U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Water Resources Planning A New Opportunity for Service (2004) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
4 The Corps Planning Process; A New Opportunity
4 The Corps Planning Process; A New Opportunity
Pages 48-66
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 48... ...
Following this chapter, Chapter 5 identifies specific actions required for implementing the decision-making processes in support of this water resources planning reorientation.
|
From page 49... ...
Within that budget, the Corps spends less than 20 percent for new construction, and there is a "backlog" of authorized, but unfunded, project spending of around $50 billion. Equally important is that a significant share of construction dollars is allocated to structural rehabilitation of older projects, while another share is devoted to a relatively new and broadly defined ecological restoration mission.
|
From page 50... ...
These two factors -- a mature physical infrastructure that controls vast amounts of water and related resources, and an emerging interest in relaxing controls on hydrologic and geomorphic processes across large watersheds -- suggest the need for an authority that will enable the Corps
|
From page 51... ...
Perhaps the two most frequently invoked authorities for this purpose are an authority from Section 216 of the 1970 Flood Control Act and another from Section 1135 from the 1986 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA, 1986; see Box 4-3; also see the 216 study panel on river basins and coastal systems)
|
From page 52... ...
The 1945 Rivers and Harbors Act contained the Missouri River Bank Stabilization and Navigation Project, which authorized the Corps to construct a navigation channel 9 feet deep and not less than 300 feet wide. Post-1945 environmental legislation -- namely the Endangered Species Act (ESA)
|
From page 53... ...
An example of the fundamental ambiguities that can attend contemporary river flow management is the following sequence of events. Within a fourweek period in July 2003, a federal court in Washington, D.C., ordered the Corps to lower summer releases in order to protect endangered species, while a federal court in the Midwest ordered the Corps to release flows to support Missouri River commerce.
|
From page 54... ...
1986 Water Resources Development Act, Section 1135 Subsection 1135(a) authorizes the review of existing water resources projects to determine the need for modifications in the structures and operations of projects constructed prior to the authorization of this Act for the purpose of improving the quality of the environment in the public interest.
|
From page 55... ...
As a result of budgetary declines, the Corps is experiencing a shrinking professional staff, along with an imperative to execute its military mission in connection with homeland security responsibilities. Yet, competent management of the federal water infrastructure demands that the nation retain technical competence within water resources planning within the Corps.
|
From page 56... ...
EXECUTING PORTFOLIO PLANNING Economic and Environmental Analysis Clarifying the Restoration Mission One conceptual adjustment entailed by a portfolio planning approach is a need to clarify the Corps' roles in ecosystem restoration. In the Water Resources Development Act of 1990, Sections 306 and 307 authorized the Secretary of the Army to include environmental protection as a primary mission of the Corps.
|
From page 57... ...
These have been positive steps, but Corps activities within the broad and multidisciplinary realm of ecosystem restoration remain somewhat unfocused. Efforts to add ecosystem restoration as a primary water resources planning account (the NER account)
|
From page 58... ...
Such measures would allow the Corps to focus on its traditional hydrologic and geomorphic concerns, which are often the key processes in ecosystem restoration. For example, a 2002 report from a National Research Council committee that reviewed ecosystem science and conditions in the Missouri River and floodplain ecosystem concluded the following: "Degradation of the Missouri River ecosystem will continue unless some portion of the hydrologic and geomorphic processes that sustained the pre-regulation Missouri River and floodplain ecosystem are restored" (NRC, 2002a, emphasis added)
|
From page 59... ...
There is, however, some disagreement among those who use the "NED" concept regarding its meaning. These differences of perspective may confuse public debate over Corps planning reports and their analytic content (the 216 study panel report on methods of analysis for project planning offers advice regarding revisions to economic analyses conducting according to the Principles and Guidelines (P&G)
|
From page 60... ...
For example, in planning navigation capacity for bulk commodity movements, the P&G requires an analysis documenting an increased demand for bulk commodity transportation without the project in place, to show that additional navigation capacity is justified. In fact, the Office of Management and Budget requires (and some professional economic reviewers of Corps planning studies advocate)
|
From page 61... ...
Monetary measures of people's values for the predicted habitat or other environmental services forecast to result from hydrologic restoration may be reported to document significance, as may physical habitat quality or legal and policy recognition of significance of the waters or areas where restoration is realized (for example, the area may be critical habitat according to the Endangered Species Act)
|
From page 62... ...
For portfolio planning and for individual project operations and investment analysis, the Chief of Engineers should issue guidelines clarifying that traditional categories of NED benefits that accrue from restoration measures should be calculated and used in plan evaluation. A NEW PLANNING APPROACH AND AUTHORITY Portfolio planning would ideally support a structured and ongoing process for making decisions that over time ensures the greatest benefit from the national assets of water control infrastructure and natural capital (water and related land resources)
|
From page 63... ...
Given the limitations of the Corps' existing continuing authorities for conducting evaluations of post-construction project outcomes and adjusting project and system operations, along with the new realities of today's water resources planning context, the Corps should have a new authority with a stronger emphasis on promoting portfolio planning. A new study authority should be enacted and structured according to the following principles, which will help effect portfolio planning within the Corps (Recommendation 3)
|
From page 64... ...
Next, plan formulation would evaluate multiple scenarios in which different ports were considered for deepening to different depths. The analysis would report estimated NED benefits and how a plan might redistribute existing landings among ports.
|
From page 65... ...
SUMMARY Federal budget support for water project investments has declined sharply. There are important national water resources planning services,
|
From page 66... ...
These needs authorize an ongoing planning process that evaluates current project operations and prospective new water project investments. This analysis would be conducted at large spatial scales, with explicit attention to maximizing the values derived from the existing built infrastructure, as well as related water and land resources.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.