Subject:  Citizen Concerns about Lower American River Common Features Project

Please ensure the following message is submitted for the record attributed to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Lower American River Common Features Project, Contract 3B. Please also deliver this to USACE employees involved with the aforementioned project.

Dear USACE,

[ADD PERSONAL MESSAGE]

Please utilize less-destructive alternative designs in your Lower American River Common Features erosion control protects (particularly Contract 3B) to strike a better balance between flood protection and conservation of Sacramento’s most precious wildlife corridor and widely used recreational area. Your agency CAN do better!

This project has lacked effective, two-way community engagement. The opportunities for public input were limited to two 90-minute virtual meetings which were dominated by USACE presentations and left little time for questions, which were only partially answered by an update of the FAQ section of the USCAE project website.

This construction would cause irreversible disruption to habitat for several threatened and endangered species, including the already imperiled chinook salmon runs who rely on the cooling shade of the trees. Installed riprap would disrupt the vital connection between land and aquatic ecosystems and impede vegetation roots from reaching the water’s edge. Impacts to local food webs would lead to consequential cascading effects on biodiversity.

The American River Parkway is the only federal and state designated Wild and Scenic River that flows through an urban area. Trails and beaches should have been inventoried but were not. This is a serious omission and a significant negative impact of the project design, which was also not addressed in mitigation efforts. Recreational access to the water for swimming, fishing, boat launching, etc. will be considerably limited by riprap.

The American River Parkway receives over 8 million visits annually and generates $365,000,000/year for the local economy. This construction will have lasting economic implications.

This construction would result in significant negative and disproportionate impacts on the near-by disadvantaged communities, further exacerbating issues of Environmental Justice.

In the Contract 3B area, USACE has not conveyed how many trees are being removed for erosion control purposes vs construction needs.

USACE did not present design alternatives for Contact 3B, as required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

For these and other reasons, USACE must appoint an “Engineering With Nature Champion” or “Project Mentor” to incorporate nature-based solutions techniques into their designs. Planting benches, launchable trenches and toes that require acres of tree and vegetation removal are not acceptable applications of nature-based solutions for the “Crown Jewel of Sacramento”.

Please address these issues as you prepare the Contract's environmental documents.

Thanks for your time and support,

[ADD NAME]

This is in reference to: December 2023, Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement/Subsequent Environmental Impact Report XIV; American River Common Features, 2016 Flood Risk Management Project, Sacramento, CA