CC RR OSSROADSOSSROADS CCONGRESSONGRESS,, THETHE CCORPSORPS OF OF EENGINEERSNGINEERS ANDAND THE THE FFUTUREUTURE OF OF AAMERICAMERICA’’SS WWATERATER RRESOURCESESOURCES MarchMarch 20042004 NNAATIONALTIONAL WWILDLIFEILDLIFE FFEDERATIONEDERATION andand TTAXPAYERSAXPAYERS FOR FOR CCOMMONOMMON SSENSEENSE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report would not be possible without the dedicated efforts of dozens of citizens’ organizations and thousands of people outraged at the continued devastation and waste inflicted on priceless natural resources in their communities. This groundswell of public alarm has spawned the Corps Reform Network, made up of more than 100 grassroots, regional and national organizations united to fundamentally change the way the Army Corps of Engineers manages the nation’s water resources. Many are fighting uphill battles against well-financed opponents and a huge bureaucracy. Yet, they are taking the time to help each other, to identify common problems and constructive solutions needed to set the Corps on the right course for the future of the country and its natural and financial resources. A current list of Network members is available at www.nwf.org/greeningcorps. Partial funding for this report was generously provided by the McKnight Foundation. The conclusions and recommenda- tions in this report are those of the National Wildlife Federation and Taxpayers for Common Sense, and not of the McKnight Foundation. Written, researched and edited by Kate Costenbader, Steve Ellis and David Conrad. Special recognition to Jeff Stein and Tim Eder for contributing to initial research and writing. Special thanks are also owed to numerous people who provided valuable assistance, guidance, support, suggestions in completing this project: Keith Ashdown, Jeff Barger, F.G. Courtney, David DeRosa, Tezeta Desta, Patty Glick, Malia Hale, Autumn Hanna, Jan Hasselman, Susan Kaderka, John Kober, Larry Larson, Jim Lyon, Lisa Madry, Ben McNitt, Shawna Miller, Margarita Morales, Brad Nunley, Amy Partilla, Tyler Rosen, Melissa Samet, Linda Shotwell, Julie Sibbing, Lisa White. This report is available online at: www.nwf.org/greeningcorps and www.taxpayer.net/corpswatch Additional copies of this publication are available for $10.00 each (includes shipping and handling charges) from: National Wildlife Federation Attn: Crossroads Report Request 1400 Sixteenth Street, N.W., Suite 501 Washington, DC 20036 Report design and layout by White Designs Cover Photo: Gulf Intracoastal Waterway Photo Credit: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers © 2004 NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED crossroads: CONGRESS, THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS AND THE FUTURE OF AMERICA’S WATER RESOURCES P REFACE Across the nation, hundreds of water projects are being planned and constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Many of these projects pose serious harm to wildlife, sensitive natural resources, and our quality of life, often at significant and unnecessary taxpayer expense. These projects continue despite credible and mounting evidence of numerous flaws in project designs and economic justification, and a growing concern for the price they will extract. The fact that damaging and wasteful proposals continue to receive federal funds and are proceeding is a dramatic testament to the need to overhaul the Corps of Engineers. The agency that has changed the course of America's mightiest rivers must now itself change. The Corps must cease to be a tool for lawmakers to bring home pork-barrel projects for special interests, and instead become an agency that works towards a more environmentally and economically sustainable America. This report provides a blueprint for that essential reform. It also provides new information on the Corps' most wasteful water projects, illustrating the true toll they take on people and places and the need to stop all of these wasteful projects. The only way to reform the Corps is for the public to demand change. The weight of the evidence demonstrates that the Corps will not fix itself. And many pork-barrel driven politicians are loath to change their ways. It is our goal that Crossroads will arm concerned citizens with the facts and case histories that demonstrate the need for change, the consequences of the present course, and the solutions necessary for effecting real change. The missions of the National Wildlife Federation and Taxpayers for Common Sense are to promote actions that lead ultimately to environmental and fiscal health, respectively. Corps reform is long overdue. It is time for peo- ple everywhere to demand that their representatives follow this prescription for action. Together, we can make the agency that has long been the enemy of nature and taxpayers into the ally of both. National Wildlife Federation Taxpayers for Common Sense TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY . .i ACCOUNTABILITY: DEMAND ACCURATE ANALYSIS AND RELIABLE RESULTS . .1 THE DETERIORATION OF TRUST IN THE CORPS . .1 Corners of the Iron Triangle . .1 No Effective Review of Corps Projects . .4 Corps Incapable of "Independent" Review of Itself . .4 THE CORPS HABITUALLY OVERSTATES PROJECT BENEFITS AND SHORTCHANGES THE ENVIRONMENT . .5 Overly Optimistic Predictions of Future Barge Traffic . .6 An Engineering Failure . .10 Failed and Incomplete Environmental Mitigation . .10 THE ROAD TO REFORM: DEMAND ACCURATE ANALYSIS AND RELIABLE RESULTS. .11 MODERNIZATION: UPDATE FUNDAMENTAL APPROACH TO WATER RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT . .15 THE CORPS' PLANNING RULES ARE WOEFULLY OUT OF DATE . .15 Principles & Guidelines Fail to Produce the Best Project Alternatives . .16 Piece-Meal Approach To Aquatic Ecosystems . .17 Benefit-Cost Analyses Are Inherently Flawed . .18 Benefit-to-Cost Ratio Requirements Allow Small Return on Taxpayer Investments . .20 THE IMPACTS OF AN OUTDATED PLANNING PROCESS . .20 Ill-Conceived Flood Control Program . .20 Irrational Port Planning . .22 OBSOLETE OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE . .25 THE ROAD TO REFORM: UPDATE FUNDAMENTAL APPROACH TO WATER RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT . .26 PRIORITIZATION: FOCUS ON NATIONAL PRIORITIES . .29 PARTNERS IN CRIME: CONGRESS AND THE CORPS . .30 Water Resources Development Act and Appropriations . .30 Broken Deauthorization Process . .31 The President’s Role . .31 THE CORPS' PRIORITY . .32 New Corps Missions With No Direction . .33 The Consequences of the Wrong Priorities . .35 Failing to Address Contemporary Needs . .36 THE ROAD TO REFORM: FOCUS ON NATIONAL PRIORITIES . .36 EQUITY: PROVIDE THE RIGHT FINANCIAL INCENTIVES . .39 IMPORTANCE OF COST-SHARING . .40 Cost-Sharing Under Attack . .41 Cost-Sharing Rollbacks . .41 COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE AND DAMAGING SUBSIDIES . .43 Subsidies for Wealthy Beach Communities . .43 Flood Damage Reduction Projects Subsidize Poor Local Land-Use . .44 Inefficient Inland Waterway Navigation Subsidies . .46 THE ROAD TO REFORM: PROVIDE THE RIGHT FINANCIAL INCENTIVES . .48 THE NATION'S MOST THREATENING AND WASTEFUL CORPS OF ENGINEERS PROJECTS . .50 INTRODUCTION . .51 MOST URGENT THREATS . .52 Eastern Arkansas Irrigation Projects (AR) . .52 Big Sunflower River Dredging and Yazoo Backwater Pump (MS) . .53 Lower Snake River Navigation (ID, OR, WA) . .54 Upper Mississippi River Navigation Expansion (IL, IA, MN, MO, WI) . .55 Industrial Canal Lock Replacement (LA) . ..