A ..
Well, I tell you, frankly, I didn't have any overall thoughts about it. The
hydrology, the hydraulics people, had a job to do and we just did it. I don't think
I had any feeling, or knowledge, or concern about the authorization, or whether the
construction went one way or another. There was a given objective, and we met the
objective. I mean the objective may have been wrong, but that was set by Congress.
So all the district was doing was building, designing, and building the project to do
what was desired, and it did do what they wanted it to do, but it did it too well, I
guess.
Q ..
Well, that's the problem of an organization like the Corps when it responds to
political mandates.
A ..
Yes.
Q ..
Even though it has to establish a procedure to analyze and decide upon projects, the
political powers that be still are, can get stuff done, as you well know. The views
of the population and of the engineering community have changed over time on
what' good engineering, what's beneficial engineering.
A ..
The public gets into everything more now. I guess anybody that wants to do
anything now, if he's smart, he gets everybody, even though he's going to go ahead
and bypass them, he has to give everybody a chance to put in their two-cents worth.
Apparently, that does make people happy, I guess.
Q ..
At the public hearings?
A
Yes.
Q ..
Of course, you left before the big environmental movement hit the Corps with the
NEPA and all of the consequences of that.
A
Oh, yes, yes.
Q ..
You were out of the target area, so to speak.
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