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The Water Resources Coalition was established in 2007 to promote the development, implementation and funding of a comprehensive national water resources policy. With member organizations representing state and local governments, conservation, engineering and construction, ports, waterways and transportation services, the Coalition works to ensure that a comprehensive, national water resources policy is developed, implemented and funded to provide a sustainable, productive economy; a healthy aquatic ecology; and public health and safety. For more information, visit the Water Resources Coalition Web site.
Have a safe and happy holiday season! |
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House Members Blame Corps of Engineers for Midwest Flooding
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was largely to blame for the severity of the flooding along the Missouri river earlier this year, House members told the House Water Resources and Environment subcommittee this week. But a senior Corps official said record high snowfall and rain in the 2010-2011 winter and spring overpowered the Missouri River flood-protection system.
The subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-OH), met to examine the Corps' response to large-scale floods in the upper Midwest and Plains states in the spring. "[This year] was an extraordinary year for flooding in the basin, as it is estimated that by the end of the year the basin will have received approximately 61 million acre feet of water, easily exceeding the previous record of 49 million acre feet, set in 1997," Gibbs said.
The Corps is drafting an operating plan for the Missouri River basin for 2012. "The flood of 2011 will serve as a source of many lessons learned as they work to determine a plan to operate the system in the coming year," Gibbs added.
Eight House members-seven Republicans and one Democrat-from Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, North Dakota, and South Dakota were sharply critical of the Corps' efforts to control flooding resulting from record-setting snowfall and rain in the winter and spring. They said the Corps mismanaged the program to ease flooding by failing to maintain an adequate water storage system and they urged the Corps to shift funding from other programs, including environmental and habitat restoration programs, to focus on rebuilding the Missouri River levee system.
The Corps spent $83 million in emergency funds to build temporary levees and fortify existing levees during the flooding, said Brig. Gen. John McMahon, commander of the Corps' Northwestern Division. He said that the Corps has moved another $282 million from other accounts to help rebuild the levees. But McMahon acknowledged that the Corps is well short of the estimated $1 billion needed to fully repair the existing levee system along the Missouri. In all, the floods caused more than $2 billion in damages to the river's flood-control systems.
McMahon also said the Corps had more than 16 million acre-feet of water storage, enough to retain flood waters every year since 1898. But record high snowpack and rain confounded expectations, he added. "We experienced a tremendously different set of data this year," McMahon said.
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), a WRC co-chair, submitted a statement for the record urging Congress to establish a nationwide levee safety program and create a floodplain management strategy based on risk. ASCE's statement is here.
The complete hearing is here.
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House Members Found Bi-Partisan PORTS Caucus
Congresswoman Janice Hahn (D-CA) and Congressman Ted Poe (R-TX) announced the formation of the bi-partisan House Ports Opportunity, Renewal, Trade, and Security (PORTS) Caucus. The caucus' mission will be to promote the importance of ports to the nation's economy and the need to secure them. United States ports support 13.3 million jobs and account for $3.15 trillion in business activity to the economy.
"As a long-time advocate for the Port of Los Angeles, I understand how vital the ports are for our nation's economy," explained Rep. Hahn. "This bi-partisan caucus will bring together Members who represent diverse ports across the country, so we will find ways together to promote our ports and keep them safe."
"Promoting and protecting our nation's ports is critical to both national security and economic security," said Rep. Poe. "Ports are the gateway in and out of the United States. They are our country's link to the rest of the world and the global economy. I look forward to working with Representative Hahn to building an effective congressional caucus that advocates on the behalf of ports nationwide."
The United States is served by more than 350 commercial sea and river ports that support 3,200 cargo and passenger handling facilities. Every day 15 seaports serve all 50 states moving both imports and exports totaling some $3.8 billion worth of goods. Additionally, ports move 99.4 percent of overseas cargo volume by weight and generate $3.95 trillion in international trade. Given the importance of ports to the national economy, the nation's ports need to remain competitive and secure.
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House Panel Studies Hydraulic Fracturing
A House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee held a hearing this week to explore the use of hydraulic fracturing to recover oil and natural gas from formations deep underground and to examine the methods in which states are regulating the practice.
The Water Resources and Environment subcommittee heard from the Environmental Protection Agency and state and local agency representatives on the use of fracturing, called "fracking," and state regulations over gas production and disposal of the wastes.
In a statement, Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-OH), chair of the subcommittee, explained the members' interest: "Natural gas production from shale formations has grown as a result of advances in drilling technologies and greater use of the technique of hydraulic fracturing," Gibbs said. "It has developed from a negligible amount just a few years ago to almost 15 percent of total U.S. natural gas production and is expected to triple in the coming decades. The newly extractable shale gas resources have changed the U.S. natural gas position from net importer to potentially a net exporter."
Rep. Timothy Bishop (D-NY), ranking Democrat on the subcommittee, said Congress should be concerned more about the management of fracking wastes than the actual drilling practices. "From my perspective, today's hearing should focus on the important questions of what to do with the chemicals and other fracking by-products once they cease to be of value for natural gas production and need to be disposed of," he said.
