Try and place a quick call to Senator Harkin and Grassley
Ask them to support the Global Warming and Prioritization Amendments to
the Water Resources and Development Act ( WRDA)
Vote YES on the Feingold-McCain-Coburn-Carper-Gregg- Sununu-DeMint
Prioritization Amendment to WRDA
Ensure That Corps Projects Address Climate Change
Vote Yes On the Kerry-Feingold-Collins-Sanders-Carper Amendment to S. 1248
The following reforms are included in the underlying WRDA bill:
--Independent peer review of costly or controversial Corps projects;
--Dramatic improvements to the Corps* mitigation process;
--Modernization of the Corps* woefully out of date planning
guidelines;
--Establishment of a new national policy that directs the Corps to
avoid impacts to floodplains; and
--An interagency assessment of the nation*s vulnerability to flood
and related storm damage and recommendations to improve the nation*s
various flood prevention programs.
THE AMMENDMENTS
Vote YES on the Feingold-McCain-Coburn-Carper-Gregg- Sununu-DeMint
Prioritization Amendment to WRDA
Ensure That Corps Projects Address Climate Change
Vote Yes On the Kerry-Feingold-Collins-Sanders-Carper Amendment to S. 1248
Vote YES on the Feingold-McCain-Coburn-Carper-Gregg- Sununu-DeMint
Prioritization Amendment to WRDA
The Problem: The Corps currently has $58 billion of authorized,
unconstructed projects on the books. WRDA 2007 is likely to add another
$31.5 billion to the mix. With roughly $2 billion a year in Corps’
construction funding, it would take over 40 years just to clear the
backlog.
As Hurricane Katrina made tragically clear, the water resource agenda in
our country is broken. Projects are not funded according to need, but
according to politics.
Taxpayers deserve a better system to ensure their investment is going to
the projects of the greatest need.
With the rising threat of global warming – and Corps projects serving on
the front lines of impending impacts – the need for prioritization is
all the more urgent.
The Amendment: The Feingold-McCain-Coburn-Carper-Gregg-Sununu-DeMint
amendment would establish a Water Resources Commission. This Commission
would be:
Comprised of 8 members appointed by the leadership of both parties of
the House and Senate and the President;
Charged with issuing a one-time only, non-binding report prioritizing
Corps projects based on a set of project specific criteria; and
Responsible for recommending a process for adding additional
authorizations and reconsidering priorities in the future.
The National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA): In its February
2007 report issued at the behest of Congress, Prioritizing America’s
Water Resources Investments, Budget Reform for Civil Works Construction
Projects at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, NAPA concluded that:
“The present project-by-project approach, with lagging project
completions, on-again-off-again construction schedules, and disappointed
cost-share sponsors that do not know what they can count on, is not the
best path to continued national prosperity.”
“The prioritization process is not transparent. At several points,
within both the executive and legislative branches, the decision process
is not sufficiently open or documented so that the public can readily
understand the reasons for funding or not funding projects.”
“Larger questions emerged that bear on the future sustainability of the
nation’s water resources...The answer to these questions should begin
with a fundamental reassessment of national water resources needs,
goals, and strategies. It should end with a substantially reshaped
planning and budgeting process…”
Protect our Future
Ensure That Corps Projects Address Climate Change
Vote Yes On the
Kerry-Feingold-Collins-Sanders-Carper Amendment to S. 1248
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the nation witnessed the tragic
consequences of an intense storm, an eroded wetlands system, and faulty
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) planning. With scientists
projecting that global climate change will produce more intense storms,
flooding and sea level rise, Corps planning must respond by accounting
for climate change and protecting natural systems that can buffer the
effects of that change.
The Kerry-Feingold-Collins-Sanders-Carper Amendment: The amendment would
require the Corps to use the best available climate science; account for
potential future impacts of climate change on storms and floods; and
account for the costs and benefits associated with the loss and
protection of wetlands, floodplains, and other natural systems that can
buffer the affects of climate change. The amendment also requires the
Corps to use, where appropriate, nonstructural approaches to project
planning to help protect such natural systems.
Global Climate Change Threatens Communities: Global climate change
threatens community health and safety. Scientists expect an increase in
extreme weather events, including more powerful storms, more frequent
floods, and extended droughts. Flooding from tropical storms and
hurricanes pose a risk to coastal communities while rapid snowmelt and
increased rainfall will increase flooding in other regions.
Healthy Streams, Floodplains, and Wetlands Can Buffer Climate Change
Impacts: Healthy rivers, streams, floodplains, and wetlands act as
natural sponges and basins. They absorb flood waters and act as barriers
between storm surges and homes, buildings, and people. Healthy wetlands
help minimize the impacts of drought by recharging groundwater supplies
and filtering pollutants from drinking water. These resources also
provide critical habitat for fish and wildlife, and exceptional
recreational opportunities.
Corps Planning Fails To Account For The Value Of Essential Natural
Systems: Corps planning does not account for the value of services
provided by healthy rivers, streams, wetlands, and floodplains. The
Corps also rarely recommends nonstructural approaches that could provide
the same or better project benefits while avoiding damages to these
vital resources.
The Status Quo Will Not Protect Our Future: The Corps’ traditional
approach to flooding problems is to straight jacket rivers with levees
and floodwalls. This severs critical connections between rivers and
their wetlands and floodplains, and leads to significant coastal and
floodplain wetland losses. These approaches have left coastal
communities, like New Orleans, far more vulnerable, and have exacerbated
flood damages by inducing development in high risk, flood prone areas
and by increasing downstream flooding.
--
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><((((º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><((((º>
Deborah Neustadt
Des Moines, IA
Sierra Club
Water Committee, Chair
Wildlife and Endangered Species Committee, Corresponding Member
Iowa Chapter, Executive Committee Member, Political Chair
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