Letter: Priorities of the corps need reform
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Advocate Washington correspondent Gerard Shields’ article of Nov. 9 (“Congress and the Corps” subheaded “Politics, provincialism sometimes interfere with priorities, plans”) thoroughly laid out the problems that have mired the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in an underfunded, bureaucratic sinkhole.
In Louisiana, this is stalling progress on critical ecosystem restoration projects, along with repairs to other hurricane protection systems. Scientists say that we have but 10 years — maybe less — to restore our coastal ecosystems and make our coast sustainable.
Louisiana loses more land — 32 football fields a day — than any other state. As Hurricane Katrina showed, that land loss puts millions of people in danger — along with our nationally important oil and gas infrastructure, part of our national food supply and a powerful tourism economy.
It’s no surprise that members of Congress are pushing for more water projects in their own districts; but the resulting backlog means that good projects languish along with bad ones. Without a clear system for prioritizing the most urgent projects that relies on the best scientific and economic information, too many projects vie for not enough dollars, everyone is frustrated and nobody wins.
Reforms to the system of selecting and funding U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects should ensure that all the benefits of ecosystem restoration are accounted for when compared with the costs. Projects such as using sediment dredged from shipping channels to restore coastal marshes, creating controlled diversions from the river that build and sustain land, and restoring the cypress forests that used to protect the eastern flank of New Orleans, provide benefits in terms of public safety, economic activity and avoided damage costs. These benefits are at once measurable — and beyond measure.
Our new president must be determined to reform how the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers does its work. His administration must set clear criteria for prioritizing projects, and those criteria must be enforced. A commission of the type used to close military bases or some other effective mechanism must be employed to focus corps programs on the nation’s most critical water needs. Congress must be engaged in funding projects based on these priorities so that the most urgent restoration projects move forward quickly. In Louisiana, we have no time to lose.
Maura Wood
National Wildlife Federation
senior program manager, Coastal La. Restoration
Baton Rouge
In Louisiana, this is stalling progress on critical ecosystem restoration projects, along with repairs to other hurricane protection systems. Scientists say that we have but 10 years — maybe less — to restore our coastal ecosystems and make our coast sustainable.
Louisiana loses more land — 32 football fields a day — than any other state. As Hurricane Katrina showed, that land loss puts millions of people in danger — along with our nationally important oil and gas infrastructure, part of our national food supply and a powerful tourism economy.
It’s no surprise that members of Congress are pushing for more water projects in their own districts; but the resulting backlog means that good projects languish along with bad ones. Without a clear system for prioritizing the most urgent projects that relies on the best scientific and economic information, too many projects vie for not enough dollars, everyone is frustrated and nobody wins.
Reforms to the system of selecting and funding U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects should ensure that all the benefits of ecosystem restoration are accounted for when compared with the costs. Projects such as using sediment dredged from shipping channels to restore coastal marshes, creating controlled diversions from the river that build and sustain land, and restoring the cypress forests that used to protect the eastern flank of New Orleans, provide benefits in terms of public safety, economic activity and avoided damage costs. These benefits are at once measurable — and beyond measure.
Our new president must be determined to reform how the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers does its work. His administration must set clear criteria for prioritizing projects, and those criteria must be enforced. A commission of the type used to close military bases or some other effective mechanism must be employed to focus corps programs on the nation’s most critical water needs. Congress must be engaged in funding projects based on these priorities so that the most urgent restoration projects move forward quickly. In Louisiana, we have no time to lose.
Maura Wood
National Wildlife Federation
senior program manager, Coastal La. Restoration
Baton Rouge
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