Municipal Water Leader April 2018

Volume 4 Issue 4

April 2018

Semonite Lieutenant General

of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

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Municipal Water Leader is published 10 times a year with combined issues for July/August and November/December by

STAFF: Kris Polly, Editor-in-Chief John Crotty, Senior Writer Tyler Young, Writer Julia Terbrock, Graphic Designer Capital Copyediting LLC, Copyeditor SUBMISSIONS: Municipal Water Leader welcomes manuscript, photography, and art submissions. However, the right to edit or deny publishing submissions is reserved. Submissions are returned only upon request. For more information, please contact John Crotty at (202) 698-0690 or John.Crotty@waterstrategies.com.

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STRENGTHENING THE FOUNDATION OF AMERICA'S WATER INFRASTRUCTURE: AN INTERVIEW WITH LIEUTENANT GENERAL TODD T. SEMONITE

Contents April 2018 Volume 4, Issue 4

5 The Army Corps Issue

By Kris Polly

12 Reimagining Fort Worth on the Trinity River: JD Granger of the Trinity River Vision Authority

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26 Getting to Yes on Flood Protection: A Case Study in Army Corps 408 Permitting 32 Army Corps 101 for Nonfederal Project Proponents: A Conversation with Steve Stockton

Copyright Š 2018 Water Strategies LLC. Municipal Water Leader relies on the excellent contributions of a variety of natural resources professionals who provide content for the magazine. However, the views and opinions expressed by these contributors are solely those of the original contributor and do not necessarily represent or reflect the policies or positions of Municipal Water Leader magazine, its editors, or Water Strategies LLC. The acceptance and use of advertisements in Municipal Water Leader do not constitute a representation or warranty by Water Strategies LLC or Municipal Water Leader magazine regarding the products, services, claims, or companies advertised.

MuniWaterLeader

COVER PHOTO: Lieutenant General Todd T. Semonite of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS.

6 Strengthening the Foundation of America's Water Infrastructure: An Interview with Lieutenant General Todd T. Semonite

18 Expedited Permitting to Save the Louisiana Coast: A Case Study

By Bob Szabo

CIRCULATION: Municipal Water Leader is distributed to irrigation district managers and boards of directors in the 17 western states, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation officials, members of Congress and committee staff, and advertising sponsors.

Please send address corrections or additions to Municipal.Water.Leader@waterstrategies.com.

The Trinity River Vision Authority's project in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Army Corps Issue

By Kris Polly

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE TRINITY RIVER VISION AUTHORITY.

T

he work of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is woven into the web of American waterways and water bodies. From harbors and levees, to flood control dams and check structures, to ecosystem restoration projects and reservoir operations, the Army Corps has a nexus with water projects across the country. Given the breadth of the Army Corps’ reach and its instrumental role in permitting water infrastructure projects, this issue of Municipal Water Leader is dedicated both to the work of the Army Corps and its nonfederal project sponsors—the water agencies and flood control districts that work hand in hand with the agency to maintain and develop the nation’s waterways and reservoirs.

Our cover interview is with Lieutenant General Todd Semonite, the chief of engineers and commanding general of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Lt. Gen. Semonite is a tireless and enthusiastic advocate for the Army Corps, frequently visiting the projects and people that drive our nation’s waterways. In our interview, he sheds light on the critical role the Army Corps has played in helping Americans recover from the natural disasters of the past year. In addition, he discusses the role of the Army Corps in the development of the nation’s water infrastructure. He states, “With the current administration’s infrastructure proposals, state and local agencies may be

MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER

able to take advantage of the push to modernize the nation’s infrastructure and get some of these projects done.”

We also highlight innovative projects and permit streamlining efforts from Army Corps project partners and proponents. J.D. Granger of the Trinity River Vision Authority discusses how water and flood control infrastructure will help to transform a section of the city of Fort Worth, Texas, and galvanize its communities for decades to come. Van Ness Feldman’s Bob Szabo shares the story of his firm’s innovative approach to permit streamlining to save the Louisiana’s coastline from erosion and help build resiliency against large storms and hurricanes.

Finally, we hear from Water Strategies’ Steve Stockton, former Army Corps director of civil works, who shares some hard-earned wisdom about how to partner with the Army Corps and work through its permitting processes.

Mr. Stockton’s message is as true in the public sector as it is in the private sector. “Establish trusting relationships with the people you will be working with. Communicate early and often.” Those personal relationships serve as the foundation for sound water resources infrastructure development. M Kris Polly is editor-in-chief of Municipal Water Leader magazine and president of Water Strategies LLC, a government relations firm he began in February 2009 for the purpose of representing and guiding water, power, and agricultural entities in their dealings with Congress, the Bureau of Reclamation, and other federal government agencies. He may be contacted at Kris.Polly@waterstrategies.com.

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Lieutenant General Semonite surveying damage from Hurricane Harvey.

Strengthening the Foundation of America's Water Infrastructure

An Interview with Lieutenant General Todd T. Semonite

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served as its first director, reforming the way the Army acquires, develops, employs, and retains a talented workforce. He was also the commanding general for Combined Security Transition Command–Afghanistan, responsible for the building of the Afghan army and police through management of a $13 billion budget to support a force of 352,000 individuals. Prior to that command, Lt. Gen. Semonite served as the deputy chief of engineers and the deputy commanding general of the Army Corps. He has also served as commanding general, South Atlantic Division.

Municipal Water Leader’s editor-in-chief, Kris Polly, spoke with Lt. Gen. Semonite about the role of the Army Corps in securing water supplies for municipalities, addressing aging water infrastructure, and working with municipal water agencies and flood control districts.

Kris Polly: What are the Army Corps’ top priorities for 2018?

Lt. Gen. Semonite: The top priorities for the Army Corps are to support national security, deliver integrated water resources solutions, reduce disaster risk, and prepare for tomorrow. Congress has passed a massive, bipartisan budget bill that includes provisions to make the nation safer, stronger, and more secure in the face of worsening MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS.

For the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the past year has posed a series of challenges for the management of American waterways and water resources. A series of natural disasters—from Florida to Puerto Rico to Texas—destroyed lives and property and stressed our increasingly aging water infrastructure. The Army Corps has been essential to recovery efforts and to providing a vision for rebuilding critical infrastructure, securing essential water supplies, and mitigating future flood events. All the while, the Army Corps continues to facilitate innovative water resources development to the benefit of municipal water districts. Those efforts are led by Lieutenant General Todd T. Semonite.

