emergency response to disasters, supporting navigation, managing military construction and sharing our engineering and construction expertise with a multitude of federal agencies. It is truly a noble mission. We make America better!

If you keep up on current events, it is clear our nation is facing great fiscal challenges. These challenges have affected, and will continue to affect, USACE and the Sacramento District. Often our first response is to resist change, because it’s unknown and frankly it can be a little scary. However, change is nothing new. Ask Sharon Caine, our Chief of Real Estate, with 50 years of service, or any of our long-serving veterans about what’s the same and what’s changed around USACE. I think you will find that service, leadership, technical expertise, engineering and professional excel-lence and a can-do attitude are constant, but our processes and our solutions have constantly changed. General Martin Dempsey is the recently appointed 37th U.S. Army Chief of Staff (our chief’s boss), who has just been named as the Obama administration’s choice to become the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (see, lots of change!). On General Dempsey’s first day in the job as chief of staff, he told his senior leaders:

The “talk on the street” is all about how resource constraints are coming and about how we must act to ensure a “soft landing.” You won’t hear that from me. I didn’t take the job as your 37th Chief of Staff to orchestrate a “soft landing.” I took the job as the 37th to team with an incredible group of senior military and civilian leaders to make our Army smarter, better, and more capable - with the resources we are given - so that we provide the Nation with the greatest number of options for an uncertain future.

General Dempsey’s message applies to us, and I can’t say it better - so I won’t even try. For the Sacramento District “the greatest number of options” means improving on our already strong record of delivering high-quality projects on budget and on time. We are, and must continue to be, driving innovation in our technical work and in our management processes to build strong and provide quality service the nation.

Each of you – your talent, technical expertise and work ethic – is our strength, and what will ensure that we continue to succeed in our mission.

One last note on change. This is the last quarterly printed edition of the Prospector. We are moving to an annual printed edition that will serve somewhat as a ‘yearbook,’ now that we have our weekly electronic SPK Newswatch. It is a small thing but a great example of innovation driving positive change. The weekly SPK Newswatch delivers more cur-rent, more relevant and a great volume of SPK news and information at much lower cost and in a much greener way, while the annual Prospector maintains our traditions and provides a great review of our major accomplishments for the year.

I am proud to be part of this great team. I thank you for your leadership, your talent, your dedication and your service to our nation.

“Wh e n y o u’r e f i n i s h e d c h a n g i n g, y o u’r e f i n i s h e d.” - b e n j a m i n f r a n k l i n

Essayons & Building Strong!

2

The Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment has designated the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District as the center for standardization for the design and construction of its fire stations.

How did this happen?

It all begins with the Department of De-fense and the transformation of military construction.

The DOD decided that, in order to save money and facilitate construction, many of its buildings would be built in a standard-ized manner and modified only to adapt to local conditions. The U.S. Air Force has a similar program to standardize the design for its fire stations.

“The Sacramento District was fortunate enough to be considered as the execution agent for the national program that the Air Force developed,” said Steve Saepoff, chief of the Sacramento District’s military construction branch. “I put project manag-er Al Hernandez in charge of this program because of his experience and knowledge of Air Force requirements and his ability to meet the Air Force’s needs.”

“Any Air Force installation that wants to build a fire station will use the standard-ized design that we are providing,” said Al Hernandez. “We will make sure the

fire station is correctly site-adapted for the installation. We will likely be assist-ing the designer as well as the Corps of Engineers district where that installation is located.”

The designation from the Air Force was not a random selection. The Sacramento District had to compete against other Corps districts to achieve this designation.

Military construction branches are ap-portioned work by their customers: the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Army and other federal agencies, depending on where the work is located and its proximity to a Corps district. Corps districts compete with each other for some unique types of work, depending on each district’s inher-ent capabilities.

“We had to market AFCEE very hard to get to do the projects that we’ve done,” said Hernandez. “We were in competition with other districts that AFCEE thought had the capability to do this work. We were able to demonstrate that we could deliver what they wanted.”

“We had to demonstrate a breadth and depth of experience of building various fire stations over the years,” said Saepoff. “We have done quite a few.”

“We created a standardized request for proposal for all future fire stations in the

Air Force,” said Jaime Cantu, program manager for AFCEE.

A request for proposal occurs when a government agency wants contractors to provide technical information and competi-tive cost estimates to bid for the agency’s construction projects. A standardized request for proposal simplifies the bid-ding process and expedites initiation of a project.

“This will be the basis for all fire stations to be designed from and then we can save some money because we don’t have to go out and start the process from scratch. All fire stations will start off the same,” said Cantu.

The Sacramento District has a long history of building and completing fire stations for military installations, including; Vandenberg Air Force, Fort Huachuca, Beale Air Force Base, March Air Force Base, Nellis Air Force Base, Sierra Army Depot, Sharpe Depot, Creech Air Force Base and Hill Air Force Base.

The district is scheduled to build, or as-sist with building, fire stations at Pope Air Force Base, another station at Hill Air Force Base, Edwards Air Force Base and Charleston Air Force Base. Whether the Sacramento District earns more designa-tions like this one will depend on how the district performs on this program.

Air Force selects Sacramento District as center for standardizationstory by david Killam

Photo by michael J. nevins

Public affairs office

Mike Dietl, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District chief of flood and storm risk reduction, conducted a presentation for nearly 30 state and federal audience mem-bers at the California Department of Water Resources in Sacramento, Calif., March 10.

Dietl’s presentation showcased how the Corps’ planners are involved with water resources and environmental restoration, from the earliest stages of planning a project through the operation and maintenance of a site after construction has been completed.

“We are always trying to make this process understandable not only to planners but to the entire project delivery team, project partners, and the general public,” Dietl said.

Central Valley Flood Protection Board executive officer Jay Punia stayed after the presentation to discuss the Corps’ ecosystem restoration objectives, which aim to mimic the landscape in an area similar to what would occur if humans had never been there.

Planning division lays it all out

story and Photo by todd Plain


3

Heather Wright has been working as a park ranger for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the past six years ensuring visitors to Stanislaus River Parks have a safe and enjoyable experience.

“Many people don’t know that there are rangers for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, but we’re here for a good reason,” Wright said. “One of them is to be good stewards of our natural resources on our project lands. The other is for public safety.”

The park’s river, recreational opportunities and annual events like the Civil War Days and the Gold Country Peddler’s Faire bring in thousands of visitors each year. Park rangers like Wright have the crucial role of ensuring the parks are maintained and accessible to all visitors.

“To be a park ranger it takes a genuine love for people and natural resources,” said Wright.

“It’s really our job to have the parks open, ready and available for people to come out and recreate.”

Building sTrong PeoPlePark Ranger Heather Wright

story by John Prettyman

Photo by hunter merritt


Stanislaus River Parks is one of 10 parks that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District oper-ates throughout Northern California. Nationwide the Corps is the number one federal provider of outdoor recreation, hosting more than 370 million visitors annually at more than 4,200 recreation sites at 422 Corps lakes and river projects.

