WRDA Reintroduced

The $2.1 billion Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), which failed passage by the House of Representatives last year, was reintroduced in the Senate. In the House, counterpart legislation remains delayed by the continuing controversy over whether to build the Auburn Dam to protect Sacramento from flooding. The Senate passed its version of WRDA 98 last October, but negotiations over House consideration - mainly with dam proponent Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) - failed in the final hours of the session. WRDA bills are usually drafted every two years, and authorize specific projects to be built by the USACE. The bill, S.507 (WRDA 99) was introduced in the Senate by Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chariman John Chafee (R-R.I.), ranking member Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee Chairman George Voinovich (R-Ohio) and subcommittee member John Warner (R-Va.) As introduced, WRDA 99 retains its predecessor's "Challenge 21" program, which encourages the agency to pursue "'non-structural' flood control and riverine ecosystem restoration projects, taking a watershed-based approach to flood prevention," according to a bill summary. Such projects could include estuary and wetlands restoration, voluntary removal of structures in floodplains and improved flood warning systems. The bill would also authorize the initial design work for several lock extension and rehabilitation projects on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers.