Corps of Engineers Water Resources Infrastructure Deterioration, Investment, or Divestment? (2013) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 1-11
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has major federal responsibilities for supporting flood risk management activities in communities across the nation, ensuring navigable channels on the nation's waterways, and restoring aquatic ecosystems. The Corps also has authorities to provide water supply, protect and maintain beaches, generate hydroelectric power, support water-based recreation, and ensure design depths in the nation's ports, harbors, and associated channels.
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Current approaches for budgeting and prioritizing OMR projects are presented and discussed, and the report examines the capacity of the annual budget processes of the WRDA and the Corps to address water resources infrastructure challenges. In considering future priorities and directions for the Corps of Engineers, it is important to note that the Corps operates at the behest of the U.S.
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Trends in funding for the Corps over the past three decades make clear this reality. THE FEDERAL WATER RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT ACT PROCESS Efficient investment in Corps water infrastructure OMR requires setting of priorities, but existing legislative processes for Corps funding and authorizations do not generally provide such guidance.
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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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This makes many of the potential approaches and solutions to Corps OMR challenges specific to the Corps. Corps of Engineers water resources infrastructure responsibilities, including navigation, flood risk management, and hydropower generation, differ significantly in terms of enabling legislation, taxation and revenue sources, clients, and relations with the private sector.
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It also implies that the system will be modified by deterioration, rather than by plan. Flood Risk Management Reductions in resources available for construction of federal flood control works present opportunities for expanded implementation of nonstructural flood risk management options that are more efficient, less costly, and provide greater environmental benefits.
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Congress will be needed to realize this potential. Systematic Asset Management An up-to-date, accessible water resources infrastructure inventory, including infrastructure conditions, benefits, and risks, would be useful in helping set priorities among competing Corps water infrastructure OMR needs.
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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 54 and 55.) OPTIONS FOR CORPS WATER RESOURCES INFRASTRUCTURE In order to identify viable paths for sustainable management of Corps of Engineers water infrastructure, it is useful to consider the range of options available to the Corps, the U.S.
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Option 2: Increase Federal Funding for Operations, Maintenance, and Rehabilitation There has been a long-term declining trend in funding for Corps water resources infrastructure construction and rehabilitation across numerous federal budgets. The future viability of this option is unclear.
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Nevertheless, public-private partnerships offer a range of possibilities for bringing new resources and potentially more efficient methods to OMR of Corps water resources infrastructure. 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 would be useful for identifying the most immediate, promising prospects.
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Congress nor the administration has established a process or program for setting OMR priorities for existing Corps water projects. During an earlier era of expansion of national water infrastructure, there was little need for such a process.
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