4

Col. Bill Leady (right), commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers South Pacific Division, and Norbert Suter, civil engineer from the Corps’ Sacramento District, encourage students to pursue opportunities in science, technology engineering and math (STEM) education at the Kit Carson Middle School career fair in Sacramento, Calif., April 15.

“Each year, our country comes up short on the number of engineers we need,” said Leady, a mechanical engineer. “We are building our future workforce right here.”

The career fair, now in its second year at the school, falls in line with the Corps’ national Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Awareness Program, the goal of which is to stimulate interest and academic achievement in science, engineering and math among underrepresented kindergarten through high school students.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District senior electrical engineer John Parrish used a 3-D scale model of the Folsom Dam auxiliary spillway control structure to demonstrate flood gate operations for students at Antioch High School in Antioch, Calif., Jan. 31.

Parrish and structural design section chief Roger Zemba were invited to share stories of their educational and vocational backgrounds and explain the Corps’ various missions to more than 120 freshmen enrolled in the school’s four-year Academy of Engineering and Design for a Greener Environment (EDGE). The new academy incorporates a curriculum that links science and math education to engineering careers.

The plastic spillway model was created at the Sacramento district to aid engineers in construction of the project. It was loaned to the engineers for use at the event, to demonstrate to the students how precise the models can be using computers. “Computer technology has changed so much in engineering today,” said Parrish, who has been with the Corps since 1987. “These future engineers will learn a whole different skill set than I did as a student.”

Linking education to career futures for students

Photo by hunter merritt


Sacramento District boosts STEM at middle school career fairPhoto by hunter merritt


THe ProsPeCTor

(From left) Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center Commandant Col. Danial D. Pick, Hany Khalil and U.S. Rep. Sam Farr cut the ribbon to celebrate the dedication of Khalil Hall, named after Alfie T. Khalil, Hany’s brother. More than 150 people attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new $28 million Alfie Khalil General Instruction Building held at the Presidio of Monterey, Calif., March 4.

The facility, built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District, is named after Alfie Khalil, an Arabic- language instructor at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center for 27 years and president of the American Federation of Government Employees from 1989 until his death in 2006. Twenty members of Khalil’s family, including his brother Hany, attended the ceremony. Speaking of Khalil, Farr said: “People knew that languages were taught here, but they didn’t know the people who taught those languages. Alfie opened that door. He did it through his union work, by upgrading the respect for teachers and making them professional in the eyes of the law and in the ability to get pay.”

caPtion by david Killam, Public affairs office

Photo by steven l. shePard, Presidio of monterey

Building dedication at Presidio of Monterey

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District regulatory project manager Zach Simmons (center) uses a watershed model to show how wetlands clean and filter water during the fourth annual Celebrate the Earth Festival at Mahany Park in Roseville, Calif., April 16.

Simmons and fellow regulatory project manager Krystal Bell continued the demonstrations started by fellow Corps employees Judy Soutiere and Chandra Jenkins, who explained the Corps’ involvement in aquatic ecosystem restoration and watershed planning earlier in the day.

“We’re here to educate the public on what the Army Corps regulatory department does and how important wetlands are to the environment,” Bell said.

Photo by todd Plain


Corps demonstrates wetlands model during earth festival

5*remember - this is the last quarterly version of the ProsPector. We Will be bacK With an annual version at the end of this year.

6

In an effort to aid salmon habitat restoration on the Yuba River, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sac-ramento District finished injecting gravel below the Corps’ Englebright Dam near Smartsville, Calif., Jan. 13.

The Corps injected 5,000 tons of gravel into the river to improve spawning conditions for threatened Central Valley steelhead trout and spring-run Chinook salmon under a program prescribed by the National Marine Fisheries Service.

A biological opinion issued by NMFS in 2007 called for gravel injection below the dam, part of a broader plan to improve fish habitat at Englebright and Daguerre Point dams, both operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacra-mento District. As part of a pilot habitat restoration project, the Corps placed 500 tons of gravel in the river in 2007. Its success led the Corps to implement the larger gravel injection project that started in late November 2010.

The Corps contracted Dr. Gregory Pasternack, University of Califor-nia - Davis professor of land, air and water resources, to develop, oversee and evaluate the gravel injection plan. Gravel for the project was supplied by Silica Resources Inc. of Marysville, Calif., in a mix recommended for salmon habitat by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser-vice. Sean Warren Smith Inc. was contracted by the Corps in Septem-ber 2010 to place the gravel.

“We’re pleased to be working to improve habitat for these threat-ened species,” said Englebright Lake park manager Doug Grothe. “And we’ll continue to work with our state, federal and local partners to do everything we can to help aid their recovery.”

Yuba River salmon habitat restoration project completedby hunter merritt


A Sean Warren Smith Inc. worker places lines across the Yuba River to inject gravel below the Sacramento District’s Englebright Dam in November 2010, part of a salmon habitat restoration project.

THe ProsPeCTor

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers needs volunteers for service overseas – mainly in Afghanistan – and many have already been asked if they’d like to serve. It’s a sacrifice, being away from family and friends, and the possibility of personal danger is always present. And quite frankly, most probably wonder, “What’s in it for me?”

Here, with an answer, is Jerry Vincent, chief of the Formerly Used Defense Sites section at the Sacramento District of the Corps of Engineers. Jerry served with the Corps in Iraq from January 2007 to March 2008. He departed at the end of February to Afghanistan for what he hopes is another rewarding experience.

“Part of the reason the whole deployment situation is so rewarding is that I was able to work with communities and villages,” said Vincent. “In one case, we were bringing them drinking water so that they had a better water source. At the end of

the day, you feel like you accomplished something.”

Job satisfaction was, for Vincent, a powerful motive to deploy.

“The work we do here in the district has its purpose and the mission that goes along with it,” he said. “And the work is challenging. But at the end of the day, we do a lot of paperwork and administra-tive processes. It comes in, it goes out, it goes on contract, we go out and do some work. But a lot of what we do is process; it’s a long, drawn-out process.

“Over there, it’s more of immediate grati-fication. You have a problem; you resolve the problem and then move on to another problem. It’s all done in real time.”

Vincent was the Corps’ environmental program manager for all of Iraq. It gave him the ability to travel all over the coun-try and provide immediate response and

support for problems where and when it was needed.

“In the environmental arena, I was work-ing with drinking water, solid waste and waste water. So I was working with the basic elements of protecting the soldier and, at the same time, helping the com-munity at large.

“There is a picture of me standing by a broken pipeline,” said Vincent. “That was a pipeline that had ruptured and half a million gallons of crude oil had been re-leased into the Euphrates River. We pro-vided assistance in repairing the line and looking at ways in minimizing impacts, not only to the environment, but also to a nearby village and the community at large. We also removed bomb-making chemicals that had been left by insur-gents, and toxic chemicals in the area

Jerry Vincent on why YOU should volunteer for overseas deploymentby david Killam


“In this picture with the kids we’re in a remote location in Iraq,” said Vincent. “We were ‘outside the wire’ (outside the base) on a water reconnaissance mission for citizens in the community. While we were out looking, we came across a small village and these kids were there. We gave them some food and talked with them about village life. Even though they were quite young, they knew a little bit of English.” Interaction with Iraqis was one of the most enjoyable facets of deployment for Vincent.

