107 



time, our involvement has been to oppose projects and minimize the degradation of waterways and 

 wedands that too often results from the program. Ironically, our opposition always has been made while 

 recognizing that the program has potential to achieve environmental as well as societal benefits. 



There are several reasons for its poor environmental record. Too much emphasis has been placed 

 on stimulating marginal, high-risk production on floodplain lands of agricultural commodities that already 

 are in oversupply. Cost-share rates always have been and still are legislatively weighted toward short- 

 term, high-impact structural activities and away from long-term solutions. Local project sponsors possess 

 too much decision-making authority and too little federal guidance on acceptable and unacceptable 

 activities. SCS generally has been extremely reluctant to interfere with local sponsors by criticizing or 

 rejecting poor project decisions. Finally, the program always has been viewed by Congress as a prime 

 vehicle to deliver federal dollars to constituents. 



The record of accomplishment of the program is illustrative. More than 1,500 projects are 

 completed, ongoing or in planning nationwide, affecting more than 100 million acres. Flood prevention- 

 by damming and channelizing naturally functioning streams and rivers and isolating them from their 

 floodplains by levees -is the primary purpose of more than 1,300 of these projects. Drainage is the 

 primary purpose of more than 300. Only 231 projects were designed for watershed protection (using 

 nonstructural land-treatment measures), 96 projects for fish and wildlife, and 41 for water quality. The 

 program has completed 1 1,646 miles of channels in 47 states; 3,290 miles remain, pending ongoing SCS 

 reviews and availability of funds. More than 8,000 dams have been constructed; more than 3,500 others 

 are planned, approved and awaiting funding. The program itself has drained and/or made possible the 

 drainage of millions of acres of wetlands. 



WMI believes the myth on which PL-566 has been built is flawed. It should be apparent from 

 the severe 1993 floods in the Midwest and those in 1994 in the Southeast that it is virtually impossible 

 to control or prevent floods. Billions of dollars have been spent across the country over decades, yet 

 floods continue and damages escalate. 



Flood damages, however, can be controlled. Roods cause damage only when humans have 

 encroached into the floodplain. Flood "control" activities, such as those conducted by PL-566, instill false 

 confidences that often foster floodplain development. When the inevitable floods occur, taxpayers pay 

 once again for bailouts. The end results of flood control activities under PL-566 have been continued 

 flooding, increased flood damages, continued taxpayer expenditures for disaster relief, continued taxpayer 

 costs for replacement and maintenance of structures, and dysfunctional waterways that usually provide 

 reduced fish and wildlife habitat Furthermore, all these consequences are the result of flood control 

 activities conducted primarily to stimulate production on marginal land of agricultural commodities that 

 already are in surplus as a result of other existing agriculture subsidies. 



Time after time, money spent for traditional PL-566 projects that resulted in all the consequences 

 outlined above, exceeded the funds necessary to simply move human activities out of the most flood-prone 

 land by purchasing easements. For example, more than $1 million was spent on the 8,000-acre Ellison 

 Creek Watershed project in Mississippi in the 1960s and 1970s to stimulate agricultural production. Due 

 to failure of the channels and structures, another $1 million was spent to replace them in the early 1980s. 

 Continuing failure of the structures now requires that another $1 million be spent for repair. More than 

 $4 million in current dollars-equivalent to more than $500 per acre-has been spent for the purpose of 

 stimulating agricultural production on flood-prone land valued at only $600-700 per acre. Floodplain 

 easements and land treatment could have accomplished better results. 



