The sun shines on a ‘welcome’ sign greeting visitors to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District’s public scoping meetings for the Delta Islands and Levees Feasibility Study Feb. 19, 2013, at the Old Sugar Mill in Clarksburg, Calif. An additional meeting was held Feb. 20 in Sacramento. The public scoping meetings are the first step in the planning process for the study, which will determine potential Corps participation in flood risk management and ecosystem restoration projects in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. (U.S. Army photo by Tyler M. Stalker/Released)

www.sam.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/Recreation/Wal...

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An aerial view shows the construction site of the Folsom Dam auxiliary spillway in Folsom, Calif., July 16, 2013. Excavation began in 2011 to remove 3.5 million cubic yards of rock and soil from the site. In 2012, the first steel and concrete were placed for the control structure—essentially a second dam—that will stand as tall as the Statue of Liberty when completed. The completed dam and chute will include 350,000 cubic yards of concrete, enough to line up concrete trucks from Sacramento to Los Angeles; and 24 million tons of steel, enough to build two Eiffel Towers. The project is scheduled to be completed by October 2017 and is one piece of a larger plan to help the Sacramento region reduce the risk of flooding. (U.S. Army photo by Jill Russi/Released)

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Archeologists working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, aided by divers and salvage operations teams from the U.S. Navy, retrieve a 64-square foot section of a Civil War ironclad warship from the bottom of the Savannah River the evening of Nov. 12, 2013. U.S. Navy photo.

The divers worked in strong currents with near-zero visibility to assess the possibility of lifting a small piece of the Confederate ship’s casemate for archeological testing. A crane lifted it onto a barge anchored near historic Old Fort Jackson on the eastern edge of Savannah. Experts estimate the piece weighs more than 5,000 pounds.

The Confederate navy scuttled the CSS Georgia in 1864 as Union troops approached Savannah. The iron-covered ship remained on the river bottom until 1969 when a dredge removing sediment from the shipping channel struck a portion of the ship, according to Julie Morgan, staff archeologist for the Corps’ Savannah District. A brief recovery effort in the late 1980’s removed two cannon, various types of munitions and other artifacts.

“This retrieval will play a major role in creating a research design to effectively remove the CSS Georgia before expanding the shipping channel along this stretch of the Savannah River,” said Morgan. “It took a dedicated team working in some very tough conditions to bring this piece to the surface.”

Over time the ship’s casemate, the iron-covered upper portion of the warship, came apart. The small portion removed Nov. 12 will give archeologists the ability to assess the condition of the remainder of the ship, according to Morgan, and ensure the team follows protocols from the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

The Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) includes removal and preservation of CSS Georgia, which sits immediately adjacent to the shipping channel. The SHEP will deepen Savannah’s harbor from its current 42-foot depth to 47 feet, greatly expanding its capability to handle larger cargo vessels. Learn more about SHEP at www.sas.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/SavannahHarbor...

A flooded mall in Linda, Calif., shown in February 1986 (U.S. Army photo by Michael J. Nevins/Released)

LOS ANGELES — Dr. Wen-Huei Chang, a water resources economist from the Institute of Water Services, left the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District Aug. 22 after working with three of the District’s divisions on temporary assignment for nearly five months.

“In addition to valuable hands-on experiences he received in the District, his IWR work will facilitate [District] personnel participation in two-to-four-month career development assignments for enhancing the intellectual exchange between the field and Washington DC,” said Carvel Bass, a District ecologist with the Civil Works Branch. “Those of us who have worked with Wen, both before and during his stay here, have benefitted and will continue to benefit from his expertise.”

Chang came to the District April 1 from his office in Ft. Belvoir, Va. for a developmental assignment. After some debate with his supervisor at IWR – Chang was requesting two months for the assignment and his boss was trying to tell him he needed six to make the assignment worthwhile – he came to the Los Angeles District office.

“I’ve been working on a lot of national high-profile projects; but, I had never worked in the field,” Chang said. “I always felt like there was a need to get some real-life hands-on experience that happens in the field. If you ask me why I picked LA, I wanted to go to a district that had enough of a diversified program so I could observe as much information as I could.”

Chang said he was impressed by the assortment of responsibilities the members of the LA District team faced on a regular basis. In looking for which District to work with, he wanted to make sure he found an area with coastal and deep-draft navigation missions and he wanted to work with floodrisk management programs. He said those programs made up nearly 2/3 of the Corps’ civil works budget.

During his time in the District, Chang worked with Asset Management, Planning and PPMD divisions. The majority of his time was spent on continuing IWR-related projects in the District. Bass said Chang also worked in operations and maintenance in Navigation and assisted with flood risk management, environmental stewardship and recreation management projects.

“He was critical to the development of [Environmental Stewardship Budget Evaluation SysTem] and [Recreation Budget Evaluation SysTem] budgeting and is an expert in these two programs,” Bass said. “So having him here during the Fiscal Year 2014 budget formulation cycle was a great opportunity.”

Bass said Chang was instrumental in completing the Watershed-Based Budgeting pilot study. The pilot study took into account Chang’s notion that federal agencies, like IWR and the Corps of Engineers, can work better with local sponsors if information affecting local sponsors was considered when looking at a project’s overall consequences and benefits. The District team sent the study forward to USACE headquarters as a package from the South Pacific Division.

“I worked with Eileen Takata and brought in a team from IWR to help the district use the tools we developed at IWR,” Chang said. “We were able to group [the budgets] together to look at them from a watershed perspective among projects, business lines and watershed projects. It shows us the interdependency of our projects and the projects of the local sponsor. Using that information, we’re trying to achieve what works best for our projects and provides benefit for the local sponsor.”

He said he will be taking that insight back with him to headquarters. He plans to work to bridge the “disconnect” between the agencies responsible for the budgeting and the agencies who are out doing the work to benefit communities across the country. Chang said he enjoyed working on the relationship between “the field and DC” and wished he had more time to work here. Although he misses his family, he understands the value in field assignments.

“When I was discussing my assignment to the district with my director, I said I could go for two months,” Chang recalled. “He said no, two months is not enough. You have to go for six months. We finally came up with four months for the assignment. A month into the assignment, I realized Bob was right. You really need to have a six-month timeframe to really get involved in a meaningful way. Based on my experience, I really encourage anyone to pursue career-development assignments and to make sure they are at least six months.”

At a farewell gathering, Col. Mark Toy, the LA District commander, presented Chang with a command coin and a certificate which read in part, the District’s appreciation for Chang’s “outstanding leadership, dedication and technical expertise for the Asset Management, the Programs and Project Management, and the Planning Divisions and in the development of the FY14 Watershed-Based Budget Pilot Proposal for the Santa Ana River Watershed. Dr. Chang currently provides technical and budgeting support within the Natural Resources Management Program. His national perspective in all of these areas has been an invaluable asset to the District.”

Chang said he will be taking two district personnel with him back to IWR to work the same projects at the headquarters level that they currently work at the field level.

“The idea is that we can really pick their brains and gain valuable knowledge form the District by bringing them to the IWR,” he explained. “We will gain the valuable field experience that is sort of lacking in DC. We would like to continue the relationship by continuing the study and sharing people back and forth. It was a wonderful experience for me and I’m sure it will be a wonderful experience for people going to IWR.”

