Overwhelming Vote for Water Resources Act Answers Bush Veto Threat

WASHINGTON, DC, September 24, 2007 (ENS) - Despite the looming threat of a presidential veto, the U.S. Senate today passed the Water Resources Development Act conference report by a vote of 81-12. The Senate passage follows House approval in August by a vote of 381-40. The bill authorizes flood control, navigation, and ecosystem restoration projects.

The law now goes to President George W. Bush for his signature, but the administration has signaled that the president will veto the bill when it gets to his desk. Still, there is thought to be strong bipartisan support for the Water Resources Development Act, WRDA, making a veto override possible.

The legislation authorizes nearly $7 billion for wetlands restoration and flood control projects to put Louisiana on the path to Category 5 storm protection, and authorizes dozens of other critical water projects nationwide.

Senator Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, says that to get the bill passed she worked closely with the ranking Republican on the committee, Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma.

Senator Barbara Boxer of California (Photo courtesy Senate EPW Committee)

"This is a truly bipartisan bill that meets our communities' and our nation's water infrastructure needs and it does it in a fiscally responsible way. Some of the communities this bill will protect have waited years for these projects - and many of them are vital to protecting lives and communities from floods and storms. This bill makes a substantial commitment to protecting our nation's wetlands, navigation routes, and recreation opportunities. It is crucial to our country's economy," Boxer said.

This bill reforms the way the Army Corps of Engineers does its work, by making sure future projects receive serious analysis and careful implementation.

Senator Inhofe said that today's overwhelming bi-partisan vote in the Senate, "sends a clear message to the president: don't veto this critically important infrastructure bill."

"The WRDA bill, which is actually WRDA 2002, 2004, 2006 and now 2007 all rolled into one, is long overdue," Senator Inhofe said. I commend the hard work of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to complete work on this important bill that authorizes and modifies numerous critical projects in the areas of navigation, flood damage reduction, hurricane and storm damage reduction and environmental restoration in a reasonable and responsible manner."

Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma (Photo courtesy Senate EPW Committee)

"As the most fiscally conservative member of the United States Senate, as ranked by the American Conservative Union, I have long argued that the two most important functions of the federal government are to provide for the national defense and to develop and improve public infrastructure," Inhofe said. "That means I am not shy about voting for increased authorization and spending on national defense needs or public infrastructure."

"Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 was one wake up call as to the tragic consequences of ignoring or shortchanging our nation's infrastructure needs. The bridge collapse in Minneapolis last month is another example of why we cannot take our aging infrastructure for granted," Inhofe said.

Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco, a Democrat, tonight urged President Bush to sign the Water Resources Development Act of 2007 into law.

"I am asking the President to rescind his veto threat and sign this bill into law. WRDA will authorize billions of dollars to strengthen Louisiana's levees and to protect our coast," said Governor Blanco. "We have waited years for WRDA, and we cannot wait any longer. If we are to be prepared for future storms, we must act now."

WRDA would authorize $3.6 billion in critical restoration and protection projects for Louisiana, including the Morganza To The Gulf Hurricane Protection Project and the closing of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet. Money would also be dedicated to restoring coastal marshland and strengthening levees along the state's rivers.

Ronnie Burkey and Micheal McClain wait for flood water to reside so they can return home. El Reno, Oklahoma, August 20, 2007. (Photo by Marvin Nauman courtesy FEMA)

"The issue here is not about the WRDA bill," Inhofe said, "it's about the authorization process. Authorization is the best tool we have for keeping discipline over the annual appropriations process. Without regularly enacted WRDA bills, the Appropriations Committee faces enormous pressure to use the annual spending bills to authorize and fund projects that haven't gone through a full Congressional review."

"We certainly did not include every project request we received. We reviewed each request and made a determination as to whether it merited authorization. This bill allows certain projects to get in line for funding; it does not actually fund any projects," said Inhofe. "Every day that goes by without enacting a WRDA bill is another day we allow unnecessary pressure to build on the appropriators to short-circuit the authorization-then-appropriations process."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said today that WRDA will help address the water needs of his fast-growing but arid state.

Newly constructed wetland on Las Vegas Wash. The WRDA authorizes improved wastewater treatment of discharges into the Wash. (Photo courtesy Southern Nevada Water Authority)

The bill authorizes more than $200 million in funding for Nevada projects that will improve and maintain flood control projects, and address critical water supply and quality needs, as well as restore ecosystems.

Some $50 million of that total is authorized to increase the existing Army Corps of Engineers program that provides technical assistance and project costs reimbursement for meeting rural Nevada's water quality needs

The WRDA legislation provides authorization for seven 1,200 foot locks on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers that WRDA is crucial to farmers who depend on the inland waterway system to deliver their crops to the global marketplace and to businesses who rely on the system to move their raw materials and products.

National Corn Growers Association President Ken McCauley said, "It's unfortunate the administration is threatening veto. Our infrastructure cannot keep pace with demands and is falling apart. We must upgrade the lock system on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers to compete in the global marketplace."

"Our hope is the president will take seriously his responsibility to ensure our nation has a safe and viable infrastructure by signing WRDA into law," said McCauley. "Ignoring that responsibility is a dangerous gamble."

Today President Bush has been at the United Nations participating in the secretary-general's high-level meeting on climate change, and the White House has given no indication as to whether he is reconsidering his veto threat.

The Water Resources Development Act will:

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers works to repair the levee on New Orleans' 17th Street Canal. (Photo by Marvin Nauman courtesy FEMA)

• Put Louisiana's coast on the path to recovery, by authorizing approximately $7 billion for projects to restore Louisiana's wetlands, including projects that are ready to begin by 2010, and by authorizing the Army Corps of Engineers to construct structural measures to restore 100-year-level protection for New Orleans and vicinity and move toward Category 5 protection.


• Enact the most sweeping reforms of the Army Corps of Engineers since the landmark 1986 Act imposed cost-sharing. The bill establishes requirements to conduct independent reviews of Army Corps projects and eases the process for de-authorizing unbuilt projects that are obsolete or no longer needed. The bill also increases Federal participation in watershed-based planning to take into account the interconnectedness of projects – addressing a major short-coming of the failure of the hurricane protection in New Orleans.


• Allow the Corps of Engineers to complete necessary modifications at the existing Folsom Dam to protect the 300,000 residents of Sacramento and the California Capitol.


• Create a National Levee Safety Program, and modernize locks and dams on the upper Mississippi River.


• Authorize the first of the major restoration projects for the Everglades, and provides the direction necessary to begin the redistribution of water to the Everglades - nearly 18 years after Congress directed it.

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2007. All rights reserved.