National Water Resources Challenges Facing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (2011) / Chapter Skim
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National Water Resources Challenges Facing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
National Water Resources Challenges Facing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Pages 5-24
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From page 5... ...
Over the years, changes in Corps decision-making authority, fed eral budgetary priorities, and shifts in national water planning goals have affected the agency's water resources management program. Fed eral environmental legislation, emerging demands for protection and restoration of aquatic ecosystems, declining levels of federal investments in civil works infrastructure, devolving authority, and a need to provide benefits for an expanding range of constituents and sectors have increased the complexity and controversies surrounding the operational decisions, planning studies, and water resources work of the Corps.
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From page 6... ...
Army Corps of Engineers Water Resources Science, Engineering, and Planning This committee will provide advice to the Corps of Engineers on a range of scientific, engineering, and water resources planning issues through periodic re ports. This committee's first report will identify emerging national water resources challenges and their implications for Corps of Engineers strategies and programs.
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From page 7... ...
As explained in Box 1, this committee's first report focuses on iden tifying "emerging national water resources challenges and their implications for Corps of Engineers strategies and programs." This report addresses several overarching water resources planning issues as they relate to the Corps of Engineers. It is anticipated that these subsequent reports will explore specific Corps of Engineers program areas, special initiatives, and reports, and thus will investigate scientific and engineering issues in greater detail.
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From page 8... ...
These O&M functions today include working with stakeholders in setting reservoir release schedules and navigation pool elevations, ecosystem restoration, and endangered species protection. The Corps also is challenged to operate in a setting of changing hydrologic realities and demands.
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From page 9... ...
Changing water withdrawal patterns and shifting climate and hydrologic regimes are among many national water resources challenges facing the Corps of Engineers and other federal, state, and local entities with water planning and management responsibilities. (Table 1 provides a list of national water resources planning challenges identified by this committee; also see NRC, 2010, for a similar list.)
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From page 10... ...
providing some degree of ecosystem res toration and ecological services in heavily altered riparian and aquatic ecosystems. NATIONAL WATER MANAGEMENT INFRASTRUCTURE AND INVESTMENTS The nation has made considerable investments in water resources infrastructure in the form of dams, locks, levees, navigation channels, shoreline protection, and port and harbor facilities.
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From page 11... ...
There is no national inventory of all these levees, nor is there a systematic program of levee inspection and maintenance. A National Committee on Levee Safety was established in the 2007 Water Resources Development Act to develop a report and strategy for addressing national levee safety challenges.
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From page 12... ...
The history of similar projects in the Ohio River basin, however, suggests that financing and construction of new facilities will take much longer. In the absence of funding for replacement of the infrastructure to return the Ohio River lock and dam system to its original reliability, and to bring the system up to modern design standards and capacity requirements, the three Upper Ohio River locks and dams are kept operating with repairs funded under the annual operating and maintenance budget of the Pittsburgh District of the Corps of En gineers.
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From page 13... ...
CORPS OF ENGINEERS CAPACITIES AND PLANNING Regardless of the trend in reduced investments in civil works infra structure, needs and demands continue for operations and maintenance, upgrades in existing infrastructure, and for new water resources proj ects. At the same time, the Corps of Engineers remains responsible for operations and maintenance of a vast, existing infrastructure that includes approximately 700 dams and nearly 12,000 miles of federal levees (Appendix B)
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From page 14... ...
Also, as the Corps often plays a prominent role in facilitating multi-objective deci sions among competing user groups, concepts and applications such as adaptive management, conflict resolution, and facilitation have become increasingly important. A challenge for the Corps of Engineers in meeting water planning needs in today's water management era is the need to develop new expertise at a time of a long-term decline in the number of Corps personnel and declining budgets for Corps research.
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From page 15... ...
This situation leads to expectations that the Corps of Engineers and its civil works construction pro gram cannot meet consistently. AUTHORIZATION AND APPROPRIATIONS PROCESSES Traditional Corps of Engineers water resources projects receive congressional authorization in a federal Water Resources Development Act, and receive project funding through a separate appropriations process.
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From page 16... ...
co-sponsors that perceive a need for federal support in new water project construction, or for upgrades or maintenance of existing infrastructure. Another implication of this large and increasing backlog is that the demands for federally funded water resources projects are affecting the ability of the federal government, and agencies like the Corps of Engi neers, to construct such projects reliably and efficiently (NAPA, 2007)
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From page 17... ...
The backlog of authorized federal water resources projects that have not yet received appropriations, or which have begun some level of planning or construction and await additional funds for completion, is considerable. There is also a considerable backlog of existing water project and infrastructure maintenance.
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From page 18... ...
Figure 1 reflects declining appropriations for federal water resources projects. The Corps recognizes this trend and acknowledges that its future roles will include more collaboration and partnerships, noting that they will "work collaboratively with a broad range of stakeholders to help solve water resources problems in an integrated and sustainable manner" (USACE, 2010)
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From page 19... ...
The Corps of Engineers also is constrained and driven by a large body of other laws and authorizations. Like other federal agencies with multiple missions governed by multiple laws and associated regulations, it is a challenge for the Corps to reconcile inconsistencies within this body of laws and regu lations which in aggregate comprise national water policy (NRC, 2004)
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From page 20... ...
The modern context of numerous objectives, constituencies, and gov erning legislation presents a complex management environment for the Corps. Like other federal agencies with multiple missions governed by a wide variety of often unintegrated and inconsistent laws and regulations, the agency must reconcile its inconsistencies in the absence of a formal national water policy or any body charged with developing and implementing one (Craig, 2008)
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From page 21... ...
. FUTURE PROSPECTS FOR THE CORPS IN NATIONAL WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP This report depicts a modern water project planning and policy context that has changed markedly from an earlier era of larger budgets, clearer priorities, and greater deference to Corps of Engineers plans and
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From page 22... ...
At the same time, the Corps of Engineers, with its mandate for national water resources planning, is affected by declining levels of investment, decreases in personnel, changes and shifts in the nature of water resources projects, and staffing needs for the skills and capacities required to most effectively address emerging water challenges and related needs. The Corps of Engineers clearly has entered an era of resource con straints, along with changing demands from the nation's water systems and for Corps planning expertise.
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From page 23... ...
The Corps of Engineers reflects a national water planning paradox: national water resources demands are increasing and becoming more complex, while at the same time, national investments in water infra structure exhibit a declining trend. Moreover, in some parts of the nation there are additional water management objectives relevant to Corps proj ect operations, such as water quality goals, in which the agency may be requested to expand its involvement.
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From page 24... ...
24 NATIONAL WATER RESOURCE CHALLENGES FACING THE USACE over the years. At the same time, the Corps of Engineers retains a clear leadership role in many of the nation's major river and aquatic systems, and there will be a continued need for an innovative and responsive Corps of Engineers to lead efforts in addressing national water planning challenges.
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