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District contract workers check the quality of a recently completed seepage cutoff wall Aug. 22, 2014, near the River Park neighborhood of Sacramento, California. The project, near the City of Sacramento's Sump Station 10, fills a gap in the levee's existing cutoff wall where construction was complicated by the station's pipes, which run through the levee. Now that the wall is done, crews will reinstall the city's sump lines that were moved to complete the project and then rebuild the levee. (U.S. Army photo by Todd Plain/Released)

Work continues Oct. 2, 2013, on 3,300 feet of seepage cutoff wall along the north bank of the American River in north Sacramento, Calif. Completion is targeted for mid-October. Construction crews for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District are helping ensure the levee's height and slope will be brought back to pre-construction levels by November 1 – in time for the rainy season. (U.S. Army photo by Todd Plain/Released)

Contractors working for the Sacramento District construct the support system for the rising Folsom Dam auxiliary spillway on March 14. The control structure—essentially a second dam—will stand as tall as the Statue of Liberty upon completion, estimated in October 2017, and will help reduce the risk of flooding in the Sacramento region. (U.S. Army photo by Capt. Michael N. Meyer/Released)

Workers complete the first stage of installing concrete mixing equipment for the new Folsom Dam auxiliary spillway in Folsom, Calif., Jan. 25, 2012. Paving is scheduled to begin in May, said U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District project engineer Larry Smith. The spillway will allow Folsom Dam to release water sooner and more safely. The project is part of the Folsom Dam Joint Federal Project, a joint effort of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the Central Valley Flood Protection Board and the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency to improve the safety of the dam and reduce flood risk for the greater Sacramento area. (U.S. Army photo by Michael J. Nevins/Released)

Excavation of Folsom Dam’s new auxiliary spillway continues in Folsom, Calif., Dec. 29, 2011. The spillway will allow Folsom Dam to release water sooner and more safely. The project is part of the Folsom Dam Joint Federal Project, a joint effort of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the Central Valley Flood Protection Board and the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency to improve the safety of the dam and reduce flood risk for the greater Sacramento area. (U.S. Army photo by Michael J. Nevins/Released)

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Archeologists working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, aided by divers and salvage operations teams from the U.S. Navy, retrieve a 64-square foot section of a Civil War ironclad warship from the bottom of the Savannah River the evening of Nov. 12, 2013. U.S. Navy photo.

The divers worked in strong currents with near-zero visibility to assess the possibility of lifting a small piece of the Confederate ship’s casemate for archeological testing. A crane lifted it onto a barge anchored near historic Old Fort Jackson on the eastern edge of Savannah. Experts estimate the piece weighs more than 5,000 pounds.

The Confederate navy scuttled the CSS Georgia in 1864 as Union troops approached Savannah. The iron-covered ship remained on the river bottom until 1969 when a dredge removing sediment from the shipping channel struck a portion of the ship, according to Julie Morgan, staff archeologist for the Corps’ Savannah District. A brief recovery effort in the late 1980’s removed two cannon, various types of munitions and other artifacts.

“This retrieval will play a major role in creating a research design to effectively remove the CSS Georgia before expanding the shipping channel along this stretch of the Savannah River,” said Morgan. “It took a dedicated team working in some very tough conditions to bring this piece to the surface.”

Over time the ship’s casemate, the iron-covered upper portion of the warship, came apart. The small portion removed Nov. 12 will give archeologists the ability to assess the condition of the remainder of the ship, according to Morgan, and ensure the team follows protocols from the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

The Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) includes removal and preservation of CSS Georgia, which sits immediately adjacent to the shipping channel. The SHEP will deepen Savannah’s harbor from its current 42-foot depth to 47 feet, greatly expanding its capability to handle larger cargo vessels. Learn more about SHEP at www.sas.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/SavannahHarbor...

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Archeologists working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, aided by divers and salvage operations teams from the U.S. Navy, retrieve a 64-square foot section of a Civil War ironclad warship from the bottom of the Savannah River the evening of Nov. 12, 2013. U.S. Navy photo.

The divers worked in strong currents with near-zero visibility to assess the possibility of lifting a small piece of the Confederate ship’s casemate for archeological testing. A crane lifted it onto a barge anchored near historic Old Fort Jackson on the eastern edge of Savannah. Experts estimate the piece weighs more than 5,000 pounds.

The Confederate navy scuttled the CSS Georgia in 1864 as Union troops approached Savannah. The iron-covered ship remained on the river bottom until 1969 when a dredge removing sediment from the shipping channel struck a portion of the ship, according to Julie Morgan, staff archeologist for the Corps’ Savannah District. A brief recovery effort in the late 1980’s removed two cannon, various types of munitions and other artifacts.

“This retrieval will play a major role in creating a research design to effectively remove the CSS Georgia before expanding the shipping channel along this stretch of the Savannah River,” said Morgan. “It took a dedicated team working in some very tough conditions to bring this piece to the surface.”

Over time the ship’s casemate, the iron-covered upper portion of the warship, came apart. The small portion removed Nov. 12 will give archeologists the ability to assess the condition of the remainder of the ship, according to Morgan, and ensure the team follows protocols from the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

The Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) includes removal and preservation of CSS Georgia, which sits immediately adjacent to the shipping channel. The SHEP will deepen Savannah’s harbor from its current 42-foot depth to 47 feet, greatly expanding its capability to handle larger cargo vessels. Learn more about SHEP at www.sas.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/SavannahHarbor...

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Archeologists working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, aided by divers and salvage operations teams from the U.S. Navy, retrieve a 64-square foot section of a Civil War ironclad warship from the bottom of the Savannah River the evening of Nov. 12, 2013. U.S. Navy photo.

The divers worked in strong currents with near-zero visibility to assess the possibility of lifting a small piece of the Confederate ship’s casemate for archeological testing. A crane lifted it onto a barge anchored near historic Old Fort Jackson on the eastern edge of Savannah. Experts estimate the piece weighs more than 5,000 pounds.

The Confederate navy scuttled the CSS Georgia in 1864 as Union troops approached Savannah. The iron-covered ship remained on the river bottom until 1969 when a dredge removing sediment from the shipping channel struck a portion of the ship, according to Julie Morgan, staff archeologist for the Corps’ Savannah District. A brief recovery effort in the late 1980’s removed two cannon, various types of munitions and other artifacts.

“This retrieval will play a major role in creating a research design to effectively remove the CSS Georgia before expanding the shipping channel along this stretch of the Savannah River,” said Morgan. “It took a dedicated team working in some very tough conditions to bring this piece to the surface.”

Over time the ship’s casemate, the iron-covered upper portion of the warship, came apart. The small portion removed Nov. 12 will give archeologists the ability to assess the condition of the remainder of the ship, according to Morgan, and ensure the team follows protocols from the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

The Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) includes removal and preservation of CSS Georgia, which sits immediately adjacent to the shipping channel. The SHEP will deepen Savannah’s harbor from its current 42-foot depth to 47 feet, greatly expanding its capability to handle larger cargo vessels. Learn more about SHEP at www.sas.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/SavannahHarbor...

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Archeologists working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, aided by divers and salvage operations teams from the U.S. Navy, retrieve a 64-square foot section of a Civil War ironclad warship from the bottom of the Savannah River the evening of Nov. 12, 2013. U.S. Navy photo.

The divers worked in strong currents with near-zero visibility to assess the possibility of lifting a small piece of the Confederate ship’s casemate for archeological testing. A crane lifted it onto a barge anchored near historic Old Fort Jackson on the eastern edge of Savannah. Experts estimate the piece weighs more than 5,000 pounds.

The Confederate navy scuttled the CSS Georgia in 1864 as Union troops approached Savannah. The iron-covered ship remained on the river bottom until 1969 when a dredge removing sediment from the shipping channel struck a portion of the ship, according to Julie Morgan, staff archeologist for the Corps’ Savannah District. A brief recovery effort in the late 1980’s removed two cannon, various types of munitions and other artifacts.

“This retrieval will play a major role in creating a research design to effectively remove the CSS Georgia before expanding the shipping channel along this stretch of the Savannah River,” said Morgan. “It took a dedicated team working in some very tough conditions to bring this piece to the surface.”

Over time the ship’s casemate, the iron-covered upper portion of the warship, came apart. The small portion removed Nov. 12 will give archeologists the ability to assess the condition of the remainder of the ship, according to Morgan, and ensure the team follows protocols from the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

The Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) includes removal and preservation of CSS Georgia, which sits immediately adjacent to the shipping channel. The SHEP will deepen Savannah’s harbor from its current 42-foot depth to 47 feet, greatly expanding its capability to handle larger cargo vessels. Learn more about SHEP at www.sas.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/SavannahHarbor...

