U.S. Department of Defense

 

Authors

Date of this Version

2009

Comments

Published in Value Engineering Report (2009) 1-75

Abstract

This Value Engineering (VE) Report summarizes the events of the April 6-8, 2009 VE workshop facilitated by GeoVal, Inc. for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Omaha District, Nebraska. The Missouri River Recovery Program - Emergent Sandbar Habitat Value Engineering Study focuses on the assessment of the Missouri River Recovery Program (MRRP) Habitat Creation Project with specific focus on the creation of emergent sandbar habitats, examining current plans and programs to seek out alternative approaches and ideas that will improve the overall performance of the program.

The MRRP seeks to mitigate near-term losses of Missouri River habitats and recover threatened and endangered species, one of which is emergent sandbar habitats (ESH) that are particularly important to the endangered interior least tern (Sternula antillarum) and threatened piping plover (Charadius melodus), two bird species provided protection under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). The program further seeks to sustain these species through habitat creation and restoration, species protection, and monitoring and research to prevent further declines of these species and other native species that may rely on ESH.

The purpose of the VE study is to identify potential viable alternatives to improve the overall performance and cost of creating ESH while focusing on concepts that will assist the Corps in meeting its objective to create sufficient habitat to ensure that fledge ratios and adult population goals for both bird species identified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in their 2003 Amended Biological Opinion (2003 Amended BiOp) on the Corps of Engineers (Corps) operation of the Missouri River Mainstem Reservoir System, Bank Stabilization and Navigation Project (BSNP), and Kansas River Projects are met. Such improvements generally look to improving function, improving quality, and reducing and/or increasing cost/performance as appropriate to improve the project value.

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