Analytical Methods and Approaches for Water Resources Project Planning (2004) / Chapter Skim
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Executive Summary
Executive Summary
Pages 1-10
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But the planning context has changed greatly since the 1960s, with criticisms of the Corps' basic objectives and of its planning methods becoming increasingly sharp. The agency has made concerted efforts to adapt to these criticisms, and the typical Corps of Engineers planning study today incorporates vast amounts of economics and engineering data, exhaustive environmental analyses, and is several hundreds pages long.
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. This panel reviewed the Corps' analytical procedures and planning methods, largely in the context of the federal Economic and Environmental Principles and Guidelines for Water and Related Land Resources Implementation Studies, also known as the Principles and Guidelines or "P and G"(P&G)
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water management features numerous well-informed and active stakeholders with water management objectives that are often mutually exclusive. In this setting, clear direction from the Administration and the Congress -- which have ultimate responsibility for federal water project management decisions-regarding the nation's de facto body of water policy, is essential.
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Coordinating National Water Policy Resolving inconsistencies within the body of national water policy, and resolving inconsistencies among principles and methods employed by various federal water resources agencies, will require sustained attention, with controversial, high profile cases likely to require careful individual consideration. Given the large number of federal agencies (more than a dozen)
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The P&G prescribes a set of detailed methods designed to quantify costs and benefits associated with a proposed water project. The P&G relies heavily upon predictive models and monetization techniques as the basis for water resources investment decisions.
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But because the Corps is obliged to follow the P&G, because the agency takes the document seriously, and because the P&G does not adequately reflect contemporary realities and best practices, its revision should prove useful to the Corps. CORPS OF ENGINEERS PLANNING PROCESSES Benefit-Cost Analysis Pursuant to federal legislation and administration directives, a proposed water project is viable only if its projected benefits exceed projected costs as documented in a Corps planning study.
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Review of Projects and Planning Studies Ex Post Evaluation The Corps of Engineers does not systematically review outcomes of its water projects after construction or review how closely planning study projections matched actual results. A lack of retrospective, or "ex post," reviews represents missed opportunities to better understand how demands upon water projects have changed over time, strengths and weaknesses of planning methods, and how project operations have (or have not)
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Although stakeholder participation is required in all project planning, its design and conduct takes place at the Corps district (local) level, with only general standards grounded in legal requirements like those associated with the National Environmental Policy Act.
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Independent Review Water management theories, practices, and methods are constantly being tested and advanced in many different disciplines, in a variety of institutions, and in nations outside the United States. The resources required to employ experts that can stay abreast with these advances in all relevant disciplines and specialties, however, transcends the budgets of most federal agencies.
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11. Independent experts from outside the Corps of Engineers should be routinely enlisted to provide advice in Corps programs and planning studies.
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