-Continued on Page 11

8

Real estate division hits$230 million mark under HAP

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District’s real estate division has paid more than $230 million under the Ameri-can Recovery and Reinvestment Act-expanded Homeowners Assistance Program.

More than $238.2 million has been paid to 1,446 applicants as of April 22, according to the real estate division of the Sacramento District. Funds became available on Sept. 30, 2009, after the Office of the Secretary of Defense approved the processing of applications. Applicants include personnel from all five branches of the military. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers operates the program on behalf of the military branches, with the Sacramento District responsible for the western half of the U.S. A total of 10 states are covered by the Sacramento District, as well as Ameri-can military installations in the Pacific region.

The district’s success with the program is thanks to teamwork, said Chuck Rairdan, chief of the real estate division’s Department of Defense branch.

“Definitely teamwork. With so many moving parts and proce-dures along with a high volume of applications, our success has depended heavily upon a spirit of cooperation and close coordination amongst all our team members,” said Rairdan.

Over $224 million was paid to applicants needing assis-tance due to a permanent change of station (PCS); about $2.1 million was paid to surviving spouses of the fallen; $11.7 million for wounded service members; and the rest of the funds for personnel affected by the Base Realignment

and Closure 2005.

There are still more than 2,000 applications, primarily involving PCS, going through the real estate division, with a current work-load of 600 applications being worked on by the real estate divi-sion at any one time. Reaching the current maintained workload took some time at first, said Rairdan.

“In the beginning it was quite challenging, as it was a new, Stim-ulus-funded program with no formal rules in place,” said Rairdan. “Going through the federal rule-making process while hiring staff and getting the program up and running was quite the exercise, but a rewarding experience made possible by a dedicated group of folks working hard and putting their heads together.” Through-out the process, the goal of the real estate division remained the same, said Rairdan. “To keep the needs of our service members, the HAP applicants, in the forefront.”

HAP is a Department of Defense program approved by Congress in 1966, originally aimed at providing aid to military families and civilian personnel affected by BRAC. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Public Law 111-5, expanded HAP to provide assistance to wounded service members or Department of Defense civilians reassigned due to medical or rehabilitation purposes, or retirement due to their disability; surviving spouses of the fallen; BRAC 2005 impacted homeowners; and service members undergoing a PCS during the mortgage crisis. The dis-trict was the first of three Corps districts responsible for process-ing HAP claims to issue a check and the first to issue a check to a surviving spouse.

Shown here are members of the real estate division at the Sacramento District.

From left to right, front row: Janice Will, Sharon Caine and Chuck Rairdan.

Middle row: Marlene Leichus, Maria Guzman, Kathy Burnett, Larry Wright, Joe Powers and Amanda Valdivia.

Back row: Ed Quiambao, Ty Chamberlain, Ritchie Jones, Debbie Boyd, Stephanie McNair, Jake Kowalla, Jenn Olsson, Ryan Taylor and Orin Taylor.

story by

carlos J. lazo,Public affairs office

THe ProsPeCTor

9

District completes new fuel station at Hill Air Force Base

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District trans-ferred ownership of a new hydrant fuel system to the U.S. Air Force during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, April 22. The district completed work on the $15 million project earlier in the month.

Consisting of 11 new hydrant fuel outlets, with a pump house capable of providing 2,400 gallons of fuel per minute, the new system greatly decreases the amount of time necessary to re-fuel aircraft on the airfield. The outlets are spread out through-out the airfield – the majority located on one of the main aprons designated for F-16 aircraft.

“There are eight hydrant pits that were added (to the F-16 apron),” said Doug Wesemann, from the Sacramento District’s Utah resident office. “That’s the main loop, and the line goes all the way down towards the end of the runway. There’s a hot pad where planes can get fuel out there, which is such a huge benefit to the Air Force base,” he added.

“Hot pads are areas where planes can be isolated to perform potentially hazardous operations, such as munitions loading and unloading,” said James R. Gorman, Hill project manager with the 75th Civil Engineering Group. The hot pad allows for the quick refueling of aircraft involved in these operations.

“The new hydrant fuel system opens the way to increased ef-ficiency,” said Gorman, “resulting in reduced aircraft turn times and increased combat readiness.”

Outlets are connected to two above-ground fuel storage operat-ing tanks, each with a 10,000 barrel limit. An added benefit of the new system is its automated pressure capability.

“If multiple hydrant pits are being used at one time,” said Wesemann, “the system is smart enough to know that an additional pump has to kick on if the pressure is getting lower. There’s five pumps total in this pump house to kick on at one time, which gives plenty of pressure needed to use each one of these hydrant pits if ever needed.”

Additional benefits of the new hydrant fuel system include an active leak detection system, including motor operators for valves and associated conduits; automatic tank gauging; fire detection; fire hydrants; an emergency generator; secondary containment systems; access pavements; as well as security fencing and lighting for the tanks.

There were some challenges during the course of construction.

“We found contaminated soil,” said Wesemann, but

the Corps, the Air Force base and the contractor were able to work together to address the challenge, which minimized delays on the project. The contaminated soil was discovered during excavation operations for the pipeline.

“When [the contractors] were digging, they noticed some odors that were out of the norm. The action prevention plan tells them that they stop work and notify the appropriate people to get out there,” said Wesemann. “They had the base (representatives) get out there and run samples and test. It wasn’t clear what it was, so they ran some more tests,” said Wesemann. “We found out that there were some contaminants,” he added, “but (they) turned out to be nothing too harmful. We had to take some precautions, but rightly so,” he added.

“With jet fuel all over the place,” said Wesemann, everyone treated the situation with the utmost care, adhering to safety guidelines and continuing the work. “We were able to complete the project pretty much on time.”

story by carlos J. lazo, Public affairs office

Photos by delfin dayrit, utah resident office

A view inside the new pump house, part of the new $15 million hydrant fuel system at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, Feb. 11. Below: A view of the north elevation ofthe new pump house with containment area and two above-ground fuel storageoperating tanks, part of the new $15 million hydrant fuel system Jan. 15. The tankshave a 10,000 barrel limit; the containment area is sufficient enough to hold theentire amount of fuel the tanks can hold in the event of a leak.

10

District staff place high in Black Butte Triathlon

Three U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District employ-ees placed in the top five in each of their age groups against more than 200 competitors at the second annual Black Butte Triathalon in Orland, Calif., April 10.

Black Butte Lake is managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District. The triathlon was organized by Epoch Sports, and hosted at Black Butte under a special-use permit granted by the Corps.

Structural engineer Robert Caputo finished fourth in the mens’ age 25-29 sprint distance group, and eighth overall in the competition. Civil engineer Steve Soldati finished fourth in the mens’ age 10-24 sprint distance and twenty-sixth overall in the competition. Geolo-gist Coralie Wilhite placed fourth in the womens’ age 25-29 sprint distance, and fifteenth overall in the competition.

The road biking and trail run course proved more challenging than Caputo had expected. “I read in the literature that the course had

rolling hills. It was much steeper than that, more like leg-pounding up and downs, and I imagine there were a lot of cramped ham-strings,” he said.

“The partnership in planning for this event was great,” said Black Butte Lake senior park ranger Bill Miller, who worked with triathlon coordinators, Orland and Hamilton City volunteer fire departments, California Highway Patrol and Tehama County Sheriff’s Depart-ment to ensure the safety of racers on the trails and lake. “It is wonderful to have so many folks at a Corps park this early in the year, before our peak season.”

Miller said that the park works to stay current with newer recre-ation trends as these types of activites gain popularity. “We will do everything we can to connect people to the outdoors, to help them use this public land as a place to get outside and get fit,” he said.

The coordination exemplifies the Corps’ support of President Barack Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors initiative, which

promotes agency partnerships to provide outdoor recreation opportunities.

Caputo has been racing competitively since he won a scholar-ship as a swimmer at the University of Utah - Salt Lake City. He continued competing in smaller races after he transferred in 2002 to California State University - Sacramento, where he finished his undergraduate degree and got a master’s degree in civil engineering, because it provided fitness and a competitive edge. He estimated that he has raced in more than 20 competi-tions since leaving Utah.

“Now that I am out of school and working on a regular schedule, I can get back into racing shape,” said Caputo, who started with the district in August 2010. “It is also great to race with fellow employees, and to coach each other to better perform.”

Caputo plans to race in the Eppie’s Great Race in Sacramento this summer, where he took second in his age group in 2009.

story by hunter merritt


Photos courtesy of robert caPuto

THe ProsPeCTor

11

The Utah resident office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District has been recognized for the best Portland Cement Concrete Pave-ment Military Airport Project for 2010.

The Utah Chapter of the American Concrete Pavement Association presented the award during the 10th Annual Concrete Pavement Workshop at the Little America Hotel in Salt Lake City Jan. 19.

The award recognizes the Corps-built F-22 Fuel Composite Overhaul Test facility at Hill Air Force Base in Utah; a $39.2 million, 78,000-square-foot facility for painting and maintenance of the F-22 aircraft, also known as the Raptor. The project broke ground in summer 2008. A ceremony was held in September 2010 to commemorate its completion. The Utah resident office oversaw construction of the project from start to finish. Sacramento District project engineer Fred Nightengale and quality assurance representative Steve Marsh accepted the award on behalf of the Utah resident office.

“It was a privilege to represent the Army Corps of Engineers, and specifi-

cally the Utah resident office staff that worked so hard to make this project a success,” said Nightengale.

Contractor Green Construction Inc. installed 11,600 square yards of con-crete paving for the project, providing access to the existing tow-way. Build-ing aprons and additional tow-ways – massive sections of concrete around the building connecting it to the nearby runway, designed for use by the F-22 and other military vehicles – were also part of the project.

“This project was completed within all Corps of Engineers specifications, including smoothness, consolidation, and paste thickness, which resulted in a zero grind outcome,” said Jason Redeen, project engineer with the Utah resident office. “This means the concrete was ‘level’ enough within tolerances from testing that we did not have to grind out any humps or high spots – meaning it was constructed pretty well.

“The overall job had 700 days and over 200,000 man-hours without a lost-time accident.” The project was completed within schedule and under budget.

Corps-built F-22 facility at Hill recognized by concrete associationstory by carlos J. lazo


Photo by regina gray

utah resident office

-Vincent from Page 7that people were being exposed to.”

Jerry found that his expertise was very effectively used in Iraq.

“You go over there with one thought in mind, but they will use you in whatever area of expertise you have,” said Vin-cent. “I was installing water systems and waste systems. My job was to acquire the funding, put equipment in place and turn it over to the forward operating bases, or FOBs.

“I would go out, interact with the locals, identify the problem, come back to head-quarters and write up the justification and set up the contracts and do all of the processing work. There was an immedi-ate need and the end product came up very quickly.”

Does deployment add to a per-son’s skill set?

“Absolutely,” said Vincent. “You’re going to be doing tasks that you might not have an opportunity to do in the district. When you’re working here in the district, you’re in the same kind of working environment day in and day out – processing the same

papers, doing the same procedures and following the same guidelines. Over there, every day is different. You are go-ing to be met with different challenges. If you are given the opportunity and apply your skills, you will find that you gain confidence and lot of additional skills that you’ve never had the opportunity to use here at the district. You may have expertise in geology, in hydrology or per-haps, chemistry. At the district it sort of all gets blended in together. You could be a project manager, which doesn’t require a specific skill in the technical area. But if you’re over there, and you’re given the opportunity and you have those skills, you will have the opportunity to use them to their fullest degree.” It’s common knowledge that people who have been deployed see an increase in their pay.

“The money part of it is an incentive for some people,” said Vincent. “For me, it’s just the end of the day feeling you get for putting out a good product. Obviously, you get more money because you’re working more hours. You get overtime, hazardous duty pay and danger pay… it’s about a 70 percent increase, although

you still will have to pay taxes on that.”

Networking was an added benefit of deployment for Vincent.

“One thing I like to talk about is how many different kinds of people you meet while on deployment,” Vincent said. “I briefed at the one, two and three-star level. At the same time I could go over to the green zone (the international zone in Bagh-dad), where I was working with the State Department, and interact with the political Iraqis and the business Iraqis, who were trying to reshape their country. The next day I would be on a helicopter, going somewhere down range. There, I would be working with the local mukhtars and the local sheiks. The mukhtar is like a local mayor and the sheik was a patriarch who would look over his family and all of his relatives. So, I worked with that all the way down to the local sheep herder.”

Deploying to Iraq was a good experience for Vincent and reason enough to deploy to Afghanistan.

What’s in it for him?

It’s all done in real time.

Park rangers practice self-defense, safety techniquesPhotos by hunter merritt


Success Lake park ranger Nicole Arbelo uses training spray on Lake Mendocino park ranger Wayne Shull during annual training for the Corps’ South Pacific Division park rangers March 16.

Lake Sidney Lanier chief ranger Chris Arthur (left) demonstrates a cross elbow self-defense technique to U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s New Melones Lake senior ranger Billy Brown (right) at the Corps’ annual South Pacific Division park ranger training in Santa Cruz, Calif., March 16.

Arthur, a self-defense instructor for the Corps nationwide, was invited to attend the training and educate the park rangers in a variety of self-defense tactics. “Ninety nine percent of the time, you can avoid physical confrontation,” said Jackson. “These trainings are about being prepared for the one percent chance of an incident.”

