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Wilmington District receives final FY 2016 allocation of $67.4 million; FY 2017 budget proposal contains $55.1 million for the District

Published Feb. 10, 2016

The President has released both the work plan for fiscal year 2016 (FY16) and his budget proposal for fiscal year 2017 (FY17) which includes funding for ongoing projects in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington District.

   The FY16 work plan provides additional funding of $13.9 million under operation and maintenance for a range of Wilmington District projects over the original total allocation/funding of about $54 million. These funds will allow for additional maintenance dredging at multiple coastal navigation projects including Morehead City Harbor at $5 million; Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (AIWW) at $3 million and Manteo (Shallowbag) Bay at $3.2 million. Also, Silver Lake Harbor and Rollinson Channel received a total $2.2 million for additional maintenance dredging of the shallow draft navigation channels to and from Ocracoke Island, a subsistence island only accessible by boat or ferry. The enclosed table shows the FY16 original funding allocations for all projects, the additional funds provided by the work plan and the resulting total funding for this year.

   The FY17 budget provides about $55.1 million for O&M of the District’s projects including maintenance dredging of multiple deep and shallow draft navigation harbors and channels including Wilmington Harbor at $13.4 million; Morehead City Harbor at $5.9 million; Manteo (Shallowbag) Bay (Oregon Inlet) at $1.9 million and the AIWW at $1.8 million. The District’s five lakes and dams are included in the budget with John H. Kerr Dam and Reservoir in N.C. and Va. (Buggs Island) receiving $16.9 million, an increase over the FY16 project allocation, to install a toe drain system at Island Creek Dam. The other four District lake projects received a combined $11.7 million to continue to provide flood reduction, recreation and other authorized purposes and services to the public. The FY17 budget proposals for all District projects are shown on the enclosed table.

   “The additional funding for this year gives the Wilmington District a great opportunity to provide a higher level of service to the public in North Carolina. Funding for three of the state's important navigation projects at Morehead City Harbor, Manteo and the AIWW allows us to perform additional dredging and continue to alleviate the emergency conditions in the short term ,” said Wilmington District Commander Colonel Kevin Landers, Sr. “In addition, we continue to appreciate the state's support in strategic planning and potential funding to keep the state's waterways, which are economic engines, viable.”

   Like each year’s presidential budget, the proposed FY17 budget begins a process that includes action by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and results in an appropriations bill to be enacted into law before final funding amounts are known.