Engineer Memoirs
Impediments to a Development Investment Program
Besides needing to resolve the requirement that a good national conservation
program must precede a new developmental program, there are several remnant
procedural problems which also must be solved before we could proceed rapidly with
a major investment program. Even if the green light came on tomorrow, we are not
ready. These procedural problems include cost sharing and our national policy and
review capability.
Cost Sharing: Most of the cost sharing decisions seem either to be behind
us or are now being considered by the Congress. After years of fighting, the
water resource operators have accepted, happily or otherwise, a waterways user
charge. That tough issue is no longer holding good navigation projects hostage.
This step alone should clear the way for much needed investments in the
Nation's water transportation system. Other cost sharing issues remain. Perhaps
the most complicated and delaying is Section 221, which is presently causing
35 states difficulty in agreeing to formal cost sharing with the Federal
Government on recreation and water supply. Until this is relieved, we will
continue to have many investment opportunities beyond our reach.
National
and Review Capability: The water resources program has
been delayed all too often because of the absence of a strong decision-making
process at the Executive level of Government. The Water Resource Congress
has known for years what to do and that is to establish a National Water
Resource Council under a strong, separately-appointed leader, comprised of
agencies with principal interest in water resource development and which has
the responsibility and authority to review policy matters and make decisions.
We must be careful to keep project review separated from policy review or the
Water Resources Council, as I envision it, would become bogged down in detailed
engineering matters at the expense of policy decisions. Leave the engineering to the
agencies that will ultimately be responsible for building the project.
Prioritizing Investments
If we can remove cost sharing constraints and policy delays, then we are well on
our way to starting up the water resource development machinery.
But there does remain one additional and critical matter...in many ways the most
difficult to handle. It has to do with the credibility not only of the program but of the
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