Rangers from the Bureau of Reclamation are invited each year to join more than 100 Corps park rangers at the training. Many of the Bureau rangers are former Corps employees, according to Brown, who came to New Melones in 2010. “We really don’t have access to similar training opportunities at the Bureau,” he said, “so this is a great chance to connect with our partners in recreation and natural resource management, to trade ideas and learn together. This is my first training with the Corps rangers, and the whole training was very well-organized and enlightening.”

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A quarter of an inch.

It’s about the diameter of a pencil, the height of a standard staple or a stack of about 70 sheets of paper.

On Feb. 16, it was also the amount of separation re-quired here for lifting one of six fusegates with eight hydraulic jacks at Lake Kaweah’s Terminus Dam.

The six concrete gates bisecting the canyon appear to just be large trapezoidal concrete segments, per-haps best described as oversized scoop buckets more commonly seen on construction equipment. Each gate weighs approximate-ly 980,000 pounds, or close to 500 tons.

Once the reservoir rises, however, these gates begin to show their true purpose. Like an electrical fuse, Terminus’s fuse gates respond to an overload on the reservoir system and “flip” or tip over. At this point, water can more freely escape the reservoir through the spillway, pre-serving the dam’s integrity.

The Terminus Dam fusegates are designed to individually tip over and allow a flow downstream once water levels reach a certain elevation. The first fusegate is designed to tip once the lake achieves an elevation of 738 feet high, about 23 feet above the top of the fusegates. Gates continue to tip each time the water rises another six inches until all six have been tipped.

Completed in 2005 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District, at a cost of approximately $56 million, the fusegates at Terminus Dam are among the largest in the world and serve two purposes.

“Installation of the fusegates increased the reservoir’s capacity by about one-third, allowing it to store more than 184,000 acre-feet of water,” said Mike Ruthford, the project’s technical lead.

At the same time, they reduced the risk for downstream flooding from about a 1-in-50 to less than a 1-in-70 chance each year. In order to ensure the fusegates operate as intended during an emergency situation, regular maintenance must occur.

“We have to jack the fuse gates in order to prevent the bonding of the concrete [between the fusegate and its foundation] so that it maintains its ability to tip over in a flood event,” said Lake Kaweah

park manager Phil Deffenbaugh.

Over time, the fusegate can begin to bond with the concrete foun-dation slab it sits on, requiring the fusegates to be periodically jacked, or lifted, to break the bond that has begun to develop.

“Our operation manual calls for them to be jacked about once every 10 years,” Deffenbaugh said. “Our goal is to maintain a schedule to jack one gate each year.”

On Feb. 16, six Lake Kaweah staff members worked through a steady rain and gusty winds, following a strict script for safely operating the jacks and monitoring the fusegate as they raised it just a quarter of an inch.

“It takes about 30 minutes to raise the fusegate,” said Corps maintenance worker Victor Paniagua, who operated the hydraulic jacks. “Then we’ll run tools beneath it to ensure no bond has been created and lower it back down.”

At its peak, more than 5,800 pounds per square inch of hydraulic fluid rushes through a collection of hoses to power the jacks lift-ing the fuse gates.

“The hydraulic system is very powerful and extremely dangerous, so we have to carefully observe safety guidelines and make sure we don’t puncture the hoses,” Deffenbaugh said.

Using safe practices to properly maintain the facility and ensure the safety of downstream residents and property is vital.

The Corps and its non-federal partner, Kaweah Delta Water Con-servation District - which assumes maintenance costs, including jacking the fusegates - are constantly working to ensure that they function properly if the need arises.

A quarter of an inch at a time.

500-ton facelift keeps dam in working orderstory by tyler stalKer, Photo by michael J. nevins


Maintenance Leader Seng Saephan monitors the fusegate during the jacking process.Below: This 2006 file photo shows the fusegates during a test fill. The fusegate remain upright until the reservoir reaches a height of 738 feet, or about 23 feet above the top of the fusegates.

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Multi-benefit project moves forward at Hamilton Citystory and Photos by todd Plain

Public affairs officeThe U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento Dis-trict is nearing construction on a first-of-a-kind project in Hamilton City, Calif.

Slated to begin in summer 2012, the Hamilton City Flood Damage Control and Ecosystem Project focuses on measures that produce both flood-risk reduction and ecosystem restoration benefits under the first successful application of the Corps’ Planning Civil Works Projects under the Environmental Operating Principles.

This Corps environmental sustainability guideline states that projects should be formulated for multiple purposes whenever possible, subject to budgetary constraints.

“That’s a big deal,” said Corps project manager Tom Karvonen. “(The project) will not only greatly improve flood management for residents of Hamilton City, it will also restore their native habitats and natural flood plain.”

The multi-benefit Hamilton City project was authorized by Congress in 2007 through the Water Resources Development Act, and will include construction of a 6.8-mile setback levee and restoration of about 1,500 acres of habitat along the river banks.

Additionally, President Barack Obama’s 2012 budget proposal allocates $8 million towards the project, one of only two Corps construction new starts in the nation. The other is along the New Jersey coast.

There is a long history of flooding in this labor-based farming town of around 2,000 people, about 150 miles north of San Francisco. Portions of Hamilton City and surrounding areas were first flooded in 1974; then again in 1983, 1986, twice in 1995, 1997, and 1998. As a result, Hamilton City’s residents have been evacuat-ed or engaged in flood fighting six times in the past 30 years. As recently as late 2007, county officials had to perform emergency levee repair to a degraded levee.

The existing degraded levee, referred to by locals as the “J-levee,” is privately owned and mostly made of earthen material susceptible to erosion. It curves around property lines bordering the Sacramento River, is more than 100 years old and has not been regularly maintained.

The J-levee also does not meet U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or any other levee construction standards and could fail at river levels well below the top of the levee.

All of these issues complicate water-flow predictions for the project’s hydrologists and engineers. They say the current levee has a 10 percent chance of passing a 75-year storm event, while the new levee would have a 90 percent chance of passing the same event.

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“It’s all about the setbacks,” Karvonen said referring to the 6.8 miles of set-back levee replacing the J-levee.

Spreading the riverbanks apart will increase capacity in the Sacramento River, decrease river velocities and ease pressure from periodic flood-ing by allowing nearly 1,500 acres to essentially be ‘recaptured’ into the natural floodplain system. Karvonen said these changes will reduce erosion and maintenance needs on the levee while allowing overbank flooding when necessary.

“The J-levee severs the connection be-tween the river and floodplain—where water wants to naturally flow once it goes above the riverbanks,” Karvonen said. “So, the majority of the old levee will be removed in order to reconnect the river to the natural flood plain, and only areas of the old levee with signifi-cant environmental benefits will be left in place.”

The new levee would provide three distinct levels of flood risk reduction associated with three different aver-age levee heights—performance that corresponds roughly to associated land use. From about two miles north of the city’s main population, the levee would gradually decrease in height once it passes the community and travels in a southerly direction along the river.Despite the large decreased flood risk for residents, the quantitative economic analysis wasn’t enough to support federal government interest.

