Water Supply

Redirecting...

Water Supply Value to the Nation

Water Supply Workshop

A water supply workshop held in Tulsa, OK on June 2-3, 2009 was attended by 64 people representing Army General Counsel, USACE Headquarters (HQUSACE), four MSC's, 12 districts, IWR, the Northwestern Division (NWD) Hydropower Analysis Center as well as representatives from the Southwestern Power Administration and the states of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

The workshop was a forum for participants to raise questions, share experiences, present their water supply management approaches, and increase their knowledge of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers municipal and industrial water supply program and policies.

Following an overview of the Tulsa District and their importance to the water supply mission of the Corps of Engineers, there were 25 presentations covering such topics as:

  • Water supply policy
  • Pricing
  • Guidance
  • Potential delegation
  • Policy/guidance rewrite of ER 1105-2-100
  • Data base and business line
  • Processing of reallocation studies
  • The water supply module of OMBIL
  • The water supply PCX
  • Water accounting
  • Dam safety impacts on reallocations
  • Sedimentation projections
  • Case study issues faced by the Baltimore, Nashville and Little Rock Districts
  • Legal issues surrounding the ACT/ACF (Lake Lanier, GA)
  • The relationships with our power marketing agencies and the mission of the Hydropower Analysis Center
  • Issues surrounding the Chatfield, CO reallocation

One major topic discussed was the theory and technical aspects of storage yield analysis. It was one of the key issues of concern to the workshop participants as there is currently no consistent approach in how different districts conduct such analyses for their storage reallocations studies. A guest speaker from the state of Texas presented an interesting paper on Texas Water Issues and a representative from Kansas discussed the Kansas reservoir sustainability initiative.

A June 4 session analyzed the development of a portfolio of projects suitable for reallocation to municipal and industrial water supply. This session was attended by eight participants representing HQUSACE, four MSCs, IWR and one district to discuss the National Water Supply Portfolio for Reallocations. This study was authorized by the Office of Management and Budget for inclusion in the fiscal year 2008 and 2009 budgets.

Following a presentation on the Portfolio results and the plan of study, the June 4 session developed an outline with pros and cons on alternative funding scenarios and a method to prioritize reallocations.  A final draft of the document is scheduled for submittal to HQUSACE in early July.

For more information, view materials from the presentations.