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proactively engaged in helping design an alternative project to the U. S. Army Corps' classic 

 trapezoidal channel flood control project. The result was a project which provided numerous 

 benefits to the local community, including a regional recreational trail, shading to decrease water 

 temperatures, fish and wildlife habitat, open space and an environmental educational for Verde 

 School which is adjacent to the channel. H.R. 4289 also would also provide funding for the 

 formation of watershed councils. We view this as a significant contribution to addressing social 

 issues associated with restoration projects since representatives from the local community would 

 necessarily be active participants in such a council. 



The ecological advantages of the non-structural projects envisioned under the provisions of 

 H.R. 4289 far surpass the classic hard-engineered structural flood or erosion control projects. 

 The National Park Service's Rivers and Trails Conservation Assistance Program, in cooperation 

 with the national Associations of Floodplain and Wetlands Managers, has presented several case 

 studies in the publication, A Casebook in Managing Rivers for Multiple Uses. The Multiobjective 

 Management element of the non-structural approaches which are encouraged in H.R. 4289 

 recognize the multiple values of urban waterways and encourage projects which provide 

 ecological benefits in addition to flood and erosion reduction. The use of native vegetation in soil 

 bioengineered projects, for example, result in erosion reduction of severely degraded urban 

 waterways as well as providing important riparian habitat, reduction in stream temperatures and, 

 over the long term, increased structural diversity of the waterway. Many other benefits such as 

 aesthetic, educational, recreational and increased adjacent property values are frequently 

 associated with well-designed non-structural projects. There are fish and wildlife habitat and 

 endangered species implications with the non-structural projects as well. In the pacific northwest 

 we are struggling to recover our salmon fishery which would benefit from restoration of urban 

 and rural waterways. 



PROMOTION OF LOCAL PROJECTS AND JOB TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES 



H.R. 4289 not only encourages, but requires, projects to be initiated at the local level. 

 Under the provisions of this legislation local groups must partner with the agencies responsible for 

 designing or approving these projects and those agencies would also be required to consult with 

 the local community. We view this as the most important provision in H.R. 4289. The closer to 

 the local level waterway restoration projects are the more successful they will be over the long 

 term. 



Another key element of H.R. 4289 is its reliance on hand labor for installation of the 

 project. The low tech, soft-engineered projects which this legislation encourages requires hand 

 labor that is best provided by local conservation corps. We envision utilizing local conservation 

 corps extensively in meeting the objectives of H.R. 4289. Priority will be given to projects which 

 benefit low income and minority communities where the waterways are typically most degraded, 

 and where federal programs have frequently not provided assistance in the past. CRUW hopes 

 that, through the provisions of H.R. 4289, local conservation corps which provide on-the-job 

 training for at-risk and economically disadvantaged youth will be created in communities where 

 none currently exist and will be strengthened in communities which already have active 

 conservation corps. One of our partners in CRUW and an active participant in development of 

 H.R. 4289 is the National Association of Service and Conservation Corps. 



The involvement of at-risk youth in waterway restoration efforts is a key objective of H.R. 

 4289. In Portland, Oregon for example the Urban Streams Council is working on a pilot project 

 which involves ten at-risk youth, all of whom had dropped out of high school, to perform 

 restoration projects on the Columbia Slough. The students are now back in school and are 



