In 2002, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District, prepared a plan for maintaining the navigation channel within the four projects on the lower Snake River (Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose, and Lower Granite) and the McNary project on the Columbia River. This plan, the Dredged Material Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement (DMMP/EIS), defined the programmatic approach the Corps planned to follow for the next 20 years for maintaining the congressionally-authorized navigation channel in these reservoirs by managing sediment deposition, dredging, and the disposal of dredged material. The DMMP/EIS also addressed the need to provide flow conveyance at the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater Rivers at Lewiston, Idaho, as dredging has been used to maintain adequate flow conveyance in this area. The Final DMMP/EIS was released for public review in July 2002, and a Record of Decision (ROD) was signed in September 2002.
The dredging activities described in the July 2002 Final DMMP/EIS and the September 2002 ROD were not implemented due to a lawsuit filed in November 2002. Information regarding the case, which was filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, can be viewed at Lawsuit Information, found on the menu on the left. The case was stayed by the court. The Corps withdrew its September 2002 ROD and National Marine Fisheries Service withdrew the Biological Opinion associated with the DMMP/EIS. Note: National Marine Fisheries Service is now known as NOAA Fisheries. The two terms are used interchangeably throughout these pages.
The Corps immediately began work on a Supplemental Environmental Analysis for Purposes of 2003-2004 Dredging (SEA-03/04), which was released in July 2003. The dredging activities proposed in this document were postponed, however, until such time as the Corps could address the current status of the navigation system and all comments received during the public comment period. It was felt that these issues could not be resolved in time to complete the contracting process for dredging in the 2003-2004 in-water work window. Further information can be found by clicking on Background Information and FAQs, found on the menu on the left.
In June 2004, the Corps signed a Record of Decision and Statement of Decision (ROCASOD), indicating that maintenance dredging in the 2004-2005 in-water work window would be pursued. The Corps has initiated the contracting process with such preliminary activities as contract advertisement. These preliminary contracting activities are necessary to allow the Corps to proceed with a contract award in the event of a Court decision favorable to the defendants. The Corps will not, however, award the contract prior to such a decision from the Court.
At present, the Corps is preparing a Programmatic Sediment Management Plan/Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (PSMP/SEIS) to the DMMP/SEIS. This document is intended to clarify and reorganize information already included in the DMMP/SEIS, and will incorporate any available new information, as well as expand discussions of those measures considered in the DMMP/SEIS.