According to EPA, fluids composed of water and chemical additives are pumped into a geologic formation at high pressure during hydraulic fracturing. When the pressure exceeds the rock strength, the fluids open or enlarge fractures that can extend several hundred feet away from the well. After the fractures are created, a propping agent is pumped into the fractures to keep them from closing when the pumping pressure is released. After fracturing is completed, the internal pressure of the geologic formation cause the injected fracturing fluids to rise to the surface where it may be stored in tanks or pits prior to disposal or recycling.
Most drilling wastes are recycled, re-injected at the well sites under the Safe Drinking Water Act's underground injection control rules, or sent to publicly owned treatment works for disposal.
In October, EPA announced that it has begun a study of industry waste-management practices to determine whether there needs to be a uniform national standard for pollutant concentrations for wastes that are disposed of. Once all scientific studies are completed, the agency could begin a rulemaking as early as 2014.
"While this increase in [energy] resources is beneficial, it is important that it be conducted in a way that ensures protection of [underground] drinking-water supplies and water quality as well as adequate availability of waste disposal," said Jim Hanlon, director of the EPA's Office of Wastewater Management.
The complete hearing material is available at http://transportation.house.gov/hearings/hearingdetail.aspx?NewsID=1448
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ASCE Urges Senate to Pass Water Resources Funding Bill
In a letter to all 100 senators, ASCE, a WRC co-chair, urged the Senate to enact an appropriations bill for energy and water resources programs in Fiscal year 2012 that would provide $4.8 billion for all Corps Civil Works programs in FY 2012--$101 million more than the House. The bill's recommendation includes $1.6 billion in new budget authority for reconstruction, a reduction of $180 million from FY 2011.
"This is considerably less than the needs in the program, but is the best that can be accomplished in a falling fiscal environment. Operations and maintenance would receive $2.3 billion, a $6 million reduction from the previous year," said ASCE president Andrew Herrmann. "It is time for Congress to renew its investment in the nation's waterways to protect the public health and safety from catastrophic infrastructure failures."
The bill would provide $4.8 billion for all Corps Civil Works programs in FY 2012--$101 million more than the House. The bill's recommendation includes $1.6 billion in new budget authority for reconstruction, a reduction of $180 million from FY 2011. The U.S. inland waterway system consists of 12,000 miles of navigable waterways in four systems-the Mississippi River, the Ohio River Basin, the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway, and the Pacific Coast systems-that connect with most states in the United States.
In 2009, the ASCE Report Card for America's Infrastructure concluded that 47 percent of the 257 locks maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were classified as functionally obsolete, according to data available then. Assuming that no new locks are built within the next 20 years, by 2020, another 93 existing locks will be obsolete-rendering more than 8 out of every 10 locks now in service outdated.
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Bay Delta Plans to be Made Public
After criticism from California Members of Congress, state and federal water officials involved declared that they would make public draft documents for the controversial Bay Delta conservation plan.
The water plan would build a new set of aqueducts to carry water from the Sacramento River to improve the reliability of water supplies and reduce environmental impacts on the Bay Delta. Studies have been ongoing for five years but have et to be completed. In order to receive another $100 million from partnering water agencies , the groups demanded more control over the planning process during the summer. After that agreement Members of Congress also demanded that the process should be more transparent. The partnering agencies will now release planning documents to the public, so that local groups can also provide feedback.
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Matsui Requests Reassessment of Earmark Policy
Congressman Doris Matsui (D-CA) sent a letter to House leadership urging for a change to an earmark policy that prevents infrastructure projects from being authorized by Congress. Matsui's primary concern is that by excluding infrastructure projects, such as levee construction, that public safety is being jeopardized. The letter states that "in order to allow the construction of much needed flood protection projects, I ask that you engage in a bipartisan process to redefine earmarks to allow fully vetted projects to be authorized and funded".
To read the full letter please check Representative Matsui's website.
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EPA Completes Research Plan on Natural Gas 'Fracking'
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its final research plan this week on hydraulic fracturing in the development of the nation's natural gas reserves. At the request of Congress, EPA is working to better understand potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources.
In March 2010, EPA said it would conduct the study in response to a request from Congress. Since then, the agency has held a series of public meetings across the nation to receive input from states, industry, environmental and public health groups, and individual citizens. In addition, the study was reviewed by the Science Advisory Board (SAB), an independent panel of scientists, to ensure the agency conducted the research using a scientifically sound approach.
The initial research results and study findings will be released to the public in 2012. The final report will be delivered in 2014. To ensure that the study is complete and results are available to the public in a timely manner, EPA initiated some activities this summer that were supported by the SAB and provide a foundation for the full study.
The final study plan looks at the full cycle of water in hydraulic fracturing, from the acquisition of the water, through the mixing of chemicals and actual fracturing, to the post-fracturing stage, including the management of flowback and produced or used water as well as its ultimate treatment and disposal. Earlier this year, EPA announced its selection of locations for five retrospective and two prospective case studies.
More information: www.epa.gov/hydraulicfracturing
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Sincerely,
Brian Pallasch and Marco Giamberardino
Co-Chairs
Water Resources Coalition
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