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![handle is hein.cbhear/fdsysafqd0001 and id is 1 raw text is: AUT-ENTICATED
US. GOVERNMENT
INFORMATION
GP
ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT
APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2008
U.S. SENATE,
SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS,
Washington, DC.
NONDEPARTMENTAL WITNESSES
[CLERK'S NOTE.-At the direction of the subcommittee chairman,
the following statements received by the subcommittee are made
part of the hearing record on the Fiscal Year 2008 Energy and
Water Development Appropriations Act.]
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE-CIVIL
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
CORPS OF ENGINEERS-CIVIL
PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE FIFTH LOUISIANA LEVEE DISTRICT
The Board of Commissioners for the Fifth Louisiana Levee District respectfully
requests that construction funding for Mississippi River Levees be increased from
the $28,767,000 contained in the proposed budget for fiscal year 2008, to the U.S.
Army Corp of Engineers' capability of $98,352,000, and the Mississippi River Levee
maintenance allocation be increased from the proposed $10,726,000 to $34,538,000.
Reduced funding, combined with the inability to let construction contracts under
a continuing contract clause, has left thousands in Louisiana vulnerable to the ad-
verse effects of a deficient levee system. Construction of levee enlargements is essen-
tial if the levee is to contain high river stages that are sure to come eventually.
The effect of fully funded contracts for levee construction, now required under
Public Law 109-103, (Sec. 106 and 108), adopted by the 109th Congress in 2005,
as opposed to the previous system of continuing contract clauses, has virtually halt-
ed enlargement of the Mississippi River Levee System in Louisiana. This comes at
a time when the State of Louisiana is still reeling from the effects of devastation
caused by serious lack of funding for levees in the past. Administration after admin-
istration has cut funding for levee systems and flood control, providing less and less
with each new Federal budget. The current proposed budget is no exception, with
only $260,000,000 allocated for the entire Mississippi River and Tributaries (MR&T)
project. We request that be increased to the Corp's capabilities of $500,000,000.
Less than $10 billion has been invested in the MR&T Project since its authoriza-
tion following the great flood of 1927, a fraction of the billions that have been spent
trying to restore the damage to lives and property created by levee failures following
Hurricane Katrina. Billions spent that have made almost no impact.
We urge Congress to increase funding to the Corps of Engineers in fiscal year
2008, to ensure that the Corps is not forced to halt of delay contracts for levee con-
struction essential to the well-being of this Nation. It is vital that the MR&T
project(s) be completed at the earliest possible date. This can only be accomplished
through adequate funding and repeal of the mandate for contracts to be fully funded
prior to the beginning construction. Prior to August 2005, the MR&T projects had
a performance-to-cost ratio of 24-to-1 on work completed. Hurricane Katrina
changed that ratio drastically. The economic justification for increased funds for
levee construction in Louisiana cannot be questioned or disputed.
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