Lt. Gen. Semonite became chief of engineers and commanding general of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in May 2016. As chief of engineers, he advises the secretary of the Army on general, combat, and geospatial engineering; construction; real property; public infrastructure; and natural resources science and management. As the Army Corps’ commanding general, he is responsible for more than 32,000 civilian employees and 700 military personnel who provide project management, construction support, and science and engineering expertise in more than 110 countries.

Lt. Gen. Semonite has had a distinguished career. He established the Army Talent Management Task Force and

catastrophic weather-related disasters. The $17.4 billion Long-Term Disaster Recovery Investment Plan Supplemental is key to helping communities and regions recovering from federally declared disasters, and we are honored to be doing much of the recovery activities. We are actively working on internal policy and administrative changes that will improve infrastructure delivery. It’s all about delivery! We earn our credibility, our reputation, and our value by delivering desired results on time and on budget for our stakeholders. As such, we are taking a fresh look at our authorities, policies, regulations, and procedures in order to identify opportunities for increased efficiency and effectiveness. This will include efforts to reduce redundancy and delegate authority for decisionmaking to the lowest appropriate level in order to accelerate project and program delivery.

I also want to point out that we are working in more than 110 countries to support our combatant commanders with civil works, military missions, and water resources research and development expertise, which all contribute greatly to our nation’s security and prosperity. We are proud to serve this great nation and our fellow citizens, and we are proud of the work the Army Corps does to support America’s domestic and foreign policies.

Kris Polly: What are your goals as commanding general and chief of engineers?

Lt. Gen. Semonite: In my first year as the commanding general of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, I spent a good deal of energy and effort strengthening the foundation of our organization. As with any structure, our foundation is our strength—the bedrock on which our present rests and our future is built. For the Army Corps, this means having the discipline to do routine things to a high standard routinely. It means demonstrating that we are reliable and worthy partners. It means we earn our stakeholders’ trust in all we do, from top to bottom, big to small, tactical to strategic. It means having teams and processes that ask and answer the right questions, like, “Do we have the capabilities, capacity, and authorities before we launch?” And, it means empowering leaders to think strategically because they are confident in the competence and integrity of everyone within our ranks.

Now in year 2, I am setting conditions for the Corps to be a nimble, reliable federal option for decades to come; a world-class engineering organization that citizens are proud of and that maintains the public’s trust consistently; and an enterprise that can deliver on our vision, which is engineering solutions for the nation’s toughest challenges.

I’m doing this by leading revolutionary change within the Corps. We are identifying and aggressively pursuing a range of new initiatives that will equip our organization with the policy, tools, training, and resources needed to deliver significant projects and programs for our nation that support national security; to deliver integrated water MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER

resource solutions, to reduce disaster risk, and to prepare for tomorrow. We are also improving how we engage with our external stakeholders. We are much more visible, present, and approachable.

As to my role as the chief of engineers, my goal is to empower the more than 90,000 engineer soldiers who proudly serve our nation with the training, equipment, and technologies they need to fulfill their missions, which include combat engineering; general construction engineering; geospatial engineering; and the specialty engineer capabilities of prime power (electricity generation and distribution), firefighting, engineer diving, and search and rescue. All these services are to support our nation’s priorities.

Kris Polly: What are some the biggest challenges you have faced since assuming the position in 2016?

Lt. Gen. Semonite: Like any large organization that intends to be world class now and long into the future, we have a strategic plan. One of the biggest challenges we, like similar large-scale organizations, face is evaluating progress and translating that strategy into tangible results. To move our strategy from great ideas to desired results, we are doubling down in five areas: time, cost, quality, transparency, and accountability.

Another challenge we, like similar large-scale organizations, face is reputational risk. Blogs, tweets, text messages, online petitions, podcasts, and digital videos are all extremely important means of communication for citizens.

Although most who use these means of communication are truthful, some spread information that is demonstrably false.

We have redoubled our efforts to correct the record when it needs correcting by providing accurate, verifiable data and context. We are also making sure our personnel are visible and engaged with the public we serve.

Kris Polly: What are some big picture steps the Army Corps is taking to reduce the nation’s flood risks and increase resilience to natural disasters?

Lt. Gen. Semonite: There were more significant and costly disasters in close succession in 2017 than we’ve seen in the history of the United States, with nearly a third of a trillion dollars in damages, according to our partners at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Approximately 4,000 Army Corps professionals have worked tirelessly to help those affected by the numerous hurricanes, fires, floods, and mudslides that we have responded to since August 2017. Nearly $5.3 billion in FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] mission assignment funds were provided to us for response and recovery operations for Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria; Northern and Southern California wildfires and flooding; central United States flooding; and Northwestern flooding. I am deeply honored to be leading such a dedicated team of professionals committed to making a

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positive difference in the lives of the most vulnerable. We are using our response to the recent series of disasters to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of our actions to identify important lessons learned for future responses.

Take the central United States flooding: On March 28, 2018, the Corps Water Management team began conducting a Lower Ohio/Mississippi River flood control operation and managed releases from the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kentucky Lake and our Louisville District’s Lake Barkley to mitigate downstream flood impacts and specifically reduce the crest at Cairo, Illinois. Throughout the event, Corps personnel and levee sponsors conducted area levee patrols to identify and monitor sand boils, seepage, levee slides, and erosion on the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers. The Corps also opened the Bonnet Carre Spillway in March 2018 to divert high river flows away from New Orleans.

I would be remiss if I didn’t describe the impact of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. FEMA assigned nearly $4 billion in missions to the Corps for Hurricanes Irma and Maria response and recovery efforts (47 mission assignments totaling $181 million for Hurricane Irma and 46 mission assignments totaling $3.8 billion for Hurricane Maria). Temporary emergency power, temporary roofing, debris management, dam and levee safety, assessments, response, and power restoration are all missions that were assigned to us.

Perhaps of most interest to your readers is our actions with Guajataca Dam, owned and operated by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority. Hurricane Maria caused a significant rise in the water level of the dam, which resulted in overflow of the spillway. The spillway structure was compromised, and the surrounding area began to erode, posing immediate risk to 70,000 residents. Corps teams placed over 500 Jersey barriers and over 1,300 super sand bags to cease any further erosion and allow for long-term repair of the spillway. Under a FEMA mission assignment, the Army Corps is in the process of contracting six additional interim risk reduction measures, including grouting spillway slabs and stabilizing intake slopes to reduce risk during Puerto Rico’s wet season, with a completion date of July 2019.

Remember, disaster preparedness and response, as well as flood risk management, is a shared responsibility among individual residents and citizens, municipal or county and state entities, and the highest levels of federal government.

We are using our response to the recent series of disasters to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of our actions to glean important lessons learned for future response.

