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Summary
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) has major federal responsibilities for support-
ing flood risk management activities in communities across the nation, ensuring navigable chan-
nels 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. The Corps is the federal government's largest producer of hydropower, and a leading
provider of outdoor recreation areas and facilities. The Corps of Engineers also regulates altera-
tion of wetlands.
To meet its responsibilities in these various sectors, the Corps of Engineers has built in-
crementally what now comprises an extensive water resources management infrastructure that
includes approximately 700 dams, 14,000 miles of levees in the federal levee system, and 12,000
miles of river navigation channel and control structures. This infrastructure has been developed
over the course of more than a century, most of it on an individual project basis, within varying
contexts of system planning. From a macro-scale perspective, the water resources infrastructure
of the nation is largely "built out", and there are reduced needs and opportunities for construction
of new water resources infrastructure. Ecosystem restoration related to existing projects, added
as a primary missions area for the Corps in 1996, has been the main focus of new construction.
Large portions of the Corps' water resources infrastructure were built in the first half of
the twentieth century and are experiencing various stages of decay and disrepair. Project mainte-
nance and rehabilitation are thus high priority needs for Corps water infrastructure. Funding
streams in the U.S. federal budget over the past 20 years consistently have been inadequate to
maintain all this infrastructure at acceptable levels of performance and efficiency. In instances
where the Corps shares maintenance responsibilities with a non-federal partner (e.g., many of the
flood risk management projects built by the Corps), local or state funds are less available than in
recent past years. The Corps of Engineers' water resources infrastructure thus is wearing out
faster than it is being replaced or rehabilitated. Estimated to have a value of $237 billion in the
1980s, the estimated value of that infrastructure today is approximately $164 billion (Calvert,
2012).
These systemic modern challenges regarding the funding and maintenance of the Corps
water infrastructure led the agency to request advice from the National Research Council (NRC)
and its Water Science and Technology Board (WSTB). This report is from the NRC Committee
on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Water Resources Science, Engineering, and Planning. It is the
1
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2 Corps of Engineers Water Resources Infrastructure: Deterioration, Investment, or Divestment?
second in a series of five reports from this committee. The committee issued its first report in
2011, providing an overview of the scope of the national water resources challenges facing the
Corps, and will issue three future reports on topics to be determined by the Corps and the NRC
(NRC, 2011).
This report provides observations and advice in three broad areas related to Corps water
resources infrastructure: 1) the federal Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) process, 2)
determining priorities for operation, maintenance, and rehabilitation (OMR), and 3) options for
improving OMR. Current approaches for budgeting and prioritizing OMR projects are presented
and discussed, and the report examines the capacity for WRDA and the Corps annual budget
processes 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. Congress and the executive branch.
Many of this report's findings and recommendations therefore are directed at the U.S. Congress
and executive branch, as well as the Corps of Engineers.
STATUS OF CORPS OF ENGINEERS WATER RESOURCES INFRASTRUCTURE
The national water infrastructure is largely "built out." Compared to an earlier era, there
are fewer opportunities and only a limited number of undeveloped or appropriate sites for new
water resources infrastructure. New water projects will be constructed in the future, but the na-
tion's water resources infrastructure needs increasingly are in the areas of existing project opera-
tions, maintenance, and rehabilitation (OMR). In some instances, full project replacement may
be needed. As new construction has declined since 1980, so too has the Corps civil works budg-
et and hence funds available for OMR. Trends in funding for the Corps over the past three dec-
ades 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. The Congress and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) of the executive
branch undertake many water resources planning responsibilities for new projects, but there ex-
ists no systematic process or guidelines for setting OMR priorities.
The U.S. Congress and the executive branch Office of Management and Budget are
the de facto national water resources planners. There is no defined distribution of respon-
sibility between Congress and the Executive Branch, including the Corps and OMB, for na-
tional-level prioritization of OMR needs for existing water infrastructure. Further, neither
Congress nor the administration provides clear guiding principles and concepts that the
Corps might use in prioritizing OMR needs and investments.
