Corps of Engineers Water Resources Infrastructure Deterioration, Investment, or Divestment? (2013) / Chapter Skim
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3 Corps of Engineers Water Resources Infrastructure and Mission Areas
3 Corps of Engineers Water Resources Infrastructure and Mission Areas
Pages 33-83
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From page 33... ...
of its existing water resources infrastructure is a primary challenge for the Corps today. These activities include repair and upgrades, carried out at many different scales, from routine to major (major projects usually require a separate construction budget)
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From page 34... ...
For example, inland navigation facilities are predominantly federally owned, whereas many harbor and port facilities are operated by states in partnership with private entities, with the Corps playing supporting roles. There are separate taxes and funds to provide revenue for inland navigation, and for harbor maintenance.
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From page 35... ...
Moreover, there have not been any specific congressional initiatives or activities to promote coordination and consistency across the Corps' mission areas, or any guiding principles for broad Corps responsibilities such as water resources infrastructure maintenance and rehabilitation. NAVIGATION The Corps has constructed, and operates and maintains, a large portion of the infrastructure that supports the nation's commercial inland waterways and its ports and harbors.
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From page 36... ...
based, domestic shipping companies. Lock and dam facilities on the inland navigation system are federally owned, operated, maintained, and rehabilitated FIGURE 3-1 U.S.
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From page 37... ...
Another important aspect of the inland navigation system is that its locks and dams create extensive upstream navigation pools. These navigation pools often affect river ecosystems up- and downstream for tens of miles.
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From page 38... ...
the harbors and ports generally are operated as public-private partnerships, and do not depend on direct federal resources. Corps responsibilities in ports and harbors are focused on dredging to maintain desired navigation and docking depths.
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From page 39... ...
At the request of Congress, the Corps performed reconnaissance and feasibility studies in the 1990s for expanded commercial navigation capacity. The Water Resources Development Act of 1999 authorized construction of a 50-foot deep turning basin, deepening and widening of several anchorages in the harbor, widening of the Seagirt Marine Terminal channel and others, and construction of a new loop channel.
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From page 40... ...
Distinctions Between Inland Navigation, and Harbors and Ports The differences outlined above entail advantages and flexibility in options that harbors and ports possess in terms of financing infrastructure improve
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From page 41... ...
. The Inland Waterways Trust Fund is designated for construction and major rehabilitation of inland waterways, while the HMTF is limited to operation and maintenance of federally authorized channels for commercial navigation in deep-draft harbors and shallow-draft waterways that are not subject to the IWTF fuel tax (Carter and Fritelli, 2004)
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From page 42... ...
In 2010, the Inland Waterways Users Board (IWUB) , a federal advisory committee that advises the Corps on inland waterways, endorsed an alternative proposal that called for increase in the fuel tax of $0.06-08/gallon.
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From page 43... ...
Annually, expenditures from the IWTF exceeded revenues even though Congress appropriated funds for inland waterway modernization. Coupled with declining tax revenues due to reduced barge transport in the mid-2000s, the balance in the IWTF declined below $35 million at the end of FY 2011 (Figure 3-3)
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From page 44... ...
Completion of the Olmsted Locks and Dam project, first authorized in the Water Resources Development Act of 1988, is the highest priority inland waterways project for the Corps of Engineers. The project is locat ed about 20 miles upstream of the Mississippi River, near Olmsted, Illinois.
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From page 45... ...
For example, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is increasing vertical clearance of the Bayonne Bridge between Staten Island, NY, and Bayonne, NJ to allow for 1 The Inland Waterway Users Board is a federal advisory committee that was established in the 1986 Water Resources Development Act.
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From page 46... ...
In an era of steady reduction of federal investments in civil works infrastructure, these distinctions may have sobering implications for prospects of future inland navigation infrastructure repairs and upgrades. The December 2010 letter from the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works to the chairman (Rep.
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From page 47... ...
They are likely to affect prospects for privatization of inland navigation infrastructure, as discussed in a 2001 National Research Council report that reviewed plans for lock extensions on the Upper Mississippi River: [A] lmost all investment in navigation enhancement and river training facilities is public and almost all use of the waterway is private.
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From page 48... ...
Ownership transfer of facilities that support large volumes of commercial traffic would be much less feasible. Additional partnerships could be explored for the operations of inland navigation infrastructure.
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From page 49... ...
Especially for larger dams, substantial advance planning is required, including analysis of alternatives, preliminary cost estimates, permitting requirements, and consensus-building with affected parties. Economic losses due to discontinuing operation of the dam (i.e., flood control, irrigation, power generation, recreational uses)
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From page 50... ...
By contrast, many Corps inland navigation dams have significant maintenance and rehabilitation needs. Without additional funding and appropriate repairs, the condition of those dams inevitably will deteriorate and decommissioning may represent a more serious alternative than in the past.
