Corps of Engineers Water Resources Infrastructure Deterioration, Investment, or Divestment? (2013) / Chapter Skim
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2 U.S. Federal Water Project Planning, Authorization, and Appropriations
2 U.S. Federal Water Project Planning, Authorization, and Appropriations
Pages 19-32
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From page 19... ...
Water projects authorized by WRDAs include those for flood risk management, navigation, recreation, infrastructure maintenance and repairs, and ecological restoration. The WRDA process is used primarily for authorization of new water projects, with project appropriations decisions generally addressed in the federal budget process.
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From page 20... ...
Congress also sometimes includes appropriations directly in WRDA bills for specific projects, such as post-Katrina construction on the New Orleans hurricane protection system. Only infre 1 There is no similar, generally accepted figure for a backlog of deferred OMR costs.
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From page 21... ...
Unlike federal agencies that have broad authorizations, such as the Bureau of Reclamation through the Reclamation Act of 1902, and the National Park Service through the Organic Act of 1916, the Corps has relied on specific legislation to authorize specific projects. For example, the Corps was given broad authority in the 1936 and 1944 Flood Control Acts to investigate possible flood control projects.
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From page 22... ...
River system to achieve multiple purposes authorized by Congress, including flood damage reduction, hydroelectric power generation, navigation, fish and wildlife conservation, recreation, water quality, and water supply. Buford Dam and the ACF system of projects regulate flows on the Chattahoochee River that affect numerous downstream uses, including water supply and water quality in the Atlanta metropolitan area and, farther downstream, threatened and endangered species conservation in the Apalachicola River.
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From page 23... ...
From administrations of Theodore Roosevelt to Lyndon Johnson, the idea of comprehensive, rational federal development of river basins through multiple purpose projects has been promoted by many water charged to power customers in conjunction with the reallocation of storage from hydropower to water supply. Alabama and Florida intervened to challenge the settlement agreement, and a 2008 court decision [SeFPC v Geren, 515F.3d 1316 (D.C.
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From page 24... ...
A new era of dam building was initiated by the Kennedy administration, and new Corps dams were built in the 1960s in the southeastern and midwestern United States. The Johnson Administration placed a high priority on river basin planning, and the Water Resources Planning Act of 1965 created seven river basin commissions coordinated by a federal Water Resources Council (WRC)
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From page 25... ...
Large-scale water resources planning for both the Bureau of Reclamation and the Corps effectively ended in late 1960s. For example, the 1968 Colorado River Basin Project Act authorized both the Central Arizona Project and effectively took large-scale projects, such as interbasin transfers, off the Colorado River Basin water resources agenda.
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From page 26... ...
Cost-sharing requirements for federal projects have changed, respective roles of the federal government and local beneficiaries, sponsors, and the number and influence of stakeholders have changed, and the extent of new water project construction has been reduced. Further, the P&G document never was intended to consider and compare multiple water project proposals or existing projects, or to set relative priorities or rankings.
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From page 27... ...
Promoting this national interest may require integrating plans and pro grams throughout a large river basin system (especially an in terstate basin) , which may be incompatible with providing specific water projects tailored to local -- not basinwide -- interests.
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From page 28... ...
Through the legislative process, Congress selects projects for appropriation and decides upon proper levels of appropriation. Consequently, the process of individual project appropriations represents a de facto process for national water project prioritization.
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From page 29... ...
Locks and Dams 2, 3, and 4 in the Lower Monongahela River, just south of Pittsburgh, are the three oldest currently operating navigation facilities on the river and experience the largest volume of commercial traffic for the river. The Water Resources Development Act of 1992 authorized a major rehabilitation and reconstruction project involving Locks and Dams 2, 3, and 4.
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From page 30... ...
4035 Herbert Hoover Dike supple- study to evaluate existing conditions at mental major rehabilitation re- the Herbert Hoover Dike system; port, Florida identification of additional risks asso ciated with flood events at the system 4096 Elliott Bay Seawall, Seattle, Wash- primary study for rehabilitation of the ington Elliott Bay Seawall creased, slightly, while construction budgets have experienced significant decreases (except for specific occasions such as appropriations for postKatrina construction activities on the New Orleans hurricane protection system, and ‘stimulus' funding in 2008-09)
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From page 31... ...
The WRDA process has been developed over many decades. Congress is familiar with the process and it has proven useful in authorizing numerous water projects of importance to the nation and its citizens.
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From page 32... ...
WRDA was not designed to identify and establish OMR priority actions and investments for existing Corps of Engineers water infrastructure. The process of individual project appropriations thus represents a de facto process for national water project prioritization.
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