The labor-intensive job of diverting fresh water into the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge has become easier since the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Savannah District replaced the old wooden structures with custom-built diversion gates. The Fresh Water Control System was originally installed as a mitigation feature for the 1977 Savannah harbor deepening project. At a cost of $12.5 million, the new stainless steel structures modernize and automate the process of controlling water in the area. Previously, wildlife managers with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service could only route water to 3,000 acres of wetlands for waterfowl; with the gate improvements, the water management area has doubled to 6,000 acres. The project was completed in autumn 2011.

Contractors with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District use a sonic drill rig to dig borehole test sites May 1, 2006, at Success Dam near Porterville, Calif. The boreholes are used to evaluate the earthen structure and stability of soil and rock underneath the dam during the Corps’ Success Dam Safety Modification Study. (U.S. Army photo by Betty J. Bailey)

Workers install the largest piece of the first massive Tainter gate for the Folsom Dam auxiliary spillway in Folsom, Calif., June 25, 2014. The 179-ton steel gate is one of six Tainter gates that will control water flow from Folsom Lake into the new auxiliary spillway. The Tainter gates will rotate to control the flow of water through the dam. “We must lower these gates into place with a high level of precision and worksmanship to within one-sixteenth of an inch,” said David Neff, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ design manager for this phase of project. “A gate that is not installed properly could leak and need repairs sooner than otherwise. We are trying to install something that will have a life expectancy of well over a century.” (U.S. Army photo by Sara Corbett/ Released)

Concrete placement on the control structure of the Folsom Dam auxiliary spillway is 80% complete. Later this year, construction teams will begin installing the massive gates of the control structure. The six submerged radial arm Tainter gates will control the flow of water in the spillway and the six bulkhead gates will be used to perform maintenance on the Tainter gates. (Photo from Kiewit Infrastructure West Co./Released)

A tour group with R.D. James, assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works, overlooks ongoing work to place concrete and construct a new navigation lock during a walking tour Nov. 14, 2019 at Chickamauga Lock on the Tennessee River in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Nashville District is constructing a new 110-foot by 600-foot navigation lock at the Tennessee Valley Authority project. (USACE photo by Lee Roberts)

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Archeologists working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, aided by divers and salvage operations teams from the U.S. Navy, retrieve a 64-square foot section of a Civil War ironclad warship from the bottom of the Savannah River the evening of Nov. 12, 2013. U.S. Navy photo.

The divers worked in strong currents with near-zero visibility to assess the possibility of lifting a small piece of the Confederate ship’s casemate for archeological testing. A crane lifted it onto a barge anchored near historic Old Fort Jackson on the eastern edge of Savannah. Experts estimate the piece weighs more than 5,000 pounds.

The Confederate navy scuttled the CSS Georgia in 1864 as Union troops approached Savannah. The iron-covered ship remained on the river bottom until 1969 when a dredge removing sediment from the shipping channel struck a portion of the ship, according to Julie Morgan, staff archeologist for the Corps’ Savannah District. A brief recovery effort in the late 1980’s removed two cannon, various types of munitions and other artifacts.

“This retrieval will play a major role in creating a research design to effectively remove the CSS Georgia before expanding the shipping channel along this stretch of the Savannah River,” said Morgan. “It took a dedicated team working in some very tough conditions to bring this piece to the surface.”

Over time the ship’s casemate, the iron-covered upper portion of the warship, came apart. The small portion removed Nov. 12 will give archeologists the ability to assess the condition of the remainder of the ship, according to Morgan, and ensure the team follows protocols from the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

The Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) includes removal and preservation of CSS Georgia, which sits immediately adjacent to the shipping channel. The SHEP will deepen Savannah’s harbor from its current 42-foot depth to 47 feet, greatly expanding its capability to handle larger cargo vessels. Learn more about SHEP at www.sas.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/SavannahHarbor...

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Archeologists working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, aided by divers and salvage operations teams from the U.S. Navy, retrieve a 64-square foot section of a Civil War ironclad warship from the bottom of the Savannah River the evening of Nov. 12, 2013. U.S. Navy photo.

The divers worked in strong currents with near-zero visibility to assess the possibility of lifting a small piece of the Confederate ship’s casemate for archeological testing. A crane lifted it onto a barge anchored near historic Old Fort Jackson on the eastern edge of Savannah. Experts estimate the piece weighs more than 5,000 pounds.

The Confederate navy scuttled the CSS Georgia in 1864 as Union troops approached Savannah. The iron-covered ship remained on the river bottom until 1969 when a dredge removing sediment from the shipping channel struck a portion of the ship, according to Julie Morgan, staff archeologist for the Corps’ Savannah District. A brief recovery effort in the late 1980’s removed two cannon, various types of munitions and other artifacts.

“This retrieval will play a major role in creating a research design to effectively remove the CSS Georgia before expanding the shipping channel along this stretch of the Savannah River,” said Morgan. “It took a dedicated team working in some very tough conditions to bring this piece to the surface.”

Over time the ship’s casemate, the iron-covered upper portion of the warship, came apart. The small portion removed Nov. 12 will give archeologists the ability to assess the condition of the remainder of the ship, according to Morgan, and ensure the team follows protocols from the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

The Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) includes removal and preservation of CSS Georgia, which sits immediately adjacent to the shipping channel. The SHEP will deepen Savannah’s harbor from its current 42-foot depth to 47 feet, greatly expanding its capability to handle larger cargo vessels. Learn more about SHEP at www.sas.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/SavannahHarbor...

LOS ANGELES — Dr. Wen-Huei Chang, a water resources economist from the Institute of Water Services, left the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District Aug. 22 after working with three of the District’s divisions on temporary assignment for nearly five months.

“In addition to valuable hands-on experiences he received in the District, his IWR work will facilitate [District] personnel participation in two-to-four-month career development assignments for enhancing the intellectual exchange between the field and Washington DC,” said Carvel Bass, a District ecologist with the Civil Works Branch. “Those of us who have worked with Wen, both before and during his stay here, have benefitted and will continue to benefit from his expertise.”

Chang came to the District April 1 from his office in Ft. Belvoir, Va. for a developmental assignment. After some debate with his supervisor at IWR – Chang was requesting two months for the assignment and his boss was trying to tell him he needed six to make the assignment worthwhile – he came to the Los Angeles District office.

“I’ve been working on a lot of national high-profile projects; but, I had never worked in the field,” Chang said. “I always felt like there was a need to get some real-life hands-on experience that happens in the field. If you ask me why I picked LA, I wanted to go to a district that had enough of a diversified program so I could observe as much information as I could.”

Chang said he was impressed by the assortment of responsibilities the members of the LA District team faced on a regular basis. In looking for which District to work with, he wanted to make sure he found an area with coastal and deep-draft navigation missions and he wanted to work with floodrisk management programs. He said those programs made up nearly 2/3 of the Corps’ civil works budget.

During his time in the District, Chang worked with Asset Management, Planning and PPMD divisions. The majority of his time was spent on continuing IWR-related projects in the District. Bass said Chang also worked in operations and maintenance in Navigation and assisted with flood risk management, environmental stewardship and recreation management projects.

“He was critical to the development of [Environmental Stewardship Budget Evaluation SysTem] and [Recreation Budget Evaluation SysTem] budgeting and is an expert in these two programs,” Bass said. “So having him here during the Fiscal Year 2014 budget formulation cycle was a great opportunity.”

Bass said Chang was instrumental in completing the Watershed-Based Budgeting pilot study. The pilot study took into account Chang’s notion that federal agencies, like IWR and the Corps of Engineers, can work better with local sponsors if information affecting local sponsors was considered when looking at a project’s overall consequences and benefits. The District team sent the study forward to USACE headquarters as a package from the South Pacific Division.

“I worked with Eileen Takata and brought in a team from IWR to help the district use the tools we developed at IWR,” Chang said. “We were able to group [the budgets] together to look at them from a watershed perspective among projects, business lines and watershed projects. It shows us the interdependency of our projects and the projects of the local sponsor. Using that information, we’re trying to achieve what works best for our projects and provides benefit for the local sponsor.”

