On May 1, SACOG received notice that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has allocated $500,000 — 10 percent of their overall regulatory funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) — to continued investment in the SACOG/Corps Six-County Aquatic Resources Inventory.
Beyond the benefit to the region that this investment will provide, it will also provide benefits of timeliness and transparency set out in the ARRA, the federal economic stimulus bill signed in February. ARRA also mandates that the Corps establish contracts with local environmental consultants to conduct the work which is funded with these dollars.
The Scope of Work is currently being revised to reflect this latest investment. SACOG consultant Stacey McKinley is also helping to facilitate efforts initiated by the Corps and U.S. EPA to bring teams made up of their top policy makers to Sacramento the week of June 8, to work on further development of the project and the partnership. The Corps' goal is to involve in both a policy and fiduciary capacity their sister federal agencies to ensure a well-supported and fully funded project. SACOG will be an active partner in these discussions.
SACOG received $200,000 in January to start this project. The first stage includes data assessment and procurement. Phase two will be to categorize the data, followed by phase three, qualification. For more information contact Stacey McKinley at smckinley@sacog.org.