“Over the years one thing has remained constant in Hamilton City—flood risk,” civil works section chief David van Rijn said. “However, successfully aligning flood risk management and ecosystem restoration together was key to moving this project forward.”

Van Rijn served as project manager on the Hamilton City project for five years before Karvonen took over in 2009, and was able to build key agency and stake-holder relationships during the design to work through changing technical de-sign issues. Some of the current design changes are being handled by Sacra-mento District landscape architect Jim Lee and environmental manager Don Lash, currently working with Karvonen on the ecosystem restoration portion of Hamilton City.

Together with project partners like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Lash and Lee are planning what vegetation should be planted and where. One of

the more well-known plantings under discussion are elderberry plants—the only suitable home for the valley elderberry longhorn beetle, which has been listed as a threatened species by FWS since 1980. Hamilton City and similar eco-restoration projects are a major reason for recent discussions of removing the beetle from the federal endangered species list, said Lee.

Along with a large number of mature elderberry plants, Hamilton City is surrounded by large plots of orchards, grasslands, woodlands and riparian forests that have been restored or are currently undergoing restoration. The Hamilton City project is a critical piece in connecting a variety of the surrounding restoration areas together and providing a continuous stretch of habitat instead.

“‘Connectivity’ is what we’re striving for, so that species don’t have to hop-scotch along the river banks between Butte County on the east and Glenn County on the west,” said Bill Paris, the attorney representing Hamilton City’s Reclamation District 2140. “It’s one of the longest by-mile connections of restored habitat that I know of.”

Having access to the land creating the connectivity Paris refers to would not have been possible without the help of The Nature Conservancy, a non-federal stakeholder on the project, and their efforts with the farming community and local land owners.

Gregg Werner, a senior project director for TNC, said, “Through state grants and other donations, TNC has acquired 85 percent of the land needed for the project, and will ultimately deed it over to Reclamation District 2140. The land should amount to about $12 million, and will be contributed on behalf of the non-federal sponsor as part of the sponsor’s responsibility to pay for 35 percent for the project.”

Lee Ann Grigsby-Puente is the presi-dent of Hamilton City’s Reclamation District 2140 and said they are not only grateful for the land acquisitions being donated but also for being included in the president’s budget.

“It took two decades of hard work involving elected officials from both parties to get the Hamilton City project where it is today,” Grigsby-Puente said.

“(But) further collaboration is needed to ensure that the president’s funding proposal becomes reality.”

Napa Creek projectApril 2011 Photos by todd Plain


(Above) U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District project manager Dave Cook (center) and ProVen Management Inc. superintendant Patrick Feeney (behind, left) oversee construction April 8 of two double-barrel box culverts in Napa, Calif. The Sacramento District is installing the culverts as part of a project to reduce the risk of flooding from nearby Napa Creek. ProVen Management is the contractor building the culverts.

“These box culverts will give the creek a straight shot out towards the river,” Cook said. In high water, Napa Creek often overtops and spills into adjacent neighborhoods, causing persistent flooding. The culverts will direct flood waters more quickly to the river and away from homes and businesses. The $14.8 million project, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, is a joint effort of the Corps, the city of Napa, and the Napa Flood Control and Water Conservation District, to reduce flood risk for the city of Napa.

Left / Above: Construction continues on two double-barrel box culverts in Napa, Calif., April 8. The large underground tunnels will carry water beneath the city streets from Napa Creek to Napa River. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District is installing the culverts as part of a project to reduce the risk of flooding from Napa Creek.

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District completes largest-ever Army land exchange deal

The U.S. Army Reserve and SunCal, the largest privately-held land developer in the U.S., signed the largest-ever real property exchange agreement April 8 to enable development of an Army Reserve complex in the greater San Francisco Bay area - with-out impact on the federal budget.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District’s real estate division managed the deal on behalf of the Army Re-serve. In the agreement, SunCal will build new military facilities at Parks Reserve Forces Training Area in Dublin in exchange for 180 acres of land at the same facility. That land will be devel-oped into a master-planned community alongside Parks.

“Seeing the community engagement here is so special,” said Brig. Gen. Jon D. Lee, 63rd Regional Support Command com-manding general, during the ceremony. “It’s a great opportunity for us – this growth of our facility and these improvements for our soldiers.”

Through a multi-phase schedule, Parks will gain a new main gate and administrative building for base police; a 33,000-square-foot area maintenance support facility; a 33,000-square-foot regional medical training facility; a 42,000-square-foot Army Reserve training facility; a 40,000- square-foot public works and logistics warehouse; and a variety of road and utilities infrastructure construction and improve-ments. Parks is the only training facility within a short drive for some 11,000 reservists in the San Francisco region.

Real estate specialists from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District worked alongside Army Reserve leaders for several years to bring this carefully-crafted agreement to fruition.

“Determining the scope of work needed by the Army Reserve, determining what the exchange partner would get in return and coordinating with the city of Dublin” was a complicated task,

said Sacramento District real estate specialist Jeremy Hollis, project manager for the Parks exchange. Stan Wallin, chief of the acquisitions and management branch, calls the agreement “a real win-win-win solution for the Corps, our reservists and SunCal.”

The exchange process began in earnest when more than 150 investors, contractors, developers and other interested parties attended an “Industry Day” to launch the Army’s search in 2007. SunCal was notified of their selection in September 2008 and a letter of agreement was signed in January 2009 – leading to the April 8 signing of the official exchange agreement.

On the 180 acres it receives, SunCal will develop Dublin Crossing, a pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use community that will connect the east and west sides of town currently separated by Camp Parks.

“We’re excited to continue working with SunCal as we partner to bring new jobs, shops, restaurants and homes, plus parks and trails, to Dublin,” said Dublin Mayor Tim Sbranti. “This new neighborhood is a significant part of our city’s future.”

The Real Property Exchange Program is conducted under the authority of Title 10, U.S. Code, Section 18240, as amended. Commonly known as the “exchange authority,” this legislation permits Department of Defense reserve components to convey certain real property assets to states, local governments, local authorities, or private parties in exchange for facility or facilities, existing or to be constructed, including utilities, equipment and furnishings for the facilities.

The facilities - including any utilities, equipment, furnishings, and any additional value offered to be converted to facilities by U.S. Army Reserve - must be of a combined value at least equal to the fair market value of the property to be conveyed, as deter-mined by the government.

story and Photo by

robert Kidd


Taking part in the signing, from left: U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Jon D. Lee, commanding general, 63rd Regional Support Command; Mayor Tim Sbranti, city of Dublin; Addison Davis, command executive officer, U.S. Army Reserve Command; and Frank Faye, chief operating officer, SunCal.

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Representatives from the Department of the Army, U.S. Rep. Sam Farr’s district office, Fort Hunter Liggett and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento Dis-trict broke ground a one-megawatt solar array in a ceremony in Fort Hunter Liggett, Calif., April 8.