The Army Corps conducts emergency activities under the Stafford Disaster and Emergency Assistance Act and Public Law 84-99. As part of the National Response and Recovery Framework, we provide Emergency Support Function #3 (Public Works and Engineering) in support of FEMA. In every planning, design, construction, operations and

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maintenance, and research and development activity we undertake, we use risk-informed analyses. Sustainability and resilience are embedded in our organization’s four overarching goals. Our goals are (1) support national security, (2) deliver integrated water resource solutions, (3) reduce disaster risk, and (4) prepare for tomorrow. We collaborate with many diverse stakeholders who, more likely than not, have competing interests, and we consider economic benefits; ecosystem quality and health; and most importantly, public safety for all our civil works projects and programs.

No single agency has all the answers, but leveraging multiple programs and perspectives can provide a cohesive solution. That’s one of the reasons we have programs like Silver Jackets. Silver Jackets teams are composed of interdisciplinary professionals representing local, state, federal, and tribal agencies with mission areas in hazard mitigation, emergency management, floodplain management, natural resources management, and conservation. Federal participation typically includes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, FEMA, the National Weather Service, and the U.S. Geological Survey.

I am passionate about our leadership role in the risk reduction, disaster response, and recovery space, and that passion is reflected in our relationships with sister agencies, academia, and nonprofit organizations, as well as our participation in multidisciplinary working groups, such as FEMA’s Mitigation Framework Leadership Group and our organization’s Flood Risk Management Program, housed within our Institute for Water Resources (IWR). IWR has been a leader in the development of strategies and tools for planning and executing the Army Corps’ water resources planning and water management programs.

Kris Polly: Please describe some of the Army Corps’ programs and efforts that focus on renewing the nation’s aging water supply and flood control infrastructure. Are there any key challenges and successes you would like to highlight?

Lt. Gen. Semonite: Much of our nation’s infrastructure remains well beyond its design life, yet the requirements have never been greater. Today, we have over $96 billion in construction requirements, representing the federal share on a multitude of projects, and our fiscal year 2018 appropriation is $6.8 billion. We have close to 100 ongoing feasibility studies that, if authorized, will simply add to the federal budget requirement. At current funding levels, it will take us more than 100 years to address the backlog of authorized projects, and this is simply unacceptable.

To most effectively deliver the nation’s infrastructure needs, the Army Corps must be more innovative and consider new ways to finance and incentivize investments in water resources infrastructure. With our partners and stakeholders, we must remove barriers to the development and improvement of our critical public infrastructure.

The Corps has been working with the administration MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER

"To most effectively deliver the nation’s infrastructure needs, the Army Corps must be more innovative and consider new ways to finance and incentivize investments in water resources infrastructure."

—LT. GEN. SEMONITE

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS.

Damage from Hurricane Harvey.

on this issue and was instrumental in developing legislative proposals that are part of President Trump’s infrastructure package. The Army Corps’ Civil Works program is embracing the opportunity provided through the administration’s American Infrastructure Initiative not only to improve our infrastructure but also to modernize the agency to better meet the future needs of the nation.

The infrastructure proposal includes an incentives (grants) program with the goal of encouraging increased state, local, and private investment in infrastructure. A grants program could transform and modernize the way water resources infrastructure is designed, built, and maintained by incentivizing nonfederal entities to assume control and responsibility for project delivery.

We are revolutionizing our internal policy and administrative processes to improve infrastructure delivery.

In spite of constraints, we continue to innovatively operate and maintain aged navigation, flood risk reduction, and hydropower infrastructure because the nation needs us to, but I am advocating for even more investment.

Navigation remains a key business line for us and for the nation. The Corps manages more than 12,000 miles of inland and intracoastal waterways. Nearly 550 million tons of cargo or 16 percent of domestic freight moves on inland MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER

waterways, so the scope is tremendous.

On the inland waterways, our largest project continues to be the Olmsted Locks and Dam on the Ohio River near its junction with the Mississippi. The project replaces 1920s-era locks and dams 53 and 52 and will greatly reduce tow and barge delays through the busiest stretch of river in America's inland waterways. This critical national project will be completed in August 2018.

The deepening of the Panama Canal has created new opportunities and work at coastal ports as we continue to deepen harbors to accommodate the new larger ships.

Harbor deepening projects continue at Charleston and Savannah, and we are engaged in ongoing studies for deepening projects in other U.S. coastal locations.

Kris Polly: What has been the Army Corps’ traditional role in water supply storage, and what should it be in the future?

Lt. Gen. Semonite: The Army Corps has a long history of water resources management, including water supply storage. The Corps has more than 400 lake and river projects located in 43 states. Approximately 36 percent of stored surface water is behind a Corps dam; however, the primary responsibility for providing safe and reliable

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water supply falls on state and local governments; this responsibility includes the financial responsibility for developing water supplies. The Corps’ Water Supply program is intended to work in partnership with nonfederal water entities and in accordance with law and policy to manage Corps reservoirs and provide municipal and industrial water supply storage in a cost-efficient and environmentally and socially responsible manner.

Currently, there are 136 reservoirs with 9.8 million acre-feet of authorized municipal and industrial water supply storage in 25 states. This storage can yield 6.9 billion gallons per day—an amount that is sufficient for the daily household needs of more than 100 million people.

Through our municipal and industrial water supply mission, we help supply water to homes, businesses, factories, and many other types of users. We also work closely with states and local communities to lessen the effect of droughts, particularly in areas where shortages are common, such as in the Southwest and parts of the Southeast.

Approximately 80 percent of the water consumed in the United States is used to irrigate crops, feed livestock, and support other agricultural uses. Irrigation storage in Corps reservoirs is used to irrigate approximately 2.4 million acres of land. This important storage is managed by the Bureau of Reclamation and provides irrigation water to western farmers who produce 60 percent of the nation’s vegetables and 25 percent of its fruits and nuts.

Water supply storage in a Corps reservoir aids communities by providing safe, reliable sources of storage that benefit families and the nation’s businesses and contribute to the effective functioning of the economy.

We also provide advice and technical assistance to state and local governments, helping communities and businesses use water resources more efficiently and cost effectively.

As to our water supply role in the future, we operate within the project purposes and laws enacted by Congress.

We will also continue to seek ways to operate within the existing authorities and in partnership with our many stakeholders to find opportunities to provide water supply storage in conjunction with the planning and operation of multipurpose reservoir projects to meet today’s needs and those in the future.

Kris Polly: How is the Army Corps facilitating water supply storage opportunities for state and local entities?

