Report: U.S. levees, dams destined to decay without new funding sources

America’s vast network of levees, dams, navigation structures and hydroelectric power facilities will continue to decay if the president and Congress don’t find new ways to pay for their maintenance and operation, and likewise fail to prioritize new projects that are already approved, according to a new study released today by the National Academy of Sciences’ National Research Council, The Times-Picayune reports. The report outlines six alternatives for lawmakers and the Obama administration to consider, several of which call for greater reliance on private funding to maintain the sprawling infrastructure maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers, including new fees on shippers and manufacturers. The report also calls on the corps to consider flood-control methods other than building new structures, such as removing or raising existing homes and businesses from flood-prone areas and adopting land-use and zoning regulations that would prevent new construction in such areas. The infrastructure overseen by the corps includes about 700 dams, 14,000 miles of levees in the federal levee system, and 12,000 miles of river navigation channels and control structures. That system was estimated to be worth $237 billion in the 1980s but is now worth only $164 billion, the report says. Read the full story here for more details, including the recommendations laid out in the report.