He said he will be taking that insight back with him to headquarters. He plans to work to bridge the “disconnect” between the agencies responsible for the budgeting and the agencies who are out doing the work to benefit communities across the country. Chang said he enjoyed working on the relationship between “the field and DC” and wished he had more time to work here. Although he misses his family, he understands the value in field assignments.

“When I was discussing my assignment to the district with my director, I said I could go for two months,” Chang recalled. “He said no, two months is not enough. You have to go for six months. We finally came up with four months for the assignment. A month into the assignment, I realized Bob was right. You really need to have a six-month timeframe to really get involved in a meaningful way. Based on my experience, I really encourage anyone to pursue career-development assignments and to make sure they are at least six months.”

At a farewell gathering, Col. Mark Toy, the LA District commander, presented Chang with a command coin and a certificate which read in part, the District’s appreciation for Chang’s “outstanding leadership, dedication and technical expertise for the Asset Management, the Programs and Project Management, and the Planning Divisions and in the development of the FY14 Watershed-Based Budget Pilot Proposal for the Santa Ana River Watershed. Dr. Chang currently provides technical and budgeting support within the Natural Resources Management Program. His national perspective in all of these areas has been an invaluable asset to the District.”

Chang said he will be taking two district personnel with him back to IWR to work the same projects at the headquarters level that they currently work at the field level.

“The idea is that we can really pick their brains and gain valuable knowledge form the District by bringing them to the IWR,” he explained. “We will gain the valuable field experience that is sort of lacking in DC. We would like to continue the relationship by continuing the study and sharing people back and forth. It was a wonderful experience for me and I’m sure it will be a wonderful experience for people going to IWR.”

The labor-intensive job of diverting fresh water into the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge has become easier since the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Savannah District replaced the old wooden structures with custom-built diversion gates. The Fresh Water Control System was originally installed as a mitigation feature for the 1977 Savannah harbor deepening project. At a cost of $12.5 million, the new stainless steel structures modernize and automate the process of controlling water in the area. Previously, wildlife managers with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service could only route water to 3,000 acres of wetlands for waterfowl; with the gate improvements, the water management area has doubled to 6,000 acres. The project was completed in autumn 2011.

LOS ANGELES — Dr. Wen-Huei Chang, a water resources economist from the Institute of Water Services, left the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District Aug. 22 after working with three of the District’s divisions on temporary assignment for nearly five months.

“In addition to valuable hands-on experiences he received in the District, his IWR work will facilitate [District] personnel participation in two-to-four-month career development assignments for enhancing the intellectual exchange between the field and Washington DC,” said Carvel Bass, a District ecologist with the Civil Works Branch. “Those of us who have worked with Wen, both before and during his stay here, have benefitted and will continue to benefit from his expertise.”

Chang came to the District April 1 from his office in Ft. Belvoir, Va. for a developmental assignment. After some debate with his supervisor at IWR – Chang was requesting two months for the assignment and his boss was trying to tell him he needed six to make the assignment worthwhile – he came to the Los Angeles District office.

“I’ve been working on a lot of national high-profile projects; but, I had never worked in the field,” Chang said. “I always felt like there was a need to get some real-life hands-on experience that happens in the field. If you ask me why I picked LA, I wanted to go to a district that had enough of a diversified program so I could observe as much information as I could.”

Chang said he was impressed by the assortment of responsibilities the members of the LA District team faced on a regular basis. In looking for which District to work with, he wanted to make sure he found an area with coastal and deep-draft navigation missions and he wanted to work with floodrisk management programs. He said those programs made up nearly 2/3 of the Corps’ civil works budget.

During his time in the District, Chang worked with Asset Management, Planning and PPMD divisions. The majority of his time was spent on continuing IWR-related projects in the District. Bass said Chang also worked in operations and maintenance in Navigation and assisted with flood risk management, environmental stewardship and recreation management projects.

“He was critical to the development of [Environmental Stewardship Budget Evaluation SysTem] and [Recreation Budget Evaluation SysTem] budgeting and is an expert in these two programs,” Bass said. “So having him here during the Fiscal Year 2014 budget formulation cycle was a great opportunity.”

Bass said Chang was instrumental in completing the Watershed-Based Budgeting pilot study. The pilot study took into account Chang’s notion that federal agencies, like IWR and the Corps of Engineers, can work better with local sponsors if information affecting local sponsors was considered when looking at a project’s overall consequences and benefits. The District team sent the study forward to USACE headquarters as a package from the South Pacific Division.

“I worked with Eileen Takata and brought in a team from IWR to help the district use the tools we developed at IWR,” Chang said. “We were able to group [the budgets] together to look at them from a watershed perspective among projects, business lines and watershed projects. It shows us the interdependency of our projects and the projects of the local sponsor. Using that information, we’re trying to achieve what works best for our projects and provides benefit for the local sponsor.”

He said he will be taking that insight back with him to headquarters. He plans to work to bridge the “disconnect” between the agencies responsible for the budgeting and the agencies who are out doing the work to benefit communities across the country. Chang said he enjoyed working on the relationship between “the field and DC” and wished he had more time to work here. Although he misses his family, he understands the value in field assignments.

“When I was discussing my assignment to the district with my director, I said I could go for two months,” Chang recalled. “He said no, two months is not enough. You have to go for six months. We finally came up with four months for the assignment. A month into the assignment, I realized Bob was right. You really need to have a six-month timeframe to really get involved in a meaningful way. Based on my experience, I really encourage anyone to pursue career-development assignments and to make sure they are at least six months.”

At a farewell gathering, Col. Mark Toy, the LA District commander, presented Chang with a command coin and a certificate which read in part, the District’s appreciation for Chang’s “outstanding leadership, dedication and technical expertise for the Asset Management, the Programs and Project Management, and the Planning Divisions and in the development of the FY14 Watershed-Based Budget Pilot Proposal for the Santa Ana River Watershed. Dr. Chang currently provides technical and budgeting support within the Natural Resources Management Program. His national perspective in all of these areas has been an invaluable asset to the District.”

Chang said he will be taking two district personnel with him back to IWR to work the same projects at the headquarters level that they currently work at the field level.

“The idea is that we can really pick their brains and gain valuable knowledge form the District by bringing them to the IWR,” he explained. “We will gain the valuable field experience that is sort of lacking in DC. We would like to continue the relationship by continuing the study and sharing people back and forth. It was a wonderful experience for me and I’m sure it will be a wonderful experience for people going to IWR.”

Hunter Merritt (center), a recreation planner for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District, talks with local residents after a public meeting in Lake Isabella, Calif., Sept. 26, 2013. Residents and business operators were asked to provide input about how to best reduce recreation impacts during construction of the Isabella Lake Dam Safety Modification Project. Comments will be used to help shape a draft recreation plan outlining the Corps’ plan to mitigate for the temporary loss of recreation features around the dam during construction. The draft recreation plan is scheduled for release in December 2013. (U.S. Army photo by Tyler Stalker/Released)

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Archeologists working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, aided by divers and salvage operations teams from the U.S. Navy, retrieve a 64-square foot section of a Civil War ironclad warship from the bottom of the Savannah River the evening of Nov. 12, 2013. U.S. Navy photo.

The divers worked in strong currents with near-zero visibility to assess the possibility of lifting a small piece of the Confederate ship’s casemate for archeological testing. A crane lifted it onto a barge anchored near historic Old Fort Jackson on the eastern edge of Savannah. Experts estimate the piece weighs more than 5,000 pounds.

The Confederate navy scuttled the CSS Georgia in 1864 as Union troops approached Savannah. The iron-covered ship remained on the river bottom until 1969 when a dredge removing sediment from the shipping channel struck a portion of the ship, according to Julie Morgan, staff archeologist for the Corps’ Savannah District. A brief recovery effort in the late 1980’s removed two cannon, various types of munitions and other artifacts.

“This retrieval will play a major role in creating a research design to effectively remove the CSS Georgia before expanding the shipping channel along this stretch of the Savannah River,” said Morgan. “It took a dedicated team working in some very tough conditions to bring this piece to the surface.”