Lt. Gen. Semonite: Typically, the Corps facilitates these opportunities by evaluating requests for reallocations of storage and implementing those reallocations if appropriate.

The Corps also provides advice and support to state and local agencies, businesses, farmers, and ranchers to help them develop more-effective methods for managing water resources, thereby reducing demands on existing water supply storage.

Kris Polly: What should every local and state water or flood

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control agency know about working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on water supply and flood control projects?

Lt. Gen. Semonite: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is undergoing a period of revolution; not just reform, process improvement, or innovation, but revolution. For over 243 years, the Army Corps has adapted to meet the challenges of the day; today is no exception. We must revolutionize to remain relevant and ready for the challenges of tomorrow. The bottom line is that the great team of soldiers and civilians of the Corps come to work every day with the safety and security of the nation and their fellow citizens in their hearts and minds, but I am working hard to maximizing our value proposition for our stakeholders. In essence, we are not just strengthening our foundation, which is composed of our culture, people, processes, policies, resources, and relationships; we are radically upgrading our foundation. The byproduct of this new foundation is our ability to deliver our projects and programs like we have never done before. We look forward to working with our many current and future stakeholders to address existing water infrastructure challenges and to work toward tomorrow’s solutions.

We see on the horizon the opportunity for likely unprecedented growth due to multiple emergency supplemental appropriations from Congress for disaster recovery activities; President Trump’s American Infrastructure Initiative, which includes $200 billion in federal funds and the elimination of regulatory barriers; and increased funding for U.S. Department of Homeland Security infrastructure and U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs medical facilities. We are identifying and aggressively pursuing initiatives that are equipping our professionals with the policies, training, resources, and tools that are empowering them to deliver for our stakeholders.

We truly want to be partners when working together, and we value the importance of two-way communications in making projects and programs better and more efficient for our stakeholders, including our water supply and flood control partners. It's important, though, to also understand that infrastructure needs around the nation far exceed the currently available federal funds to address all those needs. Like other federal agencies, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must prioritize where to apply its resources.

Projects that move forward are those that provide the greatest economic, environmental, and lifesaving return on federal investment. There are many good authorized and proposed projects around the nation that the Corps has not been able to support because those projects don’t rise to the level of execution based on their expected return on federal investment. With the current administration’s infrastructure proposals, state and local agencies may be able to take advantage of the push to modernize the nation’s infrastructure and get some of these projects done. M MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER

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PHOTO COURTESY OF THE TRINITY RIVER VISION AUTHORITY.

MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER

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FORT WORTH MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER

on the TRINITY RIVER

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Trinity River Vision Authority's Panther Island Project expects to add 12 miles of waterfront to the central business district in Fort Worth, Texas.

John Crotty: What are the major flood control components of the Trinity River Vision?

J.D. Granger: The Trinity River Vision plan is a plan to address our outdated levees. Our levee system was built for a population of 350,000 in 1960. However, the population has outgrown the system. Now we have a population of

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around 900,000 people, and the levees cannot adequately protect our population.

When we started to plan this project, we took a global look at this problem. We first explored making our levees bigger. Then, we looked at figuring out a way to create a system that will foster an economic development opportunity to help pay for it. Deciding to only make our levees bigger would have made us safer in the short term, but it would have been a temporary patch because we only have so much capacity to begin with.

Instead, we decided to pursue a long-term plan.

We decided to make ourselves safer and create growth opportunities for our city. To do so, we are rerouting our river to provide safety for about 2,400 acres of existing neighborhoods.

In addition to providing safety, this action will also create viable growth opportunities to pay for our project.

It will create opportunities for a bigger tax base that will help us pay off our local share of the project. In a sense, it is a self-funding mechanism. Without this approach, it would have been really hard to put funding together for this project. Additionally, it will create a new identity for our city. The new central business district will be laced with river walks and have a beautiful lake.

MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE TRINITY RIVER VISION AUTHORITY AND J.D. GRANGER.

The Trinity River has been an invaluable asset to Fort Worth, Texas, since its founding in 1849. As the city expanded, efforts were made to construct levees and safety features along the river to provide protection during high-water events.

Recently, however, Fort Worth has outgrown the existing levee system’s area of protection.

Recognizing the problem, the project partners, the citizens of Fort Worth, and businesses began pursuing a project to ensure the safety of their community while establishing a new mixed-use and entertainment district. The Trinity River Vision Authority (TRVA) organized in 2006 as a group of stakeholders from local governments and regional water authorities to bring that project to fruition.

Municipal Water Leader’s senior writer, John Crotty, spoke with TRVA Executive Director J.D. Granger about the efforts to ensure public safety and provide Fort Worth with a refreshed business district.

TRVA Executive Director J.D. Granger.

John Crotty: What role is the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers playing in the development of the project’s flood control infrastructure?

J.D. Granger: Our river touches every single neighborhood like the spokes of a wheel. The community wanted access to the river and for it to be an integral part of our community, much like in San Antonio. The Army Corps greatly respected the community’s wish.

From there, we decided to do two things. One was to figure out a solution for a flood event. The other was to do it in a way that provides new opportunity for our community.

I can’t stress enough how important it is to understand your partner’s mission statement. The Army Corps is not in the business of providing economic development.

So, we devised a plan that delivers everything the Army Corps requires, such as safety, as well as growth for Fort Worth, knowing that we would pay for any work that was additional to the safety component. The Army Corps understood our request and encouraged us to work with it to provide a stronger system.

John Crotty: How does the TRVA interface with the Army Corps on the project?

MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER

J.D. Granger: The Army Corps has designed and constructed all the current system components and is designing and constructing all the new components as well.

For this project, TRVA has had to work with local partners to secure the property that the Army Corps can use for the flood control system. This includes relocating any businesses that may be affected, moving utilities out of the way, and acquiring property. Once this is complete, the Army Corps will construct the system. Essentially, the Army Corps is doing all the bricks and mortar, and we are doing all the upfront preparation work.

All projects are not going to be done by one agency alone. You are always going to have to partner at the state, local, and federal level. To alleviate some of the interfacing problems, we maintain the schedule and cost estimating for all our partners.

Additionally, we handle the interaction between the Army Corps and any other local agency. I think that is very critical. The Army Corps speaks a very specific language, and it is easy to understand if you take the time to learn it.

The Army Corps can only communicate in a very specific way, so it is hard for it to interface separately with all those other entities.

TRVA volunteered to put our entire local program into the Army Corps’ language. We brought in three schedulers, and once we learned to talk the Army Corps’ language, things started to work better. If you can stay within the Corps’ constraints, you can do a lot; but, if you ask the Corps to do something it cannot do, you have to respect its limitations.

