Michael A. Ports has more than 50 years of planning, analysis, design, and construction experience in a broad spectrum of water resources, environmental, and navigation engineering applications, including surface water hydrology and hydraulics, storm water management, master planning, river navigation, drainage and flood control, river training works, fishery and wildlife habitat mitigation and design, stream channel protection and restoration, erosion and sediment control, environmental impact assessment, water law, sediment transport modeling, and environmental regulatory compliance. He has represented the American Society of Civil Engineers on water resources issues before the Environmental Protection Agency, Bureau of Land Management, and United States Congress. In addition, he has served as an expert witness before state courts in Louisiana, Maryland, and West Virginia, and federal courts in Louisiana, Maryland, and Washington, DC. Typical recent projects include:
Michael performed a hydrologic and hydraulic engineering analysis in support of the US Department of Justice for the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, et al v. United States litigation. The plaintiffs claim that the design and operation of the Oahe Dam and Reservoir on the main stem of the Missouri River has adversely affected the cattle ranching operations along the Moreau River and floodplain. The plaintiffs claim that the prolonged flooding and resulting sediment deposition from the 1997 Flood were the direct result of the design, construction, and operation of the dam and reservoir.
Previously, Mike performed a critical evaluation of the hydrologic and hydraulic engineering aspects of the design, operation, and maintenance of the Upper Mississippi River Navigation System for the U. S. Department of Justice. The system consists of 29 locks and dams on the mainstream of the Mississippi River extending from St. Paul, Minnesota to St. Louis, Missouri, a total distance of 857.6 miles. The evaluation included the critical review of the navigation system regulation and operation, effects of wing dams, erosion on river levees, seepage under and through river levees, maintenance dredging operations, and the need for river levees.