Over time the ship’s casemate, the iron-covered upper portion of the warship, came apart. The small portion removed Nov. 12 will give archeologists the ability to assess the condition of the remainder of the ship, according to Morgan, and ensure the team follows protocols from the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

The Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) includes removal and preservation of CSS Georgia, which sits immediately adjacent to the shipping channel. The SHEP will deepen Savannah’s harbor from its current 42-foot depth to 47 feet, greatly expanding its capability to handle larger cargo vessels. Learn more about SHEP at www.sas.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/SavannahHarbor...

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Archeologists working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, aided by divers and salvage operations teams from the U.S. Navy, retrieve a 64-square foot section of a Civil War ironclad warship from the bottom of the Savannah River the evening of Nov. 12, 2013. U.S. Navy photo.

The divers worked in strong currents with near-zero visibility to assess the possibility of lifting a small piece of the Confederate ship’s casemate for archeological testing. A crane lifted it onto a barge anchored near historic Old Fort Jackson on the eastern edge of Savannah. Experts estimate the piece weighs more than 5,000 pounds.

The Confederate navy scuttled the CSS Georgia in 1864 as Union troops approached Savannah. The iron-covered ship remained on the river bottom until 1969 when a dredge removing sediment from the shipping channel struck a portion of the ship, according to Julie Morgan, staff archeologist for the Corps’ Savannah District. A brief recovery effort in the late 1980’s removed two cannon, various types of munitions and other artifacts.

“This retrieval will play a major role in creating a research design to effectively remove the CSS Georgia before expanding the shipping channel along this stretch of the Savannah River,” said Morgan. “It took a dedicated team working in some very tough conditions to bring this piece to the surface.”

Over time the ship’s casemate, the iron-covered upper portion of the warship, came apart. The small portion removed Nov. 12 will give archeologists the ability to assess the condition of the remainder of the ship, according to Morgan, and ensure the team follows protocols from the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

The Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) includes removal and preservation of CSS Georgia, which sits immediately adjacent to the shipping channel. The SHEP will deepen Savannah’s harbor from its current 42-foot depth to 47 feet, greatly expanding its capability to handle larger cargo vessels. Learn more about SHEP at www.sas.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/SavannahHarbor...

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District workers are installing new City of Sacramento's Sump Station 10 lines near the River Park neighborhood of Sacramento, California, shown Oct. 3, 2014. The seepage cutoff wall is complete and crews are now filling in a gap where construction was complicated by the station's pipes, which run through the levee.

(U.S. Army photo by Todd Plain/Released)

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Archeologists working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, aided by divers and salvage operations teams from the U.S. Navy, retrieve a 64-square foot section of a Civil War ironclad warship from the bottom of the Savannah River the evening of Nov. 12, 2013. U.S. Navy photo.

The divers worked in strong currents with near-zero visibility to assess the possibility of lifting a small piece of the Confederate ship’s casemate for archeological testing. A crane lifted it onto a barge anchored near historic Old Fort Jackson on the eastern edge of Savannah. Experts estimate the piece weighs more than 5,000 pounds.

The Confederate navy scuttled the CSS Georgia in 1864 as Union troops approached Savannah. The iron-covered ship remained on the river bottom until 1969 when a dredge removing sediment from the shipping channel struck a portion of the ship, according to Julie Morgan, staff archeologist for the Corps’ Savannah District. A brief recovery effort in the late 1980’s removed two cannon, various types of munitions and other artifacts.

“This retrieval will play a major role in creating a research design to effectively remove the CSS Georgia before expanding the shipping channel along this stretch of the Savannah River,” said Morgan. “It took a dedicated team working in some very tough conditions to bring this piece to the surface.”

Over time the ship’s casemate, the iron-covered upper portion of the warship, came apart. The small portion removed Nov. 12 will give archeologists the ability to assess the condition of the remainder of the ship, according to Morgan, and ensure the team follows protocols from the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

The Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) includes removal and preservation of CSS Georgia, which sits immediately adjacent to the shipping channel. The SHEP will deepen Savannah’s harbor from its current 42-foot depth to 47 feet, greatly expanding its capability to handle larger cargo vessels. Learn more about SHEP at www.sas.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/SavannahHarbor...

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Archeologists working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, aided by divers and salvage operations teams from the U.S. Navy, retrieve a 64-square foot section of a Civil War ironclad warship from the bottom of the Savannah River the evening of Nov. 12, 2013. U.S. Navy photo.

The divers worked in strong currents with near-zero visibility to assess the possibility of lifting a small piece of the Confederate ship’s casemate for archeological testing. A crane lifted it onto a barge anchored near historic Old Fort Jackson on the eastern edge of Savannah. Experts estimate the piece weighs more than 5,000 pounds.

The Confederate navy scuttled the CSS Georgia in 1864 as Union troops approached Savannah. The iron-covered ship remained on the river bottom until 1969 when a dredge removing sediment from the shipping channel struck a portion of the ship, according to Julie Morgan, staff archeologist for the Corps’ Savannah District. A brief recovery effort in the late 1980’s removed two cannon, various types of munitions and other artifacts.

“This retrieval will play a major role in creating a research design to effectively remove the CSS Georgia before expanding the shipping channel along this stretch of the Savannah River,” said Morgan. “It took a dedicated team working in some very tough conditions to bring this piece to the surface.”

Over time the ship’s casemate, the iron-covered upper portion of the warship, came apart. The small portion removed Nov. 12 will give archeologists the ability to assess the condition of the remainder of the ship, according to Morgan, and ensure the team follows protocols from the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

The Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) includes removal and preservation of CSS Georgia, which sits immediately adjacent to the shipping channel. The SHEP will deepen Savannah’s harbor from its current 42-foot depth to 47 feet, greatly expanding its capability to handle larger cargo vessels. Learn more about SHEP at www.sas.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/SavannahHarbor...

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Archeologists working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, aided by divers and salvage operations teams from the U.S. Navy, retrieve a 64-square foot section of a Civil War ironclad warship from the bottom of the Savannah River the evening of Nov. 12, 2013. U.S. Navy photo.

The divers worked in strong currents with near-zero visibility to assess the possibility of lifting a small piece of the Confederate ship’s casemate for archeological testing. A crane lifted it onto a barge anchored near historic Old Fort Jackson on the eastern edge of Savannah. Experts estimate the piece weighs more than 5,000 pounds.

The Confederate navy scuttled the CSS Georgia in 1864 as Union troops approached Savannah. The iron-covered ship remained on the river bottom until 1969 when a dredge removing sediment from the shipping channel struck a portion of the ship, according to Julie Morgan, staff archeologist for the Corps’ Savannah District. A brief recovery effort in the late 1980’s removed two cannon, various types of munitions and other artifacts.

“This retrieval will play a major role in creating a research design to effectively remove the CSS Georgia before expanding the shipping channel along this stretch of the Savannah River,” said Morgan. “It took a dedicated team working in some very tough conditions to bring this piece to the surface.”

Over time the ship’s casemate, the iron-covered upper portion of the warship, came apart. The small portion removed Nov. 12 will give archeologists the ability to assess the condition of the remainder of the ship, according to Morgan, and ensure the team follows protocols from the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

The Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) includes removal and preservation of CSS Georgia, which sits immediately adjacent to the shipping channel. The SHEP will deepen Savannah’s harbor from its current 42-foot depth to 47 feet, greatly expanding its capability to handle larger cargo vessels. Learn more about SHEP at www.sas.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/SavannahHarbor...

LOS ANGELES — Dr. Wen-Huei Chang, a water resources economist from the Institute of Water Services, left the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District Aug. 22 after working with three of the District’s divisions on temporary assignment for nearly five months.

“In addition to valuable hands-on experiences he received in the District, his IWR work will facilitate [District] personnel participation in two-to-four-month career development assignments for enhancing the intellectual exchange between the field and Washington DC,” said Carvel Bass, a District ecologist with the Civil Works Branch. “Those of us who have worked with Wen, both before and during his stay here, have benefitted and will continue to benefit from his expertise.”

Chang came to the District April 1 from his office in Ft. Belvoir, Va. for a developmental assignment. After some debate with his supervisor at IWR – Chang was requesting two months for the assignment and his boss was trying to tell him he needed six to make the assignment worthwhile – he came to the Los Angeles District office.