Federal water resources projects are authorized through federal Water Resources Devel-
opment Act (WRDA) legislation. The WRDA and its processes were established by Congress in
the 1970s and served to replace processes established under the Flood Control Act and Rivers
and Harbors Acts. WRDA serves as a vehicle to authorize a collection of new water resources
projects. The process for identifying, authorizing, funding, and implementing water resources
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Summary 3
projects embodied in WRDA is rooted in an era when the nation was expanding into undevel-
oped areas, and building new water resources infrastructure. Corps civil works activities and
needs today are less focused on new project construction, and more focused on operations,
maintenance, and rehabilitation of existing infrastructure.
The federal Water Resources Development Act process was developed in a previous
era of water management during which new water project construction was of high priori-
ty. The WRDA is a familiar process to Congress and will continue to be used as a means
for authorizing new federal water projects. WRDA was not designed to identify and estab-
lish OMR priority actions and investments for existing Corps of Engineers water infra-
structure. The process of individual project appropriations thus represents a de facto pro-
cess for national water project prioritization. Higher congressional and administration
priority on OMR issues for Corps infrastructure will entail some reorientation away from
the present strong focus on WRDA.
CORPS MISSION AREAS AND INFRASTRUCTURE ASSETS
The Corps' primary civil works mission areas are navigation, flood risk management, and
ecosystem restoration. The Corps also has authorities, responsibilities, and programs for hydro-
power generation, harbors and ports, recreation, and coastal and beach protection. For each mis-
sion area, there are generally separate annual budgets for operation and maintenance (O&M),
and for construction. Most minor and routine rehabilitation is funded through O&M budgets,
while major rehabilitation and replacement generally is funded through annual construction
budgets. The process of prioritization for the annual O&M budget takes place generally at the
division and district level and follows general guidelines, but has many variations depending on
local needs.
The Corps' original involvement in national water resources planning dates back to the
nineteenth century and its work in ensuring navigable rivers. In the twentieth century, and after
1927 Mississippi River flooding and resulting damages, the Corps became involved in flood
damage reduction (this report, like the Corps of Engineers, uses the term "flood risk manage-
ment"). The Corps's third primary mission area is ecosystem restoration, which was formally es-
tablished in 1996. In an earlier era, it was easier to integrate a smaller number of missions, and
to share expertise and experience among them. Today, however, the larger number of responsi-
bilities makes agency-wide integration more difficult.
In carrying out its duties in these areas, the Corps is guided by numerous federal laws and
authorizations, a wide mix of clients with different goals, and different modes of taxation and
sources of revenue. Its distinctive and diverse water infrastructure, its specific roles in the na-
tional economy, and its clientele and history make the Corps a unique organization. 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 navi-
gation, flood risk management, and hydropower generation, differ significantly in terms of
enabling legislation, taxation and revenue sources, clients, and relations with the private
sector. The Corps faces challenges in its OMR duties given that its roles, partnerships, and
successes in addressing OMR in one mission area often are not transferred easily to other
areas or activities.
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4 Corps of Engineers Water Resources Infrastructure: Deterioration, Investment, or Divestment?
Greater private sector involvement is often raised as one option for increasing revenues
for public agencies or works, and this report identifies some ways in which private sector partici-
pation in Corps OMR activities might be enhanced.
Opportunities for greater private sector involvement in Corps infrastructure opera-
tions and maintenance activities will vary by Corps mission area, and by economic sector.
In general, these opportunities are greater in the areas of flood risk management, port and
harbor maintenance, and hydropower generation, and less for inland navigation.
Inland Navigation
The inland navigation system presents an especially formidable challenge and set of dif-
ficult choices. There are stark realities and limited options, including:
· Funding from Congress for project construction and rehabilitation has been declining
steadily.
· Lockage fees on users/direct beneficiaries could be implemented. These are resisted by
users and others.
