1 / 36

Speakers:

An Analysis of Water Resources Development Act of 2013:  The Good, the Bad and the Ugly April 18, 2013 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. EDT. Speakers:. Moderator: Claudia Emken , Mississippi River Network Mark Davis , Tulane Center for the Environment Olivia Dorothy , Izaak Walton League of America

truda
Download Presentation

Speakers:

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. An Analysis of Water Resources Development Act of 2013:  The Good, the Bad and the UglyApril 18, 20132:00 – 3:30 p.m. EDT

  2. Speakers: • Moderator: • Claudia Emken, Mississippi River Network • Mark Davis, Tulane Center for the Environment • Olivia Dorothy, Izaak Walton League of America • Eileen Fretz, American Rivers • Melissa Samet, National Wildlife Federation • David Conrad,  Water Protection Network

  3. Mark Davis Tulane Center for the Environment msdavis@tulane.edu

  4. Upper Mississippi River Restoration – Environmental Management Program (UMRR – EMP) Upper Mississippi River Initiative Olivia Dorothy, Coordinator

  5. The UMR has been intertwined with IWLA from the beginning. UMR Initiative maintains League’s leadership role and keeps faith with our past.

  6. 1. What is UMRR-EMP? 2. Geographic Expansion 3. Appropriations

  7. Upper Mississippi River restoration

  8. Upper Mississippi River Restoration – Environmental Management Program • Established to reverse the ecological impacts of locks and dams

  9. 100,000 acres restored • Over 50 habitat projects

  10. One-third of the funding goes Supports Long-Term Research and Monitoring

  11. Geographic Expansion

  12. Current UMRR - EMP • Tributaries significant source of sediment • Bluff are important habitat for riparian species like bald eagles

  13. WRDA Recommendations • Amend UMRR-EMP (Section 1135 of WRDA 1986) • Expand the authority to complete restoration projects to bluffs and tributaries

  14. Appropriations

  15. Appropriations Committee Recommendations • Fully fund successful UMRR-EMP • $33.18 million annually

  16. Olivia Dorothy Regional Conservation Coordinator Upper Mississippi River Initiative odorothy@iwla.org 217-390-3658

  17. Eileen Fretz American Rivers efretz@americanrivers.org

  18. WRDA 2013Levee Safety Program

  19. National Levee Safety Program • 2005: Hurricane Katrina • 2007: Congress creates the National Committee on Levee Safety in WRDA 2007 • 2009: Committee releases National Levee Safety Report

  20. National Levee Safety Program What We Recommended: National Flood Risk Management, NOT just Levee Safety Equal Funding For Nonstructural Approaches Address Residual Risk Modernize Emergency Levee Repairs

  21. National Levee Safety Program S. 601 creates a National Levee Safety Program • National Levee Database • Inventory and Inspection of levees • National Levee Safety Guidelines • Hazard classification system • Research and Development • Public Education- esp. residual risk areas • Coordination of levee, floodplain management and environmental protection • State and Tribal programs • Technical Assistance • Also • Levee Safety Advisory Board • Levee Rehabilitation Assistance Program

  22. National Levee Safety Program • Recommendation #1: Flood Risk, not Levees • Not adopted • Levee only focus originated in WRDA 2007 • Program focus is on already leveed areas • BUT • Broader flood risk included • Opportunities for improving

  23. National Levee Safety Program • Recommendation #2: Funding for Nonstructural • Adopted • Grants cover “flood mitigation activities that result in an overall reduction in flood risk”. • Rehabilitation includes repair, replacement, reconstruction, or removal of a levee • BUT • No guarantee to consider or use nonstructural alternatives

  24. National Levee Safety Program • Recommendation #3: Address Residual Risk • Somewhat adopted • National Public Education Program focuses on residual risk areas • State programs have to communicate residual risk • BUT • Should require short and long term residual risk reduction plans • Encourage Insurance

  25. National Levee Safety Program Opportunity! Coordinating Levee Safety and the Environment • Activity for NLSP • Board has a Standing Committee on Safety and Environment • Report with recommendations • language is vague, will need direction from environmental and river experts

  26. Emergency Levee Repairs • Recommendation #4: Emergency Response to Natural Disasters • Allows modifications to address deficiencies and report on spending over past 5 years. • BUT • Only applies to hurricane and shore, “design level” may lead to bigger levees • 5 years won’t show repetitive failures • Fails to eliminate bias against nonstructural

  27. Eileen Fretz American Rivers efretz@americanrivers.org

  28. Melissa Samet National Wildlife Federation sametm@nwf.org

  29. Section 2032 – Study Acceleration

  30. Section 2033 – Project Acceleration

  31. Could Not Have Stopped the Yazoo Pumps200,000 Acres of Wetlands and $220 Million Taxpayer Dollars

  32. Priority Reforms

  33. Melissa Samet National Wildlife Federation sametm@nwf.org

  34. David Conrad Water Protection Network conrad.david.r@gmail.com

  35. Questions? Please visit our websites for more info: www.waterprotectionnetwork.org www.1mississippi.org This webinar will be available at: http://1mississippi.org/event/wrda_webinar_4-18-13/

More Related