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Show HOW TO SAVE YOUR RIVER A Citizen's Guide to Water Projects Introduction. This is a brief guide about how citizens can organize to halt a destructive dam, canal, channelization or other water project proposed by a federal agency like the Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation, or the Soil Conservation Service. Reading this guide will give you some basic ideas but it is important to be in touch with those who have participated in a battle to stop a bad project. It is also important to examine some of the larger action guides and reports mentioned throughout this publication. How Projects Get Authorized, Funded & Built. Projects depend upon a relationship among (1) the local Congressman, (2) the federal agency (Corps, BuRec, SCS), and (3) some interest group or groups sponsoring the project. All three support one another's actions and together they pack the political clout to move a project from the survey stage to the point of authorization, then to construction funding. The success of your efforts to break up this triangular relationship and halt the project depends on two things: a) the political strength of the opposition you can develop and b) your knowledge of where, when and how to use the strength you have developed. I. SURVEY STAGE--agencies examine your area as a result of a Congressional resolution to look for a project to solve alleged problems like flooding or water supply. Such resolutions are introduced by the local Congressman or Senator. Each agency can provide you with a list of authorized surveys in your state. II. AUTHORIZATION STAGE-if a survey shows that a project plan is feasible, this plan is forwarded to the Congress for action. Army Corps projects go to the Public Works Committees and then to the floor for a vote generally as part of a gigantic omnibus rivers and harbors bill. Bureau of Reclamation projects go to the Interior Committees and then to the floor for a vote. Soil Conservation Service projects merely need Committee approval, not a floor vote and signature by the President. Large SCS projects go to the Public Works Committees, moderate sized ones go to the Agriculture Committees, and small ones simply need the approval of the Administrator of the SCS. III. APPROPRIATIONS STAGE--once a project is authorized it becomes eligible to receive annual construction appropriations from the Appropriations Committees. For Corps and Bureau of Reclamation projects the President prepares a budget request specifying the amount he wishes each individual project to receive. The Appropriations Committees, however, have the power to raise or lower this amount and to add money for projects not mentioned by the President. For SCS projects the President simply requests a lump sum to be allocated by the Administrator of the SCS among the various states. The Appropriations Committees can raise or lower this lump sum. |
