Portland District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as the steward of cultural resources located at the 13 dams and reservoirs that comprise the Willamette Valley Project, is responsible for ensuring project effects on cultural and historic resources are considered prior to implementation.
Portland District is seeking public comment on a National Historic Preservation Act Section 106 Programmatic Agreement that will establish a tailored review process for the Portland District to utilize when determining project effects on historic properties within the Willamette Valley Project. The draft document is available for the public to review at: https://usace.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16021coll7/id/19965. Comments are requested by March 13, 2022 and should be submitted by email to wvpculturalresources@usace.army.mil or by mail to
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ODV
RE: WVP PA
40386 W. Boundary Road
Lowell, OR 97452
The Corps will review all comments received.
Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act requires federal agencies take into consideration project effects on historic properties – which are buildings, sites, objects, structures, and districts with local, state, or national historic significance – prior to project implementation. Programmatic Agreements allow for federal agencies to modify the Section 106 consultation process to allow for a streamlined review when the project scope and scale warrants a standardized approach. For more information on the Section 106 process and the role of the public please visit the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation website (https://www.achp.gov/section-106-quicklinks).
Since December 2020, the Portland District has been consulting with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office, the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians, the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, other federal and state agencies, county recreation partners, and other parties with an interest in the Willamette Valley Project and historic properties. The public brings a diverse breadth of knowledge about our shared heritage to the process and this comment period affords them an opportunity to share issues of concern regarding either historic properties or project effects on historic properties.
Willamette Valley Project: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers operates 13 dam and reservoir projects in the Willamette River drainage system. Each dam contributes to a water resource management system that provides flood risk management, power generation, irrigation, water quality improvement, fish and wildlife habitat and recreation on the Willamette River and many of its tributaries. Since their completion, the dams have cumulatively prevented over $25 billion in flood damages to the Willamette Valley. For more information, visit: https://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/.