John Crotty: What is the nexus between the flood control aspects of the Trinity River Vision and the economic and recreational development of Panther Island?

J.D. Granger: There are three main things the Army Corps is doing on the project: rerouting the Trinity River in Fort Worth, installing a series of floodgates, and increasing storage. All three are major flood control additions.

Rerouting the river takes a kink out of our system that typically backs up water due to its sharp angle. The floodgates protect a low-lying area in our city. And the storage provides more opportunity to effectively manage water in a high-water event.

On the economic development side of things, the river reroute provides an opportunity to have a riverfront business district. Once this project is complete, we will have put in 11 miles of river walks throughout the city. The floodgates allow us to have more of a business district in the low-lying areas. The storage creates perfect environments for parks all around the city.

John Crotty: Please describe the current conditions of the area to be developed. What will a fully realized vision of that area mean for the city?

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Ongoing work on Panther Island bridges.

Reworking Gateway Park (lower right) will provide flood control benefits and new recreational opportunities.

John Crotty: In your experience, what is the one critical step that others should take to make a project like this come to fruition?

J.D. Granger: Respect your partners’ primary mission and understand the limitation of each partner.

The next thing is tough to accept, but you have to enjoy

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the base hit. I see many cities with an aggressive approach to projects. They swing for the fences at the beginning, before they work out the mechanics of the project. It is important to understand and accept that there are some challenges. You do not have to solve all of them at one time.

The third thing is to respect your partner. Do not fight in public. When you fight in public, you strip away any opportunity for creativity. Great and smart people can be creative when others are not scrutinizing them.

Don’t be a person that identifies problems, be the person who identifies problems and offers solutions. If you can do that, the public will support and respect you. Such an approach will foster the public’s understanding of costs that may exceed initial expectations. M MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE TRINITY RIVER VISION AUTHORITY.

J.D. Granger: Right now, the area we want to develop is a low-lying industrial area with significant environmental issues. From it, we are going to create an energetic, high-density, mixed-use district that will allow our residents and visitors to fully embrace an outdoor lifestyle in Fort Worth.

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Expedited Permitting to Save the Louisiana Coast: A Case Study

L

By Bob Szabo

ouisiana’s vast coastal wetlands are unique in our nation and have been a great resource for the state’s residents and its diverse coastal wildlife. In recent times, however, it has become apparent that they are prized for something more important—safety. Coastal wetlands reduce the negative effects of storm surges that hit where people live, like New Orleans. Scientists estimate that a storm surge loses 1 foot of height for every mile of wetlands it crosses. We saw the effect of lost wetlands when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005 with a much higher storm surge than would have occurred if Louisiana had not seen a substantial decline of its coastal wetlands in the last century.

Today, Louisiana is losing coastal wetlands at the average rate of a football field every 90 minutes. As a response to the damage wrought by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the state created the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) in 2006. CPRA is responsible for the state’s effort to slow the rate of coastal wetlands loss and to reclaim as much of the lost coastal wetlands as possible— both to renew the unique habitat of the Louisiana coast and to protect inland areas like New Orleans. The work of CPRA is critical to the state of Louisiana and is supported broadly throughout the state’s populace and by both political parties. CPRA has developed a Coastal Master Plan of over 100 projects to be undertaken over the next 50 years at an estimated cost of $50 billion. The master plan is updated every 5 years. The latest update was approved by the Louisiana Legislature in 2017.

Louisiana is about to undertake its first major coastal wetlands restoration project, called the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion Project. The project will cost approximately $1.3 billion and will be paid for entirely by funds available to the state of Louisiana. CPRA engaged Van Ness Feldman in 2017 through our colleague, former Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA), to help in the effort to expedite the permitting of this first major coastal wetlands rehabilitation project. Thanks to the Fixing America’s

GRAPHIC COURTESY OF COASTAL PROTECTION AND RESTORATION AUTHORITY.

This map visualizes Louisiana 50 years in the future, without action to save its coast. Without action, Louisiana's coast could lose a total of 2,250 to 4,100 square miles. There would be significant land lost compared to land gained.

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MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER

Surface Transportation (FAST) Act and the current administration’s implementation of that legislation, the effort to expedite the permitting of this project thus far has been promising.

Disappearing Coastal Wetlands Louisiana has experienced the loss of over 1,800 square miles of its coastal area since 1930. The root cause of this problem lies in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ response to the Great Mississippi River Flood of 1927. After this catastrophic event, the Army Corps levied the Mississippi River to prevent flooding—an action Louisianians supported and for which they have been grateful. However, no provision was made in the levee system to allow siltladen river water to deposit silt into the coastal wetlands.

This periodic deposit of silt had occurred for thousands of years and is critical to sustaining and building the coastal wetlands of Louisiana.

The annual deposit of silt to the coastal wetlands from the flooding of the Mississippi and other tributaries of the Mississippi counterbalanced the natural subsidence of the land. Without the periodic recharge of this silt, the land has continued to subside.

A second development in the last 80 years has aggravated and accelerated Louisiana’s coastal loss. Freshwater plants

MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER

in the coastal wetlands of Louisiana hold the sediment together, forming our fresh water coastal wetlands. As oil and gas were discovered and developed, first in Louisiana’s coastal wetlands and later in the federal waters off the coast of Louisiana, canals were dug through the coastal wetlands to access drilling sites and to lay pipelines across the wetlands to carry oil and gas to the rest of the nation.

Often, these canals have allowed saltwater intrusion into the coastal wetlands, killing the fresh water plants that held the sediment that forms the wetlands. As these plants die, the sediment is released and the coastal wetlands eventually become open water.

A map that plots the routes of hurricanes that hit land along the Gulf of Mexico from 1916 to 2016 illustrates why Louisiana’s disappearing wetlands create such a safety issue for the state. Louisiana has been ground zero for hurricanes once they enter the Gulf of Mexico. As Louisiana’s storm surge protection disappears, these hurricanes hit populated areas of Louisiana, like New Orleans, with ever greater force.

Efforts of the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority To reverse the process that began with the leveeing of the Mississippi, CPRA is sponsoring projects to return silt

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A coastal community in Louisiana.

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to coastal protection and restoration. The state legislature has committed the British Petroleum settlement funds to coastal protection and restoration projects.

Expedited Permitting Although the financing for the Mid-Barataria Project has been finalized, the federal permits have not. When CPRA approached the federal government to receive the necessary 404, 408, and other permits, the state was told it would take at least 6 years for the federal government to issue the necessary permits. Given the current rate of land loss, that time frame was, and is, totally unacceptable.