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From page 51... ...
For example, tailwater reaches below dams are typically cold, clear and nutrient rich, creating habitats in which nonnative species can thrive and outcompete with native fish populations, which may be adapted to turbid conditions. Transportation Mode Alternatives There often are alternative transport modes for the cargo that is shipped on the inland navigation system, the primary alternatives being rail and truck.
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From page 52... ...
Recreational vessel lockages through the same lock totaled 53 in 2011. Due to low commercial use of the Lower Allegheny River navigation system, funding for OMR of the locks and dams has been declining steadily, with concomitant decreasing maintenance and increasing degradation.
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From page 53... ...
In considering the viability and future of the inland navigation system, and the means for financing OMR needs, the following guiding principles for government freight programs as presented in NRC (2003) merit careful consideration: x Economic efficiency ought to be the primary goal of government transportation policy; that is, those capital improvements and operating practices for public facilities should be selected that yield the greatest net economic benefit, considering all costs.
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From page 54... ...
Reliance on revenue from users, and from local matching funds in federal grant programs will increase the likelihood that most worthwhile improvements will be carried out and facilities will be operated and maintained efficiently. Lockage Fees for Commercial Navigation and Other System Beneficiaries Despite funds provided through the inland waterways fuel tax, there have been concerns about the subsidy provided by the federal government for the waterways system compared to other commercial transportation modes (see NRC, 2003)
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From page 55... ...
. Proposals for lockage fees have been opposed historically by inland navigation system users, such as the Inland Waterways Users Board.
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From page 56... ...
Declining availability of federal resources for new construction and major rehabilitation, deteriorating facilities, and a broadening base of project beneficiaries leads to discussions about which parties will finance future inland navigation system maintenance and rehabilitation. A "user pays" or "beneficiary pays," principle posits that those parties who benefit from a public good should pay for the good.
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From page 57... ...
Dams, for example, provide protection to everyone in the floodplain below the dam, and one property owner's protection does not reduce that enjoyed by another. Also, wetlands provide ecosystem services such as wildlife habitat and flood control that may benefit many people but one person's enjoyment does not limit the benefits enjoyed by another.
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From page 58... ...
There is also no clear guidance on what portion of a project costs should be user financed or funded through general revenues. nues, will lead to the consideration of these beneficiaries being considered as potential sources of additional revenue: Application of these principles (e.g., economic efficiency)
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From page 59... ...
The Florida Inland Navigation District provides an example, as discussed in Box 3-8. FLOOD RISK MANAGEMENT The Corps of Engineers has constructed an extensive infrastructure designed to manage flood risks along rivers and also infrastructure to protect against surges from coastal storms.
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From page 60... ...
The role of the Corps of Engineers in levee OMR across the nation generally is one of technical support, including levee inspections and providing manuals and training on levee OMR. Flood risks can be only partly mitigated by protective structures, and levees and coastal structures provide protection from some, but not all,
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From page 61... ...
Reduced availability of federal resources for large civil works projects for flood protection thus does not necessarily entail increased risks from flooding and, in some instances, may present opportunities to implement less expensive and more sustainable flood risk alternatives. In many parts of the nation, there are large numbers of people and extensive amounts of property behind existing levees and other protective structures that have significant maintenance and rehabilitation needs.
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From page 62... ...
Corps dams that provide flood risk reduction almost always support multiple purposes, such as hydroelectric power generation, water supply, and recreation. Approximately 95 percent of the dams managed by the Corps are more than 30 years old, and 52 percent have reached or exceeded nominal 50-year project lives (USACE, 2012b; USACE, 2012c)
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From page 63... ...
Funding Issues and Options Dams The Corps program has been undergoing significant changes in response to the National Dam Safety Act (which was passed as part of WRDA, 1996)
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From page 64... ...
The Delta region includes approximately 1100 miles of levees, of which 385 levee miles are incorporated into federal flood control projects, mostly along the main-stem Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. The 700-plus miles of nonfederal levees, many of which line not rivers but rather channels and prevent tidal inflows, generally do not meet the same design standards as the federal levees (USACE, 2006)
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From page 65... ...
Levees and Other Protection Infrastructure OMR funding for flood protection levees presents its own set of financing challenges. In comparison with dams and their flood control purposes and OMR arrangements, however, levees present a clearer line of relative responsibilities.
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From page 66... ...
. Flood Risks, Infrastructure, and National Flood Policies Despite billions of dollars invested in flood control structures by the Corps of Engineers, the U.S.
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From page 67... ...
The Corps approach to managing flood risks was developed by a cadre of Corps engineers trained in hydrology and hydraulics in the early twentieth century. The Corps processes estimating flood control project benefits, such benefit-cost analysis, and estimates of "damages prevented," were designed around civil works structures.