“I’ve been working on a lot of national high-profile projects; but, I had never worked in the field,” Chang said. “I always felt like there was a need to get some real-life hands-on experience that happens in the field. If you ask me why I picked LA, I wanted to go to a district that had enough of a diversified program so I could observe as much information as I could.”

Chang said he was impressed by the assortment of responsibilities the members of the LA District team faced on a regular basis. In looking for which District to work with, he wanted to make sure he found an area with coastal and deep-draft navigation missions and he wanted to work with floodrisk management programs. He said those programs made up nearly 2/3 of the Corps’ civil works budget.

During his time in the District, Chang worked with Asset Management, Planning and PPMD divisions. The majority of his time was spent on continuing IWR-related projects in the District. Bass said Chang also worked in operations and maintenance in Navigation and assisted with flood risk management, environmental stewardship and recreation management projects.

“He was critical to the development of [Environmental Stewardship Budget Evaluation SysTem] and [Recreation Budget Evaluation SysTem] budgeting and is an expert in these two programs,” Bass said. “So having him here during the Fiscal Year 2014 budget formulation cycle was a great opportunity.”

Bass said Chang was instrumental in completing the Watershed-Based Budgeting pilot study. The pilot study took into account Chang’s notion that federal agencies, like IWR and the Corps of Engineers, can work better with local sponsors if information affecting local sponsors was considered when looking at a project’s overall consequences and benefits. The District team sent the study forward to USACE headquarters as a package from the South Pacific Division.

“I worked with Eileen Takata and brought in a team from IWR to help the district use the tools we developed at IWR,” Chang said. “We were able to group [the budgets] together to look at them from a watershed perspective among projects, business lines and watershed projects. It shows us the interdependency of our projects and the projects of the local sponsor. Using that information, we’re trying to achieve what works best for our projects and provides benefit for the local sponsor.”

He said he will be taking that insight back with him to headquarters. He plans to work to bridge the “disconnect” between the agencies responsible for the budgeting and the agencies who are out doing the work to benefit communities across the country. Chang said he enjoyed working on the relationship between “the field and DC” and wished he had more time to work here. Although he misses his family, he understands the value in field assignments.

“When I was discussing my assignment to the district with my director, I said I could go for two months,” Chang recalled. “He said no, two months is not enough. You have to go for six months. We finally came up with four months for the assignment. A month into the assignment, I realized Bob was right. You really need to have a six-month timeframe to really get involved in a meaningful way. Based on my experience, I really encourage anyone to pursue career-development assignments and to make sure they are at least six months.”

At a farewell gathering, Col. Mark Toy, the LA District commander, presented Chang with a command coin and a certificate which read in part, the District’s appreciation for Chang’s “outstanding leadership, dedication and technical expertise for the Asset Management, the Programs and Project Management, and the Planning Divisions and in the development of the FY14 Watershed-Based Budget Pilot Proposal for the Santa Ana River Watershed. Dr. Chang currently provides technical and budgeting support within the Natural Resources Management Program. His national perspective in all of these areas has been an invaluable asset to the District.”

Chang said he will be taking two district personnel with him back to IWR to work the same projects at the headquarters level that they currently work at the field level.

“The idea is that we can really pick their brains and gain valuable knowledge form the District by bringing them to the IWR,” he explained. “We will gain the valuable field experience that is sort of lacking in DC. We would like to continue the relationship by continuing the study and sharing people back and forth. It was a wonderful experience for me and I’m sure it will be a wonderful experience for people going to IWR.”

Chief of the Joint Federal Project engineering support unit, Ben Dizon (second from the right), explains the construction process for the Folsom Dam auxiliary spillway project in Folsom, Calif., to students from Sacramento’s Hiram Johnson High School during a tour of the construction site May 20, 2014. "We teach concepts in design and engineering, and our students have practiced designing their own particular project and seeing it through to completion," said Glenn Singley, coordinator for the technology and engineering design academy at Hiram Johnson. "We want them to see a real-world example of what that effort looks like on a larger scale, and also hope to excite their curiosity about the variety of careers that are available." Photo cropped for emphasis. (U.S. Army photo by Capt. Michael N. Meyer/Released)

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Archeologists working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, aided by divers and salvage operations teams from the U.S. Navy, retrieve a 64-square foot section of a Civil War ironclad warship from the bottom of the Savannah River the evening of Nov. 12, 2013. U.S. Navy photo.

The divers worked in strong currents with near-zero visibility to assess the possibility of lifting a small piece of the Confederate ship’s casemate for archeological testing. A crane lifted it onto a barge anchored near historic Old Fort Jackson on the eastern edge of Savannah. Experts estimate the piece weighs more than 5,000 pounds.

The Confederate navy scuttled the CSS Georgia in 1864 as Union troops approached Savannah. The iron-covered ship remained on the river bottom until 1969 when a dredge removing sediment from the shipping channel struck a portion of the ship, according to Julie Morgan, staff archeologist for the Corps’ Savannah District. A brief recovery effort in the late 1980’s removed two cannon, various types of munitions and other artifacts.

“This retrieval will play a major role in creating a research design to effectively remove the CSS Georgia before expanding the shipping channel along this stretch of the Savannah River,” said Morgan. “It took a dedicated team working in some very tough conditions to bring this piece to the surface.”

Over time the ship’s casemate, the iron-covered upper portion of the warship, came apart. The small portion removed Nov. 12 will give archeologists the ability to assess the condition of the remainder of the ship, according to Morgan, and ensure the team follows protocols from the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

The Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) includes removal and preservation of CSS Georgia, which sits immediately adjacent to the shipping channel. The SHEP will deepen Savannah’s harbor from its current 42-foot depth to 47 feet, greatly expanding its capability to handle larger cargo vessels. Learn more about SHEP at www.sas.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/SavannahHarbor...

LOS ANGELES — Dr. Wen-Huei Chang, a water resources economist from the Institute of Water Services, left the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District Aug. 22 after working with three of the District’s divisions on temporary assignment for nearly five months.

“In addition to valuable hands-on experiences he received in the District, his IWR work will facilitate [District] personnel participation in two-to-four-month career development assignments for enhancing the intellectual exchange between the field and Washington DC,” said Carvel Bass, a District ecologist with the Civil Works Branch. “Those of us who have worked with Wen, both before and during his stay here, have benefitted and will continue to benefit from his expertise.”

Chang came to the District April 1 from his office in Ft. Belvoir, Va. for a developmental assignment. After some debate with his supervisor at IWR – Chang was requesting two months for the assignment and his boss was trying to tell him he needed six to make the assignment worthwhile – he came to the Los Angeles District office.

“I’ve been working on a lot of national high-profile projects; but, I had never worked in the field,” Chang said. “I always felt like there was a need to get some real-life hands-on experience that happens in the field. If you ask me why I picked LA, I wanted to go to a district that had enough of a diversified program so I could observe as much information as I could.”

Chang said he was impressed by the assortment of responsibilities the members of the LA District team faced on a regular basis. In looking for which District to work with, he wanted to make sure he found an area with coastal and deep-draft navigation missions and he wanted to work with floodrisk management programs. He said those programs made up nearly 2/3 of the Corps’ civil works budget.

During his time in the District, Chang worked with Asset Management, Planning and PPMD divisions. The majority of his time was spent on continuing IWR-related projects in the District. Bass said Chang also worked in operations and maintenance in Navigation and assisted with flood risk management, environmental stewardship and recreation management projects.

“He was critical to the development of [Environmental Stewardship Budget Evaluation SysTem] and [Recreation Budget Evaluation SysTem] budgeting and is an expert in these two programs,” Bass said. “So having him here during the Fiscal Year 2014 budget formulation cycle was a great opportunity.”

Bass said Chang was instrumental in completing the Watershed-Based Budgeting pilot study. The pilot study took into account Chang’s notion that federal agencies, like IWR and the Corps of Engineers, can work better with local sponsors if information affecting local sponsors was considered when looking at a project’s overall consequences and benefits. The District team sent the study forward to USACE headquarters as a package from the South Pacific Division.