· Parts of the system could be decommissioned or divested and the extent of the system de-
creased.
· The status quo is a likely future path, but it will entail continued deterioration of the sys-
tem and eventual, significant disruptions in service. 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. Many of these strate-
gies have been used successfully for years, in many parts of the country. They have not always
received full consideration, however, because of a historical emphasis on large, engineered civil
works for flood protection. Today's fiscal realities present the Corps of Engineers opportunities
to collaborate more closely with local communities in providing technical information and other
types of support.
Hydropower Generation
Hydropower revenues could be increased by improving the efficiency of the turbine sys-
tems used in Corps hydropower projects, as has been demonstrated by the Tennessee Valley Au-
thority. Total generation from Corps hydropower projects decreased by 16 percent from 2000-
2008. By contrast, the TVA increased hydropower generation 34 percent with the same water
availability through efficiency improvements in the 1980s and early 1990s (Sale, 2010). This
suggests that at least a 20 percent improvement with current water flows is obtainable and would
provide significant new revenues. Because of its revenue-generating potential, hydropower is in
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Summary 5
an especially good position to accommodate public-private investments required to increase ca-
pacity and reliability. Some modification of operating regulations by the U.S. Congress will be
needed to realize this potential.
Systematic Asset Management
An up-to-date, accessible water resources infrastructure inventory, including infrastruc-
ture conditions, benefits, and risks would be useful in helping set priorities among competing
Corps water infrastructure OMR needs. The Corps has made progress on implementing a more
systematic approach to infrastructure asset management over the past decade, but progress has
been slow. There are various asset inventories at the district and division level, and some at the
national level, but they are not well coordinated within each mission area.
Increasing strains placed on the Corps today by decaying infrastructure and associ-
ated fiscal challenges demand a systematic approach to asset management. To its credit,
the Corps has begun an asset management initiative. To further promote these efforts, the
Corps should continue to develop more comprehensive, and publicly accessible, inventories
of infrastructure assets for each of its core mission areas.
ECONOMIC PRINCIPLES AND FUTURE INVESTMENTS
Future OMR investments should be guided by a more coherent set of principles that
include strong reliance on economics of infrastructure investment. A 2003 NRC committee
that studied national freight transport offered the following set of investment and economic
principles that merit careful consideration. Those principles can be summarized as:
· Economic efficiency, with investments directed to improvements that yield greatest
economic benefits.
· Limit government involvement to circumstances in which market-based outcomes
clearly would be highly inefficient. Government also is responsible for managing
facilities where it has important historical responsibilities that would not be easily
altered, and where institutional complexity necessitates government leadership.
· Limit government subsidies and ensure that facility beneficiaries pay the costs.
· Rely more on user revenues, and the `user pays' principle, along with matching
funds and stronger public-private relationships.
(The complete listing of these principles is on pages 37 and 38.)
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. Con-
gress, and Corps project beneficiaries. Possible future paths that might be taken with regard to
Corps of Engineers infrastructure are as follows:
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6 Corps of Engineers Water Resources Infrastructure: Deterioration, Investment, or Divestment?
1) Business as usual. Accept degraded performance, and the consequences of gradual or
sudden failure of infrastructure components.
2) Increase federal funding for operations, maintenance, and rehabilitation.
3) Divest or decommission parts of Corps infrastructure to reduce OMR obligations.
4) Increase revenue from Corps project beneficiaries.
5) Expand opportunities for partnerships in operating and maintaining portions of existing
infrastructure.
6) Adopt some combination of these options.
Option 1: Business as Usual
Resources from the Corps annual budget (i.e., the general fund of the U.S. Treasury) for
new construction and rehabilitation of existing water infrastructure have been declining steadily,
and are inadequate to cover all OMR needs. Other possible sources of funding have been inade-
quate to cover all costs, leading to an unsustainable situation for maintenance of existing infra-
structure. This scenario entails increased frequency of infrastructure failure and negative social,
economic, and public safety consequences. The potential extent of these negative consequences
is not well understood.
