Scandalized Army Corps suspends 150 water projects

River conservationists reacted cautiously to news today that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was suspending some 150 controversial water projects to reevaluate the purported economic benefits to the taxpayer. Less than a month ago, American Rivers released a major report documenting the agency's deeply ingrained habit for building and operating water projects that inflict substantial environmental damage on rivers and freshwater habitats -- and frequently prove to be bad investments for the taxpayer.

River conservationists reacted cautiously to news today that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was suspending some 150 controversial water projects to reevaluate the purported economic benefits to the taxpayer. Less than a month ago, American Rivers released a major report documenting the agency's deeply ingrained habit for building and operating water projects that inflict substantial environmental damage on rivers and freshwater habitats -- and frequently prove to be bad investments for the taxpayer.

"What you hear from us is the sound of one hand clapping," said American Rivers President Rebecca R. Wodder. "Acknowledging that you have a problem is the first step towards solving it, but we remain convinced that Congress will need to intervene to ensure that the Corps gets over its addiction for wasting your money."

As the federal agency charged with flood control and commercial navigation on inland waterways, the Corps of Engineers has constructed thousands of water projects, such as locks, dams, levees, and channelization structures that alter rivers' natural flows and are a leading cause of exitinction for freshwater wildlife. In addition, the agency dredges hundreds of miles of rivers and estuaries to maintain shipping lanes, destroying more valuable habitat.

Although environmental and taxpayer groups recognize that flood control and inland navigation can be legitimate activities, they charge that the Corps frequently proposes projects regardless of the actual necessity or environmental consequences. They assert that the Corps, largely funded on a project-by-project basis, submits project justifications to Congress that are frequently self-serving, claim economic benefit from environmental damage, and result in numerous projects that fail to produce the desired benefits.

Although the Corps announced that it will suspend approximately 150 projects that meet certain criteria, this is a small portion of the 1,400 under construction across the nation. The agency has a backlog of authorized projects awaiting funding that amounts to over $50 billion. In March, Senators Bob Smith (R-NH), Russell Feingold (D-WI), and John McCain (R-AZ) introduced a bill intended to tighten accountability for proposed and existing projects and impose more stringent requirements to protect the environment.

"This gesture does not change the fact that it is a fundamental conflict-of-interest to allow the Corps to determine for itself that its projects are a good investment and environmentally sound," Wodder said. "Under the criteria announced today, a number of terrible projects, including those that put the Big Sunflower and the White River on our 2002 endangered rivers list, can still go forward."

A Timeline for Scandal: the Corps in the Spotlight in 2002
The long-running controversy surrounding Corps of Engineers water projects has reached a crescendo in recent months. Here are a few highlights:

• The Corps announced on April 22, Earth Day, that it was suspending its proposal to spend $311 million to scour the bottom of the Delaware River to allow larger cargo vessels to pass. The General Accounting Office was about to announce that the project was a bad investment for taxpayers that would further damage the river's ecology.

• On April 4, two scientists at the University of Illinois released a study showing that the Corps' channelization and levee construction along the lower Missouri River in recent decades had actually increased flood risk for riverfront communities.

• On April 2, American Rivers released its 2002 America's Most Endangered Rivers report, documenting how Corps water projects had put dozens of rivers on its annual list since 1986 and urging Congressional action to prevent future waste and destruction.

• On March 6, President Bush fired Michael Parker, his civilian appointee at the Corps, for inviting Congress to pile porkbarrel projects onto a budget that the President intended to cut.

• On March 5, Senators Bob Smith (R-NH), Russel Feingold (D-WI), and John McCain (R-AZ) introduced a bill into that would require the Corps to seek independent peer review of its projects to confirm its economic and environmental analyses and impose more stringent standards for environmental protection.

• On March 3, an investigation by the Portland Oregonian determined that a Corps proposal to deepen the Columbia River would return less than 88 cents for each dollar spent and set back efforts to recover endangered salmon and steelhead. The Corps subsequently announced that it would suspend that project pending a reevaluation.

• On January 9th, the National Academy of Sciences released a study which determined that the Corps' efforts to maximize navigation on the Missouri River are sterilizing the river and compromising the region's economy, concluding that dam operation reform may be justified "on economic grounds alone."

For the 2002 America's Most Endangered Rivers report and its discussion of the Corps of Engineers: http://www.americanrivers.org/mostendangered2002/default.htm.

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Eric Eckl
Director of Media Affairs
American Rivers
1025 Vermont Avenue
Suite 720
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 347-7550 ext. 3023
Cell: (202) 486-7877
FAX: (202) 347-9240
E-mail: eeckl@amrivers.org
http://www.americanrivers.org