Water Resources Development Act
I am pleased to work with state, county and local officials, universities, and not-for-profit organizations to request funding for water resources projects that preserve and enhance local infrastructure.
The Water Resources Development Act authorizes projects that are carried out by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. They include dam repairs, ecosystem restoration, water supply studies, and other related projects. The process is a lengthy one. All requests submitted to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee are proposed by the Army Corps of Engineers and vetted by the Committee's staff. Not all are included in the final bill.
Submission to the Committee is only the first step and in no way assures funding. Any authorized project must compete for funding in the Appropriations process. Below you will find a list (in no particular order) of the projects I have submitted to the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee for consideration in the bill:
• Stones River Watershed ($100,000): Funding will be used to conduct a reconnaissance study, investigating opportunities for environmental restoration and protection, flood damage reduction, greenways, watershed management and related purposes, in Rutherford and Cannon Counties. Dramatic population growth and land use changes have created a critical need for flood mitigation.
• Station Camp Creek ($100,000): Funding will be used to conduct a feasibility study, investigating the possibility of dredging a channel and conducting related work to improve environmental quality of Station Camp Creek embayment in Sumner County. Water quality conditions in the area are currently degraded due to the input and resuspension of sediment by wind, waves and currents.
• Middle Tennessee Water Supply Assessment ($2,000,000): Funding will be used to conduct a study of the water resources needs of Middle Tennessee, including Bedford, Cannon, Clay, DeKalb, Jackson, Macon, Marshall, Overton, Putnam, Robertson, Rutherford, Smith, Sumner, Trousdale and Wilson counties. The assessment would evaluate existing supply and demand, project future use and include recommendations for specific actions that can be taken by the State and local governments to assure an adequate supply of drinking water throughout the enumerated counties.
• Definition of Dam Safety Assurance projects (no new authorization): This request would reduce the amount of dam rehabilitation costs for work at Wolf Creek Dam and Center Hill Dam that would be passed on to ratepayers in the Tennessee Valley.
