Improving the Grade on Water Resources Infrastructure

Although many of the practices and procedures that guide the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Civil Works Program are well established and proven, there are too many other practices within Congress, the executive branch, and the USACE that are archaic and counterproductive. These practices do a disservice to the taxpayer without enhancing the built environment or the natural environment. If there ever was any doubt about the risk posed to the public by inferior water resources infrastructure, and the importance of the program to our economic and environmental well-being, I believe that Hurricane Katrina dispelled it. I provide recommendations to improve our twenty-first century water resources infrastructure through the development of a national water policy, revision of the Principles and Guidelines, improvements to funding mechanisms, and better management of the Civil Works Program and the USACE. I also incorporate some of the infrastructure planning lessons from Hurricane Katrina.