Program Plan
Department of Agriculture - Watershed Rehabilitation - ARRA Recovery Plan
Updated 05/15/2009
Objectives
Program Purpose
The objectives of the Watershed Rehabilitation Program are to extend the service of dams and bring them into compliance with applicable safety and performance standards or to decommission the dams so they no longer pose a threat to life and property. The majority of ARRA funds will be expended through contracts, grants, and agreements. These financial awards will be structured to create jobs, stimulate the economy, and accomplish high priority work on our nation’s waterways.
Public Benefits
NRCS activities include working with State dam safety agencies and other subdivisions of state government to complete dam rehabilitation projects that serve State and local needs. Selected projects are a result of applications being submitted to by city or county officials, soil and water conservation districts, or other public agencies who own and operator the dams. All applications are coordinated with the State dam safety officials to ensure that State dam safety requirements are met or exceeded to insure public safety.
Program implementation includes participation of local and state agencies and the private sector in the design and construction of rehabilitation projects. Contracts or project agreements will be directed to these sectors to accelerate rehabilitation project implementation to meet the implementation goals of ARRA.
Rehabilitation project activity includes participation of the dam owners to provide local cost-share funds for construction, acquire land and water rights and permits, and to operate and maintain the project to provide long-term serviceability to the community. NRCS also provides assistance to the sponsors to prepare Emergency Action Plans with the community leaders and citizenship to be prepared in the unlikely event of an emergency disaster.
Measures
The measures have been revised to enrich the performance metrics for Recovery targets. In some instances, targets will not be available until additional baseline data has been collected.
| Measure | Target/Actual |
|---|
| 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
|---|
[-]
Unsafe dams rehabilitated or removed | 0/0 | 10/0 | 16/0 | - |
Measure Information
| Frequency : Annual | | Direction : Increasing | | Type : Output | Explanation : Dams that have been rehabilitated or removed to protect or improve public
health and safety. Performance is reported in numbers. | | Unit : number |
|
| 248/0 | 580/0 | 495/0 | - |
Measure Information
| Frequency : Annual | | Direction : Increasing | | Type : Outcome | | Explanation : Number of jobs created through ARRA watershed rehabilitation projects. | | Unit : number |
|
Schedule and Milestones
The Agency proposed funding 26 projects in 11 states. These projects were approved by the Secretary March 11, 2009. These projects were considered “shovel ready” and are expected to begin project implementation immediately. Projects that have not been awarded in a timely manner or are not meeting performance goals may have the remaining funding withdrawn. Withdrawn funds would then be redistributed to new projects or projects exceeding expectations.
Milestones
| Milestone |
Completion Date |
| Watershed Rehabilitation plans authorized by the Chief, NRCS |
04/30/2010 |
| Funds obligated |
09/30/2010 |
| Dam construction fully completed |
09/30/2011 |
Projects and Activities
NRCS Provides grants of technical and financial assistance to units of state, local governments and Tribes (as project sponsors) to implement authorized watershed rehabilitation project plans. Implementation of project plans can include contracting, engineering, construction activities.
Review Process
OMB Guidance addressing the ARRA notes that Agencies should ensure that progress can be tracked against certain accountability measures related to the proper delivery of funds. The Natural Resources Conservation Service is ensuring that it has the capacity to track, in coordination with the Department as necessary:
1. Audits and investigation of ARRA funds occurring to identify wasteful spending and minimize waste, fraud, and abuse;
2. Qualified personnel overseeing ARRA funds;
3. Opportunities to use competitive awards maximized;
4. Timely award of dollars;
5. Timely expenditure of dollars;
6. Timely completion of planned work;
7. Cost overruns minimized; and
8. Improper payments minimized.
To the extent possible, the agency will make use of existing measures of performance and monitoring to ensure that its performance goals are being tracked and met. In addition to reducing the burden on grant recipients and contractors, the use of existing measures will allow the public to see the performance impact, in terms of change against present performance levels, of ARRA investments.
Cost and Performance Plan
The reporting requirements described in Chapter 4 provide the measures required by the ARRA related to accountability and transparency. In addition to these requirements, the Agency has established its own publicly available website which will report additional information on the Agency’s actions in ARRA -related matters: www.nrcs.usda.gov/recovery.
Nationally, the NRCS Oversight and Evaluation Division staff will conduct an assessment of implementation of the Agency’s delivery of ARRA though a comprehensive assessment monitor the status of implementation of funded projects to assure that ARRA requirements are being met. Additionally, the USDA, OIG will conduct an audit of each program. This will include evaluating any projects that are behind schedule to determine appropriate action, including determining whether the project can be completed within the overall timeframe or if funds should be re-allocated or de-obligated to be used on other projects.
Energy Efficiency Spending Plans
Program Plan Award Types
No Data Available