SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District invited more than 23 federally recognized and unrecognized tribal nations to participate in two workshops aimed at discussing how the nations could become more integrated into the Corps' project development process.
On consecutive Saturdays - Feb. 27 in Sacramento and March 6 in Chico, Calif. - the Corps presented the current and future footprints of the Sacramento River Bank Protection Project to give the neighboring tribes an opportunity to help shape the way the project is constructed.
The Sacramento River Bank Protection Project is a long-term project to enhance public safety and protect property along the Sacramento River and its tributaries by maintaining levees and reducing stream bank erosion. The project stretches from as far north as Chico all the way down to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Sacramento District archaeologist Nikki Polson, cultural resource specialist for the project, provided a 15-minute presentation on typical levee deficiencies and the Corps processes for addressing those issues, including the ability for the public and tribal nations to help shape the planning process by providing valuable comments about the project area and proposed repair sites.
"The Sacramento River Bank Protection Project, Phase II adds an additional 80,000 feet of authorized levee fixes," Polson said. "By getting the tribes involved early in the planning process, we can integrate their input into our repair site selection process and help us identify areas along the river system that would have enough cultural significance to justify protecting them."
Later this year, the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, a report detailing various project designs and an analysis of how each of those designs could impact the environment, will be released for public review and comments. Currently, the project is scheduled to begin construction in 2012.
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