Published: 2009
Total Pages: 0
Get eBook
Federal water resource construction waned during the last decades of the 20th century in response to fiscal constraints, interest in more local control of water and land resources, and requirements to assess environmental impacts of federal actions and to protect fish and wildlife. [...] Water resources debates in the 111th Congress likely will be dominated by different opinions of the desirability and need for changing the water resource agencies' policies, practices, and accountability, and for authorizing multi-billion dollar investments in ecosystem restoration, agricultural land drainage, navigation, and flood and storm damage reduction measures. [...] A broad water resource issue significant to the water resources agencies and the nation is the changing federal role in water resources planning, development, and management, and changes in institutional structures to address an evolving federal role. [...] The question of the federal role also is raised by the increasing competition over water supplies, not only in the West but also for urban centers in the Southeast (e.g., Atlanta), which has resulted in a growing number of communities seeking financial and other federal assistance related to water supply development (e.g., desalination and water reuse projects, reservoir expansions and changes in [...] The 111th Congress is faced with numerous water resource development and management issues: the federal role in the planning, construction, maintenance, inspection, and financing of water resource projects; federal investment in water resources research and data collection; management and operation of existing projects; environmental protection; and climate variability and change.