Both houses of the U.S. Congress have authorized $60 million in funding for Newport’s dam replacement project as part of an omnibus bill.
The Senate passed the $858 billion National Defense Authorization Act last week, which included an amended 2023 Water Resources Development Act.
Both the U.S. House and Senate passed versions of the Water Resources Development Act last July. The lower chamber’s version included $60 million allocated to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers toward replacing Newport’s Big Creek dams, thanks to Rep. Peter DeFazio, chair of the House Water Resources and Environment Committee, and Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore.
Oregon’s dam safety engineer last year rated the twin earthen Big Creek dams unsafe due seismic vulnerability and evidence of internal seepage. The city is planning a replacement dam – which holds the city’s water supply — that could cost more than $100 million. The Senate’s first version of the bill did not contain the dam funding, but Oregon’s Senate delegation continued to press for its inclusion. The upper chamber approved the money within its omnibus defense bill, sending it to President Joe Biden on Dec. 15. Biden is expected to sign the bill this week.
Newport city manager Spencer Nebel said congressional authorization was a major step but another lies ahead — congressional approval of a source for the funding as part of an appropriations bill.
The dam project engineer, HDR Inc. of Omaha, Neb. has begun geologic exploration of the proposed site just west of the current upper dam in preparation for a final design.
