For Release: Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Contact: David Gillies: 202-225-5661

LOCAL WATER AND FLOOD CONTROL PROJECTS RECEIVE OVER $147 MILLION IN CORPS OF ENGINEERS RECOVERY ACT FUNDING

Washington - U.S. Congressman Jerry Costello (D-IL) announced today that local water and flood control projects have received over $147 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The funds will be used for ongoing operation and maintenance projects.

“This is a tremendous investment in our local water infrastructure,” said Costello. “The impact on work and operations at Kaskaskia, the Wood River Levee, Rend Lake and elsewhere will be significant, helping to protect our communities and improve commerce on our rivers. These are vitally important domestic investments which will also create jobs.”

The projects include:

• Chain of Rocks Canal - $11.450 million to complete construction of mitigation measures to reduce the risk of levee failure. Work includes constructing relief wells along the south levee berms and dredging operations on the north levee berms.
• East St. Louis and Vicinity - $3 million for engineering investigations for final design of underseepage control measures.
• Inspection of Completed Works, Southern Illinois - $75,000 to update new and existing benchmarks to ensure consistency with other federal and local agencies regarding flood forecasting, inundation models, navigation, flood insurance rate maps, and topographic mapping.
• Kaskaskia Navigation System - $11.898 million for a variety of operations and maintenance work, including channel improvements, upgrading operating equipment and replacing an emergency generator and failed miter gate springs.
• Locks Number 27 - $27.7 million to install new miter gates and other improvements.
• Madison/St. Clair Counties - $4.656 million to complete phase I and phase II construction on the Eagle Park Acres sanitary sewer collector system; complete phase II and phase III of rehabilitation of combined sewer system in Belleville.
• Mississippi River Between Missouri River and Minneapolis, Minnesota - $24.532 million for various improvements, including rehabilitation of the spur dike and replacement of four bulkheads at the Mel Price Locks and Dam.
• Mississippi River Between the Ohio and Missouri Rivers - $24.532 million for various improvements.
• Mississippi River Levees, Illinois - $350,000 to repair floodgate at Cache, Illinois.
• Olmsted Locks and Dam - $4.906 million for the placement of tainter gate shells in the river.
• Rend Lake - $19.043 million to resume operation and maintenance of all recreation activities, increase environmental stewardship and for various facility improvements.
• Wood River Levee, Madison County - $15.313 million for mitigation measures to reduce the risk of levee failure. Work includes completing phase I gravity drain repairs and pump station construction and rehabilitation, complete phase II gravity drain repairs.

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Corps of Engineers project details (requires Microsoft Word)