Corps of Engineers Water Resources Infrastructure Deterioration, Investment, or Divestment? (2013) / Chapter Skim
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4 Options for Improving Operations, Maintenance, and Rehabilitation of Corps of Engineers Water Resources Infrastructure
4 Options for Improving Operations, Maintenance, and Rehabilitation of Corps of Engineers Water Resources Infrastructure
Pages 84-94
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From page 84... ...
WRDA will continue to be important for new projects, but some reorientation in focus by the Congress and the executive branch will be required to elevate the importance of the operations, maintenance, and rehabilitation needs of Corps water resources infrastructure.
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From page 85... ...
The different parts of the Corps water resources infrastructure -- inland navigation, flood risk management, hydropower, and ports and harbors -- are governed by different laws and have different sources of revenue. Those parts of the Corps mission and infrastructure that are most reliant on federal funding and operation face the greatest challenges, while those areas that employ more extensive publicprivate partnerships (and entail more limited roles for the Corps, such as dredging)
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From page 86... ...
Evaluation of these alternatives provides insights that can help inform the needed public policy decisions. Option 1: Business as Usual With this option, the Corps will continue to operate the existing water resources infrastructure for inland navigation, hydropower, and flood risk management to the best of its ability with inadequate funding, with routine maintenance and repair efforts focused on keeping systems running and minimizing the rate of increase in degraded performance.
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From page 87... ...
Option 2: Increase Federal Funding for Operations, Maintenance, and Rehabilitation Increased federal funding under Option 2 will require a renewed interest by Congress and the executive branch to provide more federal resources for rehabilitation of Corps water resources infrastructure. It is worth noting that lack of interest by the Congress to increase OMR funding to a level adequate to support existing Corps water infrastructure contributes to a growing rehabilitation and replacement backlog.
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From page 88... ...
As discussed in Chapter 3, these mechanisms include the Inland Waterways Trust Fund (IWTF) which collects monies for use in rehabilitation and construction projects on the inland navigation system through a fuel tax on commercial users of the system; the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund which collects monies to support dredging of harbor channels to their authorized depths and widths through a cargo value tax on maritime shippers; and the allowed use of hydropower revenue by some Corps hydropower projects for OMR.
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From page 89... ...
As discussed in Chapter 3, there are sophisticated public-private partnerships in place at port facilities around the United States, involving partnerships between state and local governments and private entities, with the Corps having a limited but important role related to navigation dredging. Distribution of responsibilities between federal, state, and local governments in OMR of port facilities could serve as a model for other Corps water resources infrastructure.
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From page 90... ...
Moreover, greater private sector participation in Corps water infrastructure OMR will not be merited or desirable in all circumstances. Given the many complexities and uncertainties surrounding partnership prospects, with private sector entities as well as state and local governments, a credible evaluation of promising opportunities could help identify the most immediate, promising prospects.
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From page 91... ...
Option 6: Some Combination of Options 2-5 THE NEED FOR FEDERAL LEADERSHIP AND ACTION Moving forward with "business as usual" with respect to OMR of the aging Corps water resources infrastructure is unsustainable, as discussed under Option 1. The underfunding situation is especially critical for those parts of the Corps water resources infrastructure that are most reliant on federal funding: inland navigation, hydropower, and flood risk management.
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From page 92... ...
Neither the executive branch nor the U.S. Congress has established a comprehensive process for setting OMR priorities for Corps water project investments.
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From page 93... ...
More specific direction from the U.S. Congress regarding priority OMR investments for Corps water infrastructure will be crucial to sustaining the agency's high-priority and most valuable infrastructure.
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