Chicago Tunnel and Reservoir Project

The $3.4 billion Tunnel and Reservoir Project in Chicago, which protects over 3 million homeowners and businesses from the ravages of flooding while safeguarding Chicago’s drinking water source, Lake Michigan, has been transformational. This stunning success story attracts international attention and has laid the foundation for a healthy and vibrant Chicagoland.

Napa's Living River

This $500 million living river project became an international model for more sensitive flood protection in an urban setting by allowing nature to run its course and reclaim its floodplain, while providing a tremendous wetlands and habitat feature.

Mission Reach Project (Texas)

San Antonio’s Mission Reach Project, the natural extension of the River Walk, which restores 8 miles of the San Antonio River channelized by the Corps decades ago now creates a natural watercourse connecting the historic Spanish Missions to the waterway and providing a living river corridor and resource for families in an underserved community.

Hamilton Airfield Wetland Project

Hamilton Airfield Wetland Project transforms a de-commissioned military airfield with legacy contaminants into a portion of the eventual 2,600 acre wetlands providing tremendous habitat and natural area in urban northern California. In fact, Hamilton is the largest wetland restoration project in the United States to beneficially reuse dredged sediment.

South San Francisco Bay Shoreline Project

South San Francisco Bay Shoreline Project, which reduces tidal flood risk by constructing a new levee along the South San Francisco Bay Shoreline and restores approximately 2,900 acres of former salt production ponds to tidal marsh habitat in the Alviso Pond Complex along the Bay.

What We Do

We are a full service Washington consulting firm and we leave nothing to chance to ensure the best possible outcome and return on your investment.

 

Our Approach

Strategy and Service

We are federal lobbyists and provide representation to public agencies, but let us describe what that means in terms of O’Connell & Dempsey’s efforts on your behalf. Once we learn about your issues, history, and objectives, we will develop a strategic game plan to meet your needs, which detail a range of avenues to success within the legislative and administrative arenas. These avenues will include timetables, milestones, and near and longer term action plans for each approach, whether it be legislative or administrative. We then submit the overall plan to you, take it through whatever revisions are necessary to meet your needs and proceed with our full service. We produce your materials, talking points, delegation letters, legislative language, and on-going strategy; whatever is necessary to make your case to Congress, as well as to the federal agencies that you are engaged with.

Key Federal Agencies

We also work closely with many Corps of Engineers’ and the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) offices and decision makers at the Department of Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as key leaders in the Executive Branch and the Administration. Many times, we will begin to engage directly with your staff and the federal agencies’ district offices to ensure the agency, whether that is the Corps or another agency understands the client’s need and approach. We will then work closely with you and the federal agency during the project management process, whether it is a flood control project, ecosystem restoration, port, water supply, or reclamation project to lay the groundwork to secure the project the community wants, with key elements included as the project or study works through the process.

Congress

Besides working with the agencies, we work closely with Congress, including working directly with key state delegations across the country. We also work closely with the relevant committees for water resources and environmental issues including the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the House Natural Resources Committee, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and the House and Senate Appropriations Committees.

Your Washington Visits

An important element of our service is the regular Washington visits and program we develop for you to meet not only with your Congressional delegation, but with the Washington decision-makers to make the case for your needs, whether that be federal funding, project approval, securing a Chief of Engineers’ Report, or approval at the Assistant Secretary of the Army’s office. We put these meetings together, conduct the pre-visits, develop the meeting handouts and talking points, and conduct the pre-meeting strategy session with you to discuss best approaches and outcomes. We participate during the meetings to help secure the best possible results, and finally, we prepare the follow-up memo and materials, which outlines meeting outcomes and next steps. We then move forward with these efforts.

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Areas of Expertise

Client Successes