Imagine how much more land Louisiana would lose in a 6-year federal permitting process before the federal government would even allow the state to move forward with this self-funded project to save its coast.

In 2015, as part of the Highway Reauthorization Act, Congress adopted the FAST Act. The FAST Act was developed by Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) to expedite the permitting of major infrastructure projects. The act basically covers a wide range of infrastructure projects that cost $200 million or more.

The act created the Federal Permitting Improvement MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER

PHOTO AND GRAPHIC COURTESY OF COASTAL PROTECTION AND RESTORATION AUTHORITY.

to the state’s coastal wetlands. Two of the biggest projects the state is undertaking are the Mid-Barataria and the Mid-Breton Sediment Diversion Projects. These projects would cut the levees south of New Orleans on both sides of the Mississippi River, replacing sections of the levees with a lock and concrete chute system so that the river’s water can deposit sediment in previous coastal wetlands areas at certain times of the year. These projects together will cost the state approximately $2 billion.

The first project to be undertaken is the Mid-Barataria Project, which would release water west of the Mississippi into the Barataria basin. Mid-Barataria is about a year into the federal permitting process. The second project, Mid-Breton, is currently in the early stages of design.

Mid-Breton will deposit sediment east of the Mississippi, south of New Orleans. The state is going to pay for these projects through CPRA with funds received from the settlement of the state’s claims against British Petroleum after its devastating 2010 well blowout in the gulf and from revenue-sharing funds provided to the state through the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA) of 2006.

A 2006 amendment to the state constitution, adopted by the people of Louisiana, commits all GOMESA funds

Since 1930, Louisiana has lost over 1,800 square miles of its coastal area.

Steering Council (referred to as the Permitting Council).

The council consists of representatives of the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Interior, Energy, Transportation, Defense, and Housing and Urban Development, as well as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Army Corps, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). The Permitting Council has an executive director and a small staff assisting the executive director.

The primary function of the Permitting Council is to accept certain qualifying infrastructure projects for its dashboard, establish a lead federal agency for the federal permitting process for these projects, and establish a timeline for the permitting process. The permitting timeline and the status of the permitting process is posted on the dashboard, and the timeline is revisited periodically to ensure that it is current.

The Permitting Council was stood up in the last year of the Obama administration. Near the end of 2016, MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER

Governor John Bel Edwards (D-LA) requested that the Mid-Barataria Project be placed on the Permitting Council dashboard. The governor’s request was granted.

A clear early emphasis of the Trump administration, based on public statements by the president and various administration officials, was expediting the federal permitting of infrastructure projects. Much of the administration’s work on this issue in 2017 was internal, but on August 15, 2017, President Trump issued Executive Order 13807 on infrastructure. In this executive order, the president confirmed that the administration’s efforts to expedite federal infrastructure permitting will build on the FAST Act and that the administration’s goal is 2 years for the federal permitting of infrastructure projects.

Before the executive order was issued, the Permitting Council had designated the Army Corps as the lead agency for permitting the Mid-Barataria Project, and the first timeline established by the Permitting Council for Mid-Barataria was 6 years. The president’s executive order gave us hope for an accelerated permitting process.

In late August 2017, the leadership of CPRA and Van Ness Feldman began to consider options for accelerating

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The Mid-Barataria and the Mid-Breton Sediment Diversion Projects will facilitate the depositing of Mississippi River sediment to help reestablish coastal wetlands areas.

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have improved markedly among the federal agencies and between the federal agencies and the state. The newest timeline for permitting this process is now down to a little under 3 years, and we expect to compress this timeline further on Mid-Barataria and hope to be able to achieve the 2-year permitting goal on future CPRA projects.

The administration’s process has worked to improve the permitting timeline on our project, and our project is now being viewed by many around the nation as a test case for whether the federal government can really expedite environmental permitting.

Marine Mammal Protection Act Problem Even with the current maze of federal environmental laws and regulations, the project faced another problem.

As the coastal wetlands continue to disappear and become open salt water, dolphins have moved into these areas that were previously unsuitable as dolphin habitats. The objective of the sediment diversion projects, of course, is to return these open salt water areas to fresh water wetlands through the reintroduction of sediment. Over the long period that the sediment is being redeposited, the process of converting these salt water areas back to fresh water wetlands will make these areas inhospitable for dolphins.

The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) is similar to the Endangered Species Act in that it attempts to protect covered species, like dolphins, by protecting the habitat in which they reside. The MMPA does not contemplate a project like the Mid-Barataria Project that attempts to reclaim coastal wetlands. Attorneys in the U.S. Department MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER

PHOTO AND GRAPHIC COURTESY OF BOB SZABO AND COASTAL PROTECTION AND RESTORATION AUTHORITY.

the permitting of the Mid-Barataria Project. We decided that the best option available to us would be to negotiate a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the family of federal agencies involved in the permitting of Mid-Barataria (seven different departments and agencies plus the Permitting Council and the CEQ to establish protocols that would speed up the permitting and also adopt the 2-year timeline as a goal. The federal family already had an MOU among themselves about the permitting of the project, but the state and its agencies were excluded.

We approached the administration with the idea of an MOU through the associate director of CEQ for the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), who liked the idea and shared with us some models for an MOU. We drafted the first iteration of such an MOU and submitted it to the associate director, who then gathered representatives from all the federal agencies involved in the permitting into a negotiating team. The negotiations took approximately 5 months and were led on the federal government side by the acting executive director of the Permitting Council, the CEQ associate director for NEPA, and toward the end of the process, the CEQ associate director for infrastructure.

Finally, on January 25, 2018, we achieved the MOU that we sought and learned that it was the first MOU under the FAST Act executed between a state and the federal government. It was also the first MOU under the FAST Act and the presidential executive order establishing the goal of permitting in 2 years. Most importantly, the MOU seems to be working—communications and cooperation

of Commerce could not find sufficient legal authority in the existing MMPA to provide a waiver for the Mid-Barataria Project. Without such a waiver, the project could not move forward. Therefore, we were forced to approach Congress to obtain legislative authority to waive the act.

Fortunately, several national environmental and conservation nongovernmental organizations are committed to the restoration of Louisiana coastal wetlands. With their assistance, we were able to develop a very narrow amendment to the MMPA that waives the act for the Mid-Barataria and two other coastal restoration projects in Louisiana. With the help of these nongovernmental organizations, we were able to achieve the unanimous support of congressional Republican and Democratic leadership to include the amendment in H.R. 1892, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, which was enacted February 9, 2018. Based on this legislation, the secretary of commerce has waived application of the MMPA to the Mid-Barataria Project.