Once completed, in approximately three years, the array will provide roughly 30 percent of Fort Hunter Liggett’s energy needs.

The array is the first of three planned for Hunter Liggett, which will provide for all the post’s energy needs when complete.

The Sacramento District is managing the project.

Tad Davis, chief of staff of the U.S. Army Reserve, said that this project provides support for the Army Reserve’s “triple bottom line” of mission, energy efficiency and provision of economic benefits to the community.

He applauded Fort Hunter Liggett for building a green, sustainable installation.

Katherine Hammack, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations and Environ-ment, described the project as “what happens when government agencies work together to do the job right.”

Hammack said that this project was a start in her goal for every Army installation to become “net zero – don’t consume more than you produce,” and thanked the Sac-ramento District for “bringing technology and making it happen.”

“The Corps of Engineers is committed to renewable energy projects,” said Sacra-mento District commander Lt. Col. Andy Kiger.

“And with partners like these good folks at Fort Hunter Liggett, we will transform military installations around this country into energy-independent facilities.”

Representatives from the Department of the Army, U.S. Rep. Sam Farr’s district office, Fort Hunter Liggett and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District broke ground a one-megawatt solar array in a ceremony at Fort Hunger Liggett, Calif., April 8. From left to right: Todd Davis, U.S. Army Reserve chief of staff; Brian Bothman, vice president of Robert A. Bothman Inc.; Katherine Hammack, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations and Environment; Col. James Suriano, Fort Hunter Liggett garrison commander; Alec Arago, district director for U.S. Rep. Sam Farr’s district office; and Lt. Col. Andrew Kiger, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District district commander.

District breaks ground on Fort Hunter Liggett solar arraystory and Photo by david Killam


Public Broadcasting Service television station KQED inter-viewed Harvey Jones, program manager for the Sacramento District’s Work for Others program, about the district’s ongoing Mount Umunhum clean-up project in Los Gatos, Calif., March 30. Jones described previous district environmental clean-up work at the former U.S. Air Force base at Mount Umunhum conducted under its Formerly Used Defense Site program, and outlined current and future clean-up activities be-ing conducted through the Work for Others program.

PBS highlights Corps’ clean-up efforts at Mount Umunhumby david Killam


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Student competitors complete a cross-lake sprint during Folsom High School’s Fourth Annual Cardboard/Plywood/Whatever Regatta at Beal’s Point State Park in Folsom, Calif., April 1.

Volunteer judges from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District judged boats built by high school students from more than 20 physics and engineering classes at Folsom and Rancho Cordova high schools at Folsom High School’s Fourth Annual Cardboard/Plywood/Whatever Regatta at Beal’s Point State Park in Folsom, Calif., April 1.

Hydraulic engineer Christy Jones and civil engineer Kristy Riley judged the students’ homemade boats against structural design criteria. The students then tested the boats in sprint races. Awards were given for best design and construction, drag race, slalom course, greatest buoyant force and best sinking competitions.

The competition is modeled after the concrete canoe projects held by many college civil engineering programs said Eric Wright, physics instructor at Folsom High School and regatta organizer. “I believe learning needs to be hear one, see one, do one. Physics really lends itself to hands-on

application,” Wright said.

Students said that they enjoyed designing something on their own without instructions or directions. “It was so exciting for students to see something start as a vision and become a reality,” Wright said. “This project also encouraged problem solving and promoted teamwork, which is so important to the development of these students into young adults.”

Wright said Corps volunteers were an important part of the educational experience. “These students are aspiring to careers in science, technology, engineering and math, and exposure to adults in these fields is very important, to see that there are real people in these fields. It is great to see these experts out here watching the students’ hard work.”

Corps judges were requested and attended another physics competition at the school, the FHS Engineering Challenge, May 17.

Corps engineers judge high school physics regattastory by hunter merritt, Photos by michael J. nevins


Sacramento District engineers Christy Jones (left) and Kristy Riley helped judge Folsom High School’s Fourth Annual Cardboard/Plywood/Whatever Regatta at Beal’s Point State Park in Folsom, Calif., April 1.

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The Sacramento District’s regulatory division packed up their per-mits and computers April 11 and began moving from their offices at the district headquarters building in downtown Sacramento, Calif., to the John E. Moss Federal Building, just under a mile away. Their offices were closed for the move and reopened April 18.

With a growing workload and an accompanying increase in staff, the Sacramento District had outgrown the space in its headquarters building, prompting the move.

“We have a large mission here in California, and there’s a need to continue adding personnel to better deliver our function and ser-vices,” said regulatory division chief, Mike Jewell.

Although the regulatory division offices no longer reside in the dis-trict headquarters building, its new home makes collaboration with partner resource management agencies a little easier.

“We do a lot of work with the (U.S.) Fish and Wildlife Service, fisher-ies and federal highways, and they’re all located here,” Jewell said.

The John E. Moss federal building was the headquarters for the Sacramento District until 1992. The new mailing address for the Sacramento District regulatory division is:

U.S. Army Corps of EngineersSacramento District, Regulatory Division

650 Capitol Mall, Suite 5-200Sacramento, CA 95814

Telephone numbers and email addresses for regulatory division staff remain unchanged.

The Corps’ regulatory program is responsible for protecting the nation’s aquatic resources, while allowing reasonable development through fair and balanced permit decisions.

District’s regulatory division movesto new Sacramento locationstory by John Prettyman, Photo by hunter merritt


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Hensley Lake hosts free Kids Fishing DayDaniella Bueno shows off her catch during the 15th annual Kids Fishing Day at Hensley

Lake, Calif., April 30. The Sacramento District’s Hensley and Eastman lakes take turns hosting the event, which provides free loaner gear

and clinics on fishing techniques and water safety to help connect kids with the outdoors.

story by chris gray-garcia


Park rangers talk water safety at Stockton Steelhead Festival

The entrance to the first-ever Stockton Steelhead Festival in Stockton, Calif., May 1 makes clear that it’s all about the fish. New Hogan Lake park rangers were on hand at the event to talk about water safety and the importance of maintaining a healthy watershed in helping the steelhead population to recover. New Hogan Dam, managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District, helps reduce Stockton’s flood risk and impounds the Calaveras River, Stockton’s main water supply. “To take care of the fish, we’ve got to take care of the water,” New Hogan park ranger Gary Basile said. Steelhead trout are listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a threatened species in the rivers of California’s Central Valley.

by chris gray-garcia


A young Hensley Lake park visitor practices his cast during the 15th annual Kids Fishing Day April 30. The Sacramento District’s Hensley and Eastman lakes take turns hosting the event, which provides free loaner gear and clinics on fishing techniques and water safety to help connect kids with the outdoors.

Young Hensley Lake park visitors inspect a just-cleaned catch during the 15th annual Kids Fishing Day April 30.

