Col. Rhett Blackmon, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Galveston District commander speaks during the Colorado River Levee Project Phase 1 groundbreaking ceremony at Dinosaur Park in Wharton, Texas, November 29, 2023. Once complete, the Wharton Levee System will be a flood risk reduction system consisting of levees, floodwalls, a storm drainage relief system, riverbank stabilization, new mitigation wetland areas and sumps with gravity drainage.