“I worked with Eileen Takata and brought in a team from IWR to help the district use the tools we developed at IWR,” Chang said. “We were able to group [the budgets] together to look at them from a watershed perspective among projects, business lines and watershed projects. It shows us the interdependency of our projects and the projects of the local sponsor. Using that information, we’re trying to achieve what works best for our projects and provides benefit for the local sponsor.”

He said he will be taking that insight back with him to headquarters. He plans to work to bridge the “disconnect” between the agencies responsible for the budgeting and the agencies who are out doing the work to benefit communities across the country. Chang said he enjoyed working on the relationship between “the field and DC” and wished he had more time to work here. Although he misses his family, he understands the value in field assignments.

“When I was discussing my assignment to the district with my director, I said I could go for two months,” Chang recalled. “He said no, two months is not enough. You have to go for six months. We finally came up with four months for the assignment. A month into the assignment, I realized Bob was right. You really need to have a six-month timeframe to really get involved in a meaningful way. Based on my experience, I really encourage anyone to pursue career-development assignments and to make sure they are at least six months.”

At a farewell gathering, Col. Mark Toy, the LA District commander, presented Chang with a command coin and a certificate which read in part, the District’s appreciation for Chang’s “outstanding leadership, dedication and technical expertise for the Asset Management, the Programs and Project Management, and the Planning Divisions and in the development of the FY14 Watershed-Based Budget Pilot Proposal for the Santa Ana River Watershed. Dr. Chang currently provides technical and budgeting support within the Natural Resources Management Program. His national perspective in all of these areas has been an invaluable asset to the District.”

Chang said he will be taking two district personnel with him back to IWR to work the same projects at the headquarters level that they currently work at the field level.

“The idea is that we can really pick their brains and gain valuable knowledge form the District by bringing them to the IWR,” he explained. “We will gain the valuable field experience that is sort of lacking in DC. We would like to continue the relationship by continuing the study and sharing people back and forth. It was a wonderful experience for me and I’m sure it will be a wonderful experience for people going to IWR.”

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Archeologists working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, aided by divers and salvage operations teams from the U.S. Navy, retrieve a 64-square foot section of a Civil War ironclad warship from the bottom of the Savannah River the evening of Nov. 12, 2013. U.S. Navy photo.

The divers worked in strong currents with near-zero visibility to assess the possibility of lifting a small piece of the Confederate ship’s casemate for archeological testing. A crane lifted it onto a barge anchored near historic Old Fort Jackson on the eastern edge of Savannah. Experts estimate the piece weighs more than 5,000 pounds.

The Confederate navy scuttled the CSS Georgia in 1864 as Union troops approached Savannah. The iron-covered ship remained on the river bottom until 1969 when a dredge removing sediment from the shipping channel struck a portion of the ship, according to Julie Morgan, staff archeologist for the Corps’ Savannah District. A brief recovery effort in the late 1980’s removed two cannon, various types of munitions and other artifacts.

“This retrieval will play a major role in creating a research design to effectively remove the CSS Georgia before expanding the shipping channel along this stretch of the Savannah River,” said Morgan. “It took a dedicated team working in some very tough conditions to bring this piece to the surface.”

Over time the ship’s casemate, the iron-covered upper portion of the warship, came apart. The small portion removed Nov. 12 will give archeologists the ability to assess the condition of the remainder of the ship, according to Morgan, and ensure the team follows protocols from the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

The Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) includes removal and preservation of CSS Georgia, which sits immediately adjacent to the shipping channel. The SHEP will deepen Savannah’s harbor from its current 42-foot depth to 47 feet, greatly expanding its capability to handle larger cargo vessels. Learn more about SHEP at www.sas.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/SavannahHarbor...

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Archeologists working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, aided by divers and salvage operations teams from the U.S. Navy, retrieve a 64-square foot section of a Civil War ironclad warship from the bottom of the Savannah River the evening of Nov. 12, 2013. U.S. Navy photo.

The divers worked in strong currents with near-zero visibility to assess the possibility of lifting a small piece of the Confederate ship’s casemate for archeological testing. A crane lifted it onto a barge anchored near historic Old Fort Jackson on the eastern edge of Savannah. Experts estimate the piece weighs more than 5,000 pounds.

The Confederate navy scuttled the CSS Georgia in 1864 as Union troops approached Savannah. The iron-covered ship remained on the river bottom until 1969 when a dredge removing sediment from the shipping channel struck a portion of the ship, according to Julie Morgan, staff archeologist for the Corps’ Savannah District. A brief recovery effort in the late 1980’s removed two cannon, various types of munitions and other artifacts.

“This retrieval will play a major role in creating a research design to effectively remove the CSS Georgia before expanding the shipping channel along this stretch of the Savannah River,” said Morgan. “It took a dedicated team working in some very tough conditions to bring this piece to the surface.”

Over time the ship’s casemate, the iron-covered upper portion of the warship, came apart. The small portion removed Nov. 12 will give archeologists the ability to assess the condition of the remainder of the ship, according to Morgan, and ensure the team follows protocols from the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

The Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) includes removal and preservation of CSS Georgia, which sits immediately adjacent to the shipping channel. The SHEP will deepen Savannah’s harbor from its current 42-foot depth to 47 feet, greatly expanding its capability to handle larger cargo vessels. Learn more about SHEP at www.sas.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/SavannahHarbor...

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Archeologists working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, aided by divers and salvage operations teams from the U.S. Navy, retrieve a 64-square foot section of a Civil War ironclad warship from the bottom of the Savannah River the evening of Nov. 12, 2013. U.S. Navy photo.

The divers worked in strong currents with near-zero visibility to assess the possibility of lifting a small piece of the Confederate ship’s casemate for archeological testing. A crane lifted it onto a barge anchored near historic Old Fort Jackson on the eastern edge of Savannah. Experts estimate the piece weighs more than 5,000 pounds.

The Confederate navy scuttled the CSS Georgia in 1864 as Union troops approached Savannah. The iron-covered ship remained on the river bottom until 1969 when a dredge removing sediment from the shipping channel struck a portion of the ship, according to Julie Morgan, staff archeologist for the Corps’ Savannah District. A brief recovery effort in the late 1980’s removed two cannon, various types of munitions and other artifacts.

“This retrieval will play a major role in creating a research design to effectively remove the CSS Georgia before expanding the shipping channel along this stretch of the Savannah River,” said Morgan. “It took a dedicated team working in some very tough conditions to bring this piece to the surface.”

Over time the ship’s casemate, the iron-covered upper portion of the warship, came apart. The small portion removed Nov. 12 will give archeologists the ability to assess the condition of the remainder of the ship, according to Morgan, and ensure the team follows protocols from the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

The Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) includes removal and preservation of CSS Georgia, which sits immediately adjacent to the shipping channel. The SHEP will deepen Savannah’s harbor from its current 42-foot depth to 47 feet, greatly expanding its capability to handle larger cargo vessels. Learn more about SHEP at www.sas.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/SavannahHarbor...

LOS ANGELES — Dr. Wen-Huei Chang, a water resources economist from the Institute of Water Services, left the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District Aug. 22 after working with three of the District’s divisions on temporary assignment for nearly five months.

“In addition to valuable hands-on experiences he received in the District, his IWR work will facilitate [District] personnel participation in two-to-four-month career development assignments for enhancing the intellectual exchange between the field and Washington DC,” said Carvel Bass, a District ecologist with the Civil Works Branch. “Those of us who have worked with Wen, both before and during his stay here, have benefitted and will continue to benefit from his expertise.”

Chang came to the District April 1 from his office in Ft. Belvoir, Va. for a developmental assignment. After some debate with his supervisor at IWR – Chang was requesting two months for the assignment and his boss was trying to tell him he needed six to make the assignment worthwhile – he came to the Los Angeles District office.

“I’ve been working on a lot of national high-profile projects; but, I had never worked in the field,” Chang said. “I always felt like there was a need to get some real-life hands-on experience that happens in the field. If you ask me why I picked LA, I wanted to go to a district that had enough of a diversified program so I could observe as much information as I could.”