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major general dorko visiTsTHe saCramenTo disTriCTMaj. Gen. Jeffrey J. Dorko, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Deputy Commanding Gen-eral for Military and Interna-tional Operations, visited the Sacramento District in March and took a few minutes for an interview with the district public affairs office.

Public Affairs: What would you like people to know about your visit?

Maj. Gen. Dorko: It’s my first visit to Sacramento. I’m thrilled to be here. Sacra-mento District, its workload and the missions it faces, is much the same as what we face around the Corps. The geographic reach of this dis-trict is just extraordinary. This district’s standing or its role in the regional business model here in the South Pacific Divi-sion is very interesting. I enjoy going around and seeing how each of divisions and, in turn, each of our districts, embrace the idea of regional busi-nesses that takes the best of what each district has to offer to provide the best in services and products to our custom-ers as a regional organiza-tion rather than a cluster of districts. Every division has approached that differently, drawing on the strength of its districts. This for me is an opportunity to come to a great part of the Corps and see how

that’s being done.

PA: You’ve gotten your feet wet in military construction. How does it look overall?

Dorko: Well, in military con-struction, we stay very busy. Right now we’re at an inter-esting inflection point. From the Base Realignment And Closure Act of 2005, we have to have actions completed by September of 2011, so we’re in the very end of the final quarter of the endgame for BRAC. So a lot of big projects have to come across the finish line to meet the operational needs of our customers and to meet BRAC law. So there’s a lot of work going on there and the beat goes on. The work in Iraq is coming down, as we close out and as we prepare to leave in accordance with the agreement with the gov-ernment of Iraq, by December of 2011. We still have a lot of projects there we have to finish up. I anticipate we might have a presence for quite some time in Iraq, just like we have in 30 or 40 other coun-tries around the world. It’s just the opposite story in Afghani-stan now, because the work-load is just going through the ceiling. We’re building for our deployed forces, our coalition forces, just like we did in Iraq. We’re also doing a lot of work

for Afghan national security forces. We’ve been asked by the commander of the security forces to accelerate construc-tion to probably $10-12 billion more for the police and the army into 2014. That’s causing us to ramp up our activities in Afghanistan right now. In the last two years we’ve gone from 300 people to a little over 800 people on the ground in two districts where we formerly had just one. So the workload is heavy and the future is bright for challenging work in Afghanistan. And, of course, there is still work to do in Japan as part of the inter-national agreement between the two countries. And, of course, there is the relocation of Camp Humphreys in Korea. So there’s a lot of work left to be done. The nature of the work is changing over time as we come out of BRAC but still it’s a healthy work load.

PA: How are your recruiting efforts going for Afghanistan and what specialties do you need?

Dorko: I’ll take the second question first. It’s the same specialties we have here. We look for area engineers, we need field engineers, we need contracting expertise, we need leadership of all kinds – from commander of a district, to deputy of programs

of a district, all the way down to all of the employees in a district. And that’s been part of the problem – we’ve had growing workloads overseas, which has put a strain on the work force here in the states. That’s why it’s been challeng-ing. We’ve been able to get great talent over there, some of whom have been doing multiple tours, and we really appreciate that, but we’re go-ing to be asking for the same things we have over here.

PA: How are the recruiting efforts going for Afghanistan?

Dorko: The recruiting efforts have been going pretty well. Because we’ve grown that force in Afghanistan from the low 300s to nearly 800 now. And we’ve relied more and more on reach back. You find that for some things, you don’t necessarily need a huge footprint. For a lot of the pre-award work we can reach back here to the U.S. There have been 12-14 districts here in the United States that have been providing substantial support. It’s really the entire Corps of 35,000 people who are supporting the forward team in Afghanistan.

PA: I know that 2012 is an impor-tant issue. Would you like to say a

story by david Killam, Photos by michael J. nevins and carlos J. lazo - Public affairs office

-Continued on Page 24

few words about that? (USACE 2012 was an initiative founded by former Chief of Engineers Lt. Gen. Robert Flowers. It featured organizing Corps of Engineers districts and divisions into regional business centers and establishing Centers of Practice, which combined Corps of Engineers assets with community, other agency and academic resources.)

Dorko: I think 2012 was a great initia-tive when General Flowers came on board. It was the right focus at the right time, to put the Corps on the right track combined with the transition of the Army and the stationing of the forces. It was definitely the right thing at the right time. We could not have pulled off the BRAC workload and the growing of the Army workload without 2012.

That, along with the stimulus, put a tremendous load on the Corps and we could not have handled that without the regional business concept that was contained in 2012. The divisions, stepping up and acting as regional business centers, even across division boundaries, enabled us to do all of this work.

PA: Are there any trends that you see that people should know about?

Dorko: I guess there’s that old ad-age that the only constant is change. I wouldn’t necessarily call that a trend, but there’s always change and this is a period of change. If you look at the military, with BRAC and all the other things, we’re coming down off of that, but the nature of our workload after BRAC and Overseas Contingency Operations is still very substantial. It’s going to be a bigger workload than what we had going into this period of plenty, but the nature of our work will be different.

We’re now seeing a lot of DOD work, we’ll be working on hospitals and Department of Defense schools, and we’re going to be partnering with great organizations, like the Defense Logis-tics Agency. Our workload will continue to evolve.

Dorko concluded his trip with a visit to Defense Distribution Depot in Tracy and gave a brief presentation at the Military Munitions Re-sponse Program convention.

by michael J. nevins


U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District’s chief of planning Alicia Kirchner gives an interview on Sacramento’s flood history to the Water Education Foundation in Sacramento, Calif., March 14. Kirchner discussed past and ongoing risk of flooding in the Sacramento area for a PBS documentary video scheduled for release in July.

“Sacramento is one of America’s most-at-risk cities for flood,” Kirchner said. “The Corps is working with the state of California and local agencies to improve the levees here, but living with levees will always come with risk.”

-Dorko from Page 23

Planning chief interviewed on Sacramento’s flood history

by todd Plain


“Walk at Lunch Day” celebrated at district

Here comes the sun in Sacramento, just in time for “Walk at Lunch Day” at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District’s headquarters April 27. In coordination with the district’s safety office, nurse Jan Luoma (far right) led a group of walkers around downtown Sacramento for 30 minutes of exercise.

“Walk at Lunch Day” encourages employees to turn a working lunch into a walking lunch, and served as a kick-off for the Presidential Activity Lifestyle Award challenge, said Luoma. The challenge encourages 30 minutes of physical activity five days a week for six out of eight weeks, said Luoma, and includes over 50 activities ranging from dancing to yoga.

THe ProsPeCTor

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differences between these photos?

PiCTure CHallenge

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25

Sacramento District employees donate over $100K to CFC

2009 Numbers:254 Donors$103,341.46

2010 Numbers:229 Donors$108,864.00

Thanks to Alicia Kirchner, chief of planning division, for leading the efforts for the 2010 season and all the team members that helped make this all possible.

U.S. army CorPs of engineers

Sacramento District

1325 j. Street

Sacramento, ca 95814

Documents

The Prospector Spring 2011