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From page 68... ...
flood risk management and floodplain development. In his doctoral dissertation, which was entitled Human Adjustment to Floods, he promoted the idea that, instead of various concerned entities' trying to control rivers and waterways with dams, flood-prone areas would be better left undeveloped (White, 1945)
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From page 69... ...
Figure 3-6 is a chart used frequently in Corps of Engineers presentations of national flood risk management. The chart shows clearly that flood risks cannot be fully eliminated or managed by structural measures alone; rather, numerous other ‘nonstructural' factors such as land use practices, zoning regulations, building codes and others affect flood risk.
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From page 70... ...
Improved inventories of flood risk management dams and levees are critical components of asset management and portfolio planning. Lessons from Flood Risk Infrastructure and Policy In considering national flood protection infrastructure needs and priorities, the Corps of Engineers plays an important leadership role, but the Corps is only one of numerous federal, state, local, and other actors in national flood protection policies and activities.
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From page 71... ...
There will be fewer federal resources available for the Corps of Engineers to continue its leadership role in flood control via construction of large new civil works projects. The Corps also acknowledges that a wide range of communitylevel decisions and practices are major -- perhaps the primary -- factors in reducing flood risks.
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From page 72... ...
HYDROPOWER GENERATION Hydropower generation is not among the primary missions of the Corps of Engineers, but the Corps has developed numerous hydropower projects in conjunction with its flood risk management and navigation missions and is a national leader in generating hydroelectric power. Hydropower facilities represent an important component of the Corps "hard infrastructure" that is the focus of this report.
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From page 73... ...
This section examines the status of the Corps hydropower program, challenges it faces, and unique opportunities that it has relative to other water resources infrastructure because of inherent revenue generation in the program. A primary source of information and perspective for this section was the comprehensive and critical evaluation of the Corps hydropower program by Sale (2010)
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From page 74... ...
At some Corps hydro power projects, none of the original equipment has been replaced since the facilities were constructed 30 or more years ago. Annual budgets for repairs and upgrades of most of the Corps hydropower equipment have been inadequate for a long time (Sale, 2010)
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From page 75... ...
. By contrast, the FY2013 budget includes $1.41 billion for flood risk management, $1.75 billion for navigation, $512 million for aquatic ecosystem restoration, and $252 million for recreation (USACE,
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From page 76... ...
For Corps hydropower production of 70 TWh per year, the FY2013 budget of $180 million corresponds to $2.57/MWh. According to the Phase 2 HMI report issued in 2010, in which 54 Corps hydropower projects were evaluated, if no action is taken on modernization of these projects they will incur a combined loss of $7 billion of power revenue benefits over 20 years (Sale, 2010)
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From page 77... ...
Modernization of the Corps hydropower program will require new legislation, new authorities, new funding, and modification and expansion of Corps partnerships. With low and declining federal support for Corps hydropower
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From page 78... ...
The Corps hydropower program will need to establish expanded, diverse partnerships with federal power customers, the PMAs, and the nonfederal power industry. BOX 3-11 THE BONNEVILLE POWER ADMINISTRATION DIRECT FUNDING AGREEMENT The National Energy Policy Act of 1992 included a provision that allows the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA)
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From page 79... ...
Interagency discussions involving the Corps, the PMAs, and DOE will be crucial in moving forward on this and other, similar modernization initiatives. SUSTAINING CORPS OF ENGINEERS WATER RESOURCES INFRASTRUCTURE Much of the existing water resources infrastructure of the Corps of Engineers, which is primarily in the mission areas of navigation, flood risk management and hydropower production, is quite aged and has not been adequately maintained.
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From page 80... ...
In general, these opportunities are greater in the areas of flood risk management, port and harbor maintenance, and hydropower generation, and less for inland navigation. Inland Navigation The inland navigation system presents an especially formidable challenge and a set of difficult choices.
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From page 81... ...
Congress will be needed to realize this potential. Systematic Asset Management Obligations placed on the Corps for continued safe and efficient operations of the entirety of its water resources infrastructure, under modern staffing and financial conditions, heighten the need for asset management efforts within each of its mission areas.
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From page 82... ...
Regarding flood risk management, future investments in flood infrastructure will recognize lessons from relying heavily on engineered structures and the need to also develop local land use policies and zoning regulations designed to reduce vulnerability to floods. Many communities across the nation have learned, and are learning, to accommodate floods in more effective ways and reduce reliance upon large amounts of federal funding for hard-infrastructure mitigation measures.
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From page 83... ...
Along with economic development principles, broader social and environmental goals for Corps projects, including public safety purposes, of course need to be considered when prioritizing OMR investments for Corps projects (the complete listing of these principles is on pages 53 and 54)
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