Option 2: Increase Federal Funding for Operations, Maintenance, and Rehabilitation
There has been a long-term declining trend in funding for Corps water resources infra-
structure construction and rehabilitation across numerous federal budgets. The future viability of
this option is unclear.
Option 3: Divest or Decommission Parts of the Corps Infrastructure
The inability of the Corps to divest and decommission infrastructure is an obstacle to fo-
cusing available funding on highest priority OMR needs. Financial stresses placed on the Corps
to provide safe and efficient operation of all infrastructure leads to partial investments across
many facilities, rather than larger investments in more critical facilities. Decommissioning and
divestment of some components of the Corps water infrastructure would reduce OMR obliga-
tions, but such decisions are matters of public policy and would require action by Congress or
the administration.
Option 4: Increase Revenues from Corps Project Beneficiaries
Opportunities exist for expansion of revenue capture from water resources infrastructure,
especially for inland navigation and hydropower projects. However, legal and other barriers will
necessitate congressional action to expand such revenue streams.
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Summary 7
Option 5: Expand Partnerships
Although some components of the Corps water infrastructure entail shared responsibili-
ties and activities with private entities, public-private partnerships are utilized only in a limited
manner to support operations for much of Corps water resources infrastructure. Greater private
sector participation in Corps water infrastructure OMR will not be merited or desirable in all cir-
cumstances. Nevertheless, public-private partnerships offer a range of possibilities for bringing
new resources and potentially more efficient methods to OMR of Corps water resources infra-
structure. Given the many complexities and uncertainties surrounding partnership prospects,
with private sector entities as well as state and local governments, a credible evaluation of prom-
ising opportunities would be useful for identifying the most immediate, promising prospects.
This evaluation ideally would be conducted by an independent and credible organization with
good knowledge of Corps of Engineers functions, policies, and activities.
The U.S. Congress and/or the administration should commission an investigation of
opportunities for additional and different kinds of partnerships for operation and mainte-
nance of Corps water resources infrastructure. Partnerships investigated should include
both those with private entities, and partnerships with state and local governments. The
investigation should be conducted by an entity independent of the Corps of Engineers.
Option 6: Some Combination of Options 2-5
THE NEED FOR FEDERAL LEADERSHIP AND ACTION
The Corps of Engineers clearly faces many challenges in setting OMR priorities and in
procuring resources for OMR needs. Many of these challenges are rooted in political issues and
decisions, and may require changes in federal legislation. Their successful resolution therefore
will require stronger leadership from the U.S Congress and executive branch. In some instances,
a willingness to make a break with past traditions and practices will be needed.
The process of federal water resources planning by the U.S. Congress and administration
is reflected in new project authorizations through Water Resources Development Acts, and ap-
propriations for new and ongoing projects. These familiar processes focus far more on new wa-
ter project construction, than on operations, maintenance, and rehabilitation of existing infra-
structure. Neither the U.S. 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. Today, in a setting of
deteriorating Corps water infrastructure and increasing importance of OMR, this type of process
increasingly is necessary to identify high-priority investments. The lack of a process for high-
level OMR prioritization represents an impediment to more efficient investments in critical
Corps infrastructure, and inhibits the ability to divest or decommission water resources infra-
structure projects. The Corps makes decisions about priorities within its annual budget, but it
lacks broader authority to divest infrastructure or take it out of operation.
More specific direction from the U.S. Congress regarding priority OMR invest-
ments for Corps water infrastructure will be crucial to sustaining the agency's high priori-
ty and most valuable infrastructure. The executive branch also could play a more aggres-
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8 Corps of Engineers Water Resources Infrastructure: Deterioration, Investment, or Divestment?
sive role in promoting dialogue between the Corps and the Congress on existing infrastruc-
ture investment needs and priorities.
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