Chang said he was impressed by the assortment of responsibilities the members of the LA District team faced on a regular basis. In looking for which District to work with, he wanted to make sure he found an area with coastal and deep-draft navigation missions and he wanted to work with floodrisk management programs. He said those programs made up nearly 2/3 of the Corps’ civil works budget.

During his time in the District, Chang worked with Asset Management, Planning and PPMD divisions. The majority of his time was spent on continuing IWR-related projects in the District. Bass said Chang also worked in operations and maintenance in Navigation and assisted with flood risk management, environmental stewardship and recreation management projects.

“He was critical to the development of [Environmental Stewardship Budget Evaluation SysTem] and [Recreation Budget Evaluation SysTem] budgeting and is an expert in these two programs,” Bass said. “So having him here during the Fiscal Year 2014 budget formulation cycle was a great opportunity.”

Bass said Chang was instrumental in completing the Watershed-Based Budgeting pilot study. The pilot study took into account Chang’s notion that federal agencies, like IWR and the Corps of Engineers, can work better with local sponsors if information affecting local sponsors was considered when looking at a project’s overall consequences and benefits. The District team sent the study forward to USACE headquarters as a package from the South Pacific Division.

“I worked with Eileen Takata and brought in a team from IWR to help the district use the tools we developed at IWR,” Chang said. “We were able to group [the budgets] together to look at them from a watershed perspective among projects, business lines and watershed projects. It shows us the interdependency of our projects and the projects of the local sponsor. Using that information, we’re trying to achieve what works best for our projects and provides benefit for the local sponsor.”

He said he will be taking that insight back with him to headquarters. He plans to work to bridge the “disconnect” between the agencies responsible for the budgeting and the agencies who are out doing the work to benefit communities across the country. Chang said he enjoyed working on the relationship between “the field and DC” and wished he had more time to work here. Although he misses his family, he understands the value in field assignments.

“When I was discussing my assignment to the district with my director, I said I could go for two months,” Chang recalled. “He said no, two months is not enough. You have to go for six months. We finally came up with four months for the assignment. A month into the assignment, I realized Bob was right. You really need to have a six-month timeframe to really get involved in a meaningful way. Based on my experience, I really encourage anyone to pursue career-development assignments and to make sure they are at least six months.”

At a farewell gathering, Col. Mark Toy, the LA District commander, presented Chang with a command coin and a certificate which read in part, the District’s appreciation for Chang’s “outstanding leadership, dedication and technical expertise for the Asset Management, the Programs and Project Management, and the Planning Divisions and in the development of the FY14 Watershed-Based Budget Pilot Proposal for the Santa Ana River Watershed. Dr. Chang currently provides technical and budgeting support within the Natural Resources Management Program. His national perspective in all of these areas has been an invaluable asset to the District.”

Chang said he will be taking two district personnel with him back to IWR to work the same projects at the headquarters level that they currently work at the field level.

“The idea is that we can really pick their brains and gain valuable knowledge form the District by bringing them to the IWR,” he explained. “We will gain the valuable field experience that is sort of lacking in DC. We would like to continue the relationship by continuing the study and sharing people back and forth. It was a wonderful experience for me and I’m sure it will be a wonderful experience for people going to IWR.”

Authorized in the Flood Control Act of 1946, construction on Gathright Dam began in 1974 and completed in 1979. The dam sits about 20 miles upstream from Covington, Va., on the Jackson River in Alleghany County, Va. The dam is a rolled rock fill embankment with a compacted earthen clay core, outlet works and an emergency spillway located at the right abutment. The embankment is 1,310 feet long with a height of 257 feet. The width is 32 feet at the top of the dam with a maximum width of 1000 feet at its base.

(U.S. Army Photo)

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Archeologists working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, aided by divers and salvage operations teams from the U.S. Navy, retrieve a 64-square foot section of a Civil War ironclad warship from the bottom of the Savannah River the evening of Nov. 12, 2013. U.S. Navy photo.

The divers worked in strong currents with near-zero visibility to assess the possibility of lifting a small piece of the Confederate ship’s casemate for archeological testing. A crane lifted it onto a barge anchored near historic Old Fort Jackson on the eastern edge of Savannah. Experts estimate the piece weighs more than 5,000 pounds.

The Confederate navy scuttled the CSS Georgia in 1864 as Union troops approached Savannah. The iron-covered ship remained on the river bottom until 1969 when a dredge removing sediment from the shipping channel struck a portion of the ship, according to Julie Morgan, staff archeologist for the Corps’ Savannah District. A brief recovery effort in the late 1980’s removed two cannon, various types of munitions and other artifacts.

“This retrieval will play a major role in creating a research design to effectively remove the CSS Georgia before expanding the shipping channel along this stretch of the Savannah River,” said Morgan. “It took a dedicated team working in some very tough conditions to bring this piece to the surface.”

Over time the ship’s casemate, the iron-covered upper portion of the warship, came apart. The small portion removed Nov. 12 will give archeologists the ability to assess the condition of the remainder of the ship, according to Morgan, and ensure the team follows protocols from the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

The Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) includes removal and preservation of CSS Georgia, which sits immediately adjacent to the shipping channel. The SHEP will deepen Savannah’s harbor from its current 42-foot depth to 47 feet, greatly expanding its capability to handle larger cargo vessels. Learn more about SHEP at www.sas.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/SavannahHarbor...

Authorized in the Flood Control Act of 1946, construction on Gathright Dam began in 1974 and completed in 1979. The dam sits about 20 miles upstream from Covington, Va., on the Jackson River in Alleghany County, Va. The dam is a rolled rock fill embankment with a compacted earthen clay core, outlet works and an emergency spillway located at the right abutment. The embankment is 1,310 feet long with a height of 257 feet. The width is 32 feet at the top of the dam with a maximum width of 1000 feet at its base.

(U.S. Army Photo)

Authorized in the Flood Control Act of 1946, construction on Gathright Dam began in 1974 and completed in 1979. The dam sits about 20 miles upstream from Covington, Va., on the Jackson River in Alleghany County, Va. The dam is a rolled rock fill embankment with a compacted earthen clay core, outlet works and an emergency spillway located at the right abutment. The embankment is 1,310 feet long with a height of 257 feet. The width is 32 feet at the top of the dam with a maximum width of 1000 feet at its base.

(U.S. Army Photo)

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Archeologists working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, aided by divers and salvage operations teams from the U.S. Navy, retrieve a 64-square foot section of a Civil War ironclad warship from the bottom of the Savannah River the evening of Nov. 12, 2013. U.S. Navy photo.

The divers worked in strong currents with near-zero visibility to assess the possibility of lifting a small piece of the Confederate ship’s casemate for archeological testing. A crane lifted it onto a barge anchored near historic Old Fort Jackson on the eastern edge of Savannah. Experts estimate the piece weighs more than 5,000 pounds.

The Confederate navy scuttled the CSS Georgia in 1864 as Union troops approached Savannah. The iron-covered ship remained on the river bottom until 1969 when a dredge removing sediment from the shipping channel struck a portion of the ship, according to Julie Morgan, staff archeologist for the Corps’ Savannah District. A brief recovery effort in the late 1980’s removed two cannon, various types of munitions and other artifacts.

“This retrieval will play a major role in creating a research design to effectively remove the CSS Georgia before expanding the shipping channel along this stretch of the Savannah River,” said Morgan. “It took a dedicated team working in some very tough conditions to bring this piece to the surface.”

Over time the ship’s casemate, the iron-covered upper portion of the warship, came apart. The small portion removed Nov. 12 will give archeologists the ability to assess the condition of the remainder of the ship, according to Morgan, and ensure the team follows protocols from the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

The Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) includes removal and preservation of CSS Georgia, which sits immediately adjacent to the shipping channel. The SHEP will deepen Savannah’s harbor from its current 42-foot depth to 47 feet, greatly expanding its capability to handle larger cargo vessels. Learn more about SHEP at www.sas.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/SavannahHarbor...