National Watershed Coalition
P. O. Box 566
Pawnee, OK 74058
Phone: 405-627-0670
Testimony of Mark Gilbert, Chairman
National Watershed Coalition
House Appropriations Committee
Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and
Drug Administration, and Related Agencies
Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member:
On behalf of the