U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Water Resources Planning A New Opportunity for Service (2004) / Chapter Skim
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5 Supporting Portfolio Planning
5 Supporting Portfolio Planning
Pages 67-83
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From page 67... ...
This is currently not always the case as deeply-established tradition calls for Corps of Engineers planning studies to be conducted by district offices. No matter the historical or current advantages this current arrangement confers, portfolio planning will often have to be coordinated and promoted differ 67
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From page 68... ...
Planning for smaller, less expensive projects entails fewer needs than portfolio planning studies that may extend across large, multijurisdictional river basins. One of the 216 studies panels evaluated and commented on review procedures for Corps planning studies (Panel on Peer Review; NRC, 2002b)
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From page 69... ...
An existing body should be designated to review and reconcile agency conflicts over Corps activities and over economic and environmental evaluation procedures. Any federal agency with legal authority to comment on a Corps planning study, after making comments and receiving a response, should be able to seek formal review of areas of disagreement.
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From page 70... ...
Before any agency or officer thereof submits to the Congress, or to any committee or member thereof, for approval, appropriations, or legislative action any report, proposal, or plan relating to a Federal or Federally assisted water and related land resources project or program, such report, proposal, or plan shall be submitted to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Section 2.
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From page 71... ...
A program of continuing regional assessments can serve as the basis for setting portfolio planning program priorities. These regional assessments, which could include comparisons of water issues between regions and longitudinal studies in select regions, should be periodically conducted in order to help identify key water resources issues of federal-level importance (Recommendation 6)
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From page 72... ...
One solution commonly proposed to ensure adequate technical skills is to transfer some of the agency's planning and analytical responsibilities to the private sector; in fact, there have been some proposals to "privatize" many of the Corps' water-related functions, and some of these proposals may have merit. Not all technical analyses in Corps planning studies must necessarily be conducted exclusively by Corps staff.
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From page 73... ...
That is, many Corps staff have noted that the agency must have talented people to conduct credible planning studies and related investigations. Although one could scarcely argue with this, such assertions do not provide specifics on the skills and experiences that Corps staff should possess.
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From page 74... ...
Too often, as well, federal employees depart before their time in frustration over the strangling organizational and procedural complexity of contemporary government decisionmaking. For too many, even their best efforts to be responsive and creative end up in organizational obliv ion.
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From page 75... ...
. A NEW SETTING FOR DECISION MAKING Characterizing Water Resources Management Conflicts The desire to resolve technical disputes is one reason Congress requested The National Academies to report on how an independent review process could be implemented for costly and controversial Corps projects (NRC, 2002b)
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From page 76... ...
Value conflict stems from different assessments of the desirable goals of public action and is therefore ideological in nature. For example, water resources management decisions may result in conflict over the desirability of increased control of the hydrologic regime versus returning a river system to a more "natural" state.
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From page 77... ...
for making water and related land resources decisions. Citizens in coalitions with often different perspectives may claim to represent the "public interest" versus "special interests." There has been an irreversible diffusion of power and technical abilities among agencies and the public, accompanied by some degree of mistrust of Corps planning studies and their conclusions.
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From page 78... ...
is becoming a more common means of addressing national water resources conflicts. Assembling all affected interests may aid in identifying and reconciling some sources of conflict.
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From page 79... ...
Only a few Corps staff members have knowledge of and experience in applying the Shared Vision Modeling package, and it has not been applied in prominent water resources controversies, such as those that currently exist on the Missouri and Upper Mississippi Rivers, for example. Computer-aided decision making is a promising approach to helping clarify and resolve conflicts over water management priorities.
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From page 80... ...
This is especially true when many of the authorities that will be required to execute a preferred alternative reside with state and local governments and other federal agencies. Corps planning studies should identify a range of alternatives and their respective assumptions, uncertainties, consequences, strengths and weaknesses, and benefits and costs -- an evaluation that may not necessarily suggest clearly a preferred alternative.
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From page 81... ...
The Secretary of the Army should review reconnaissance study cost limitations and should report to the Congress with a proposal to match study time and costs to the scale and complexity of the water resources issues at hand. Congress, in authorizing a portfolio planning authority, should consider whether reconnaissance study cost limitations should apply and whether the distinction between reconnaissance and feasibility study stages should be reconsidered and possibly eliminated.
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From page 82... ...
Current reconnaissance study and study cost share guidelines, however, may inhibit studies with these more comprehensive perspectives. A review of the applicability of reconnaissance study cost limitations, the distinction between the reconnaissance and feasibility study stages, and modification of study cost sharing requirements, should thus be undertaken, with subsequent adjustments made to advance portfolio planning (Recommendation 10)
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From page 83... ...
Congress should develop a process for inventorying and ranking the funding priority of authorized, but unfunded, Corps projects that constitute the current project backlog, which can both inform and benefit from portfolio planning (Recommendation 11)
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