Lessons Learned We have achieved workable solutions to the two federal policy impediments to the Mid-Barataria Project, Louisiana’s first major project that attempts to regain some of the coastal wetlands the state has lost over the last 80 years. The timeline for federal permitting of the project has been reduced under existing law through the MOU between the state and the federal government that implements the FAST Act of 2015 and Executive Order 13807. A similar opportunity exists for other MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER

infrastructure projects that cost at least $200 million. Time will tell just how successful this effort to expedite federal permitting under existing law will be, but we have already reduced the projected federal permitting timeline by half.

The second solution involved a change in federal policy that only Congress could provide. Despite the partisan nature of our current politics, the congressional majority and minority were able to agree on a limited change in federal policy to allow the Mid-Barataria Project to move forward. Legislation is often much more difficult to achieve than reaching an agreement with the executive branch of the federal government—and it was very difficult in this case—but legislative fixes to real problems are still possible.

Undoubtedly, this project will face more challenges at the local, state, and federal levels. Nevertheless, we have been able to find solutions to the two largest issues that confronted the project and are confident we can find solutions for other problems that might arise. M Bob Szabo is a partner at Van Ness Feldman LLP. He has practiced federal public policy law for 40 years. Currently, he serves as practice coordinator for the firm’s government relations and policy practice. You can reach Mr. Szabo at rgs@vnf.com.

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Getting to Yes on Flood Protection:

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A Case Study in Army Corps 408 Permitting

he U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Nebraska’s Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District (P-MRNRD) share a common goal of preventing loss of life and property through effective floodplain management. However, while trying to achieve this critical goal, both organizations found themselves struggling to effectively work through a permission process required to perform federally mandated enhancements to existing levees on the Missouri River to ensure public safety during a flooding event.

In 2006, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), operating under the Flood Map Modernization Presidential Initiative, began to remap the Missouri River floodplains and update the base flood elevations to ensure

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MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER

GRAPHICS COURTESY OF PAPIO-MISSOURI RIVER NATURAL RESOURCES DISTRICT.

PHOTO COURTESY OF PAPIO-MISSOURI RIVER NATURAL RESOURCES DISTRICT.

Federal levee system south of Omaha, Nebraska.

sufficient freeboard for 100-year flood protection. During the process, two sets of levees operated by the P-MRNRD near Omaha, Nebraska, were identified as needing upgrades to meet FEMA certification.

The levee systems, which lie south of Omaha near the confluence of the Missouri and Platte Rivers, protect a sewage treatment plant, multiple rail lines, and Offutt Air Force Base—home to the 55th Wing and the U.S. Strategic Command. According to P-MRNRD General Manager John Winkler, those facilities combine to contribute $1.3 billion in annual economic benefit to Nebraska.

Protection of the Air Force base and local industry made obtaining FEMA recertification a top priority not only for P-MRNRD, but also for Sarpy County, surrounding municipalities, and the state of Nebraska. Adding even more weight to the situation, the military was considering Offutt as part of base realignment and potentially moving the 55th Wing.

Although the identified levee systems were not in disrepair, even outperforming other levees in a 500-year flood event in 2011, P-MRNRD acted to address the enhancements urgently to ensure reliable protection.

In 2011, the district began developing a thorough project plan and discussed the initiative with the Army Corps, which was to certify and permit the project work.

Although P-MRNRD knew there would be extensive permitting, the Army Corps was not clear whether a new section 408 permit would apply to this project.

John Winkler described how the permitting process unfolded. “When we started the permitting process, it appeared the project might not need a 408 permit; but from the outside, it appeared the Army Corps was struggling to determine what projects the 408 permit should apply to. A few years into the project development process, there was a whole new directive on 408 handed down from [Army Corps] headquarters. It was at that point the Corps determined we needed a 408. We had already moved on. By no means had we started construction, but we were deep into project planning and design and thought we did not need one. However, we had to begin this new permitting process.”

In the early part of the decade, many local Army Corps partners, such as P-MRNRD, did not know what the parameters of section 408 permission entailed. Section 14 of the River and Harbors Appropriation Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. 408) provides that the “Secretary of the Army may, on recommendation of the Chief of Engineers, grant permission for the alteration of a public work so long as

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that alteration is not injurious to the public interest and will not impair the usefulness of the work.” The legislative directive seems simple enough, but has proved to be complicated, lengthy, and costly for local partners seeking to undertake flood control improvements on Army Corps projects.

In 2015—a full 4 years after the start of the project— P-MRNRD had entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to secure around $25 million in funding from municipal, county, and state governments.

MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER

J Yet, the district did not have permission to begin the levee enhancement. With the project plan submitted and funding secured, the project was essentially on hold while P-MRNRD worked with the Army Corps to answer questions, provide information—sometimes information that had already been provided to Army Corps personnel, who subsequently changed jobs—and worked through many internal procedural changes the Army Corps instituted during the process.

After the MOU, the permission process began to fall

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Aerial photograph of the Missouri River at Omaha, Nebraska.

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to eliminate duplication, allow district offices to be more involved during the decisionmaking process, clarify the processes for their personnel as well as applicants, and create a publicly accessible database to view the progress of 408 requests through every step of the certification process.

P-MRNRD recognizes this effort as well. Mr. Winkler noted, “The [Army Corps] is trying to make the process better and more streamlined.”

Even with the improvements, his advice to other flood management districts or water agencies is to open up lines of communication. “It would behoove anyone undertaking a project on Army Corps projects to dive into communications right away. It will save time and energy. Communications among all stakeholders in your organization and the Army Corps will ensure nothing is missed, guidance is handed down, and the process keeps moving forward.” M MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER

PHOTO COURTESY OF PAPIO-MISSOURI RIVER NATURAL RESOURCES DISTRICT.

more squarely in the public eye. With so much of the local economy at stake, both the public and P-MRNRD’s local partners inquired about the progress of the permission process. It even caught the attention of Nebraska’s congressional delegation, drawing questions from Congressman Jeff Fortenberry and Senator Deb Fischer at hearings in both the House and the Senate. The attention helped move the process forward.

As of May 2018, P-MRNRD expects to receive a section 408 permission approval within a couple of weeks.

At that point, according to Mr. Winkler, the district will put out a formal request for proposal to begin construction on the two levee systems by the end of 2018.

Since P-MRNRD’s initial inquiry into levee repairs, the Army Corps has instituted guidance to help expedite the 408 process. According to its draft guidance, which is currently out for public comment, the Army Corps seeks

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Army Corps 101 for Nonfederal Project Proponents: A Conversation With Steve Stockton

PHOTOS COURTESY OF STEVE STOCKTON AND U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS.

This issue of Municipal Water Leader addresses the role the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plays in the development and construction of municipal water infrastructure projects. Navigating the Army Corps process can be a challenge for municipal water project proponents. There is no one better to explain that process than Water Strategies Senior Advisor Steve Stockton.

Mr. Stockton spent more than 41 years working for the Army Corps in a variety of capacities, including as chief of civil works engineering. He also served at the regional level as program director of engineering and technical services. From 2005 to 2016, Mr. Stockton served as the Army Corps director of civil works, the highest-ranking civilian in the agency. In that position, he led, managed, and directed the policy development, programming, planning, design, construction, contingency, emergency response, operation, and maintenance activities of the $10 billion Army Civil Works Program.

Municipal Water Leader’s senior writer, John Crotty, spoke with Mr. Stockton about how water agencies can work with the Army Corps, how to navigate the permitting process, and the value of building relationships with Army Corps staff.

John Crotty: Please name and describe a project over the span of your Army Corps career that represents effective and efficient flood control or water supply infrastructure development.

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MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER

Folsom Dam.

Steve Stockton: One of the projects that I am most proud of is the Joint Federal Project ( JFP) at Folsom Dam. The dam was constructed by the Army Corps and operated

by Reclamation. Reclamation has responsibility for water supply, and the Corps has responsibility for flood risk management.

The JFP is a $962 million cooperative effort between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, that serves as one piece of a larger plan to help the Sacramento region achieve a 200-year level of flood protection, meaning a 1-in-200 chance for flooding in any given year.

The limitations of the existing flood control system and the urgent need to address flood risk and dam safety issues at the Folsom facility led to this unprecedented partnership in 2005.

With cooperation from state and local partners, the JFP team integrated the planning, design, and implementation of enhanced flood risk management measures with dam safety risk reduction under the single JFP. The JFP is primarily the construction of an auxiliary spillway, consisting of (1) a control structure containing six submerged tainter gates, (2) a 3,000-foot long spillway chute and a stilling basin that acts as an energy dissipator, and (3) a 1,100-foot long approach channel.

Using a separate agency authorization and funding process, the project would have hundreds of millions of MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER

dollars more and taken several more years to complete.

The Army Corps and Reclamation developed the concept of the JFP in 2005 and received approval from their respective agency heads and the Office of Management, which was very supportive of the interagency collaboration. By working together, the Army Corps and Reclamation were be able to complete the project faster and more cost effectively than if it had been performed as separate projects.

John Crotty: What are some of the elements of these projects that made them so successful?

Steve Stockton: Collaboration and teamwork. Focusing on the common goals. Communicate, communicate, communicate.

Early in my career, there was usually adversarial relationship between the owners and the contractors. We proposed a better way of doing business, the concept of construction contract partnering. During early phases of a project, owners and contractors would get together and develop a project partnering agreement in which the team would define roles and responsibilities as well as common project goals and objectives. We would define shared goals, such as safety, schedule, timeliness, quality, fair profit, and communications. We would then evaluate the partnership, not each other, on a quarterly basis to see how well the partnership was achieving these shared goals. It was an

33

effective mechanism to facilitate communication between the parties in an open, nonthreatening way.

John Crotty: What are some of the challenges that a local project proponent may face when starting a project with the Army Corps?

Steve Stockton: Probably the most important thing to do is to understand the project or study delivery process. The Corps operates under many constraints established in law, regulation, and policy. Many of the things the Army Corps is required to do as part of the project delivery process is frustrating to sponsors. Spend some time with the Army Corps early in the process so you and those you work with understand the process and can align expectations.

There are some sophisticated nonfederal sponsors that have done multiple projects with the Army Corps and actually understand the process, laws, regulations, and policies better than many of the Army Corps staff. Depending on the type of project, there are also industry associations, such as the National Water Resources Association, that can offer advice and advocate for legislation or policy that affects the project delivery process.

John Crotty: Prior to engaging the Army Corps, what are some important tasks that a local project proponent should do to get flood control or municipal water supply projects with an Army Corps nexus going and move them forward?

Steve Stockton: Establish trusting relationships with the people you will be working with. Communicate early and often. Face to face meetings are essential early on.

John Crotty: What advice do you have for project proponents with authorized projects to expedite 404 or 408 permitting?

Steve Stockton: There are some general principles that are helpful in managing 404 and 408 permitting. One is to define roles and responsibilities up front and agree to work with each other and with other participating agencies or entities, as appropriate, to ensure that timely decisions are made and that the responsibilities of each party are met.

It is also important to conduct an early initial review. Each participant will fully participate during the prefiling scoping and study determination phase of permitting so that issues identified by the respective agencies and stakeholders may be fully disclosed and discussed as early as possible.

Other key steps include the following: • Identify agency and applicant contacts for the proposed project.

• Participate with agencies in establishing a schedule.

• Participate proactively in the permitting process. Check in periodically to see if milestones are being met and offer assistance if needed.

• Share data and information gathered, considered, and relied on with relevant agencies.

• Communicate informally with each other and other relevant agencies throughout the process to ensure that issues are raised as soon as possible and shared among all agencies.

• Attend public meetings and hearings. M

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New Draft Section 408 Policy Document The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has completed a new draft engineer circular (EC), EC 1165-2-220, and will solicit comments on this document within the Army Corps and from the general public. The review and comment activities are expected to go through the end of February 2018. Following the comment period, the Army Corps will consider all comments received, make revisions as needed, and publish a new final EC as soon as possible.

The proposed improvements in the new draft section 408 policy document cover all interim improvements currently being implemented and described above, and will include the following, at a minimum: • Eliminating duplication of effort by aligning section 408 decisions with the Army Corps real estate outgrant and certain regulatory section 10 processes.

• Delegating all section 408 decisions to division and district offices.

• Creating a multiphased review option for requesters who want to pursue section 408 permission in milestones or smaller phases.

• Implementing review and notification timelines in accordance with WRDA 2016.

• Creating new appendixes that include more detailed processes, standard conditions, and templates to improve consistency and efficiency.

• Along with the new policy document, a section 408 tracking database is under development and will serve as the database system of record for all future section 408 requests. A subset of fields from this database will be made publicly available to provide information on the current status of section 408 requests received. The database should be ready for use at the time the new section 408 EC is finalized.

From U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, "Improving Section 408," usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/ Section408 MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER

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38 International Water Screens (661) 746–7959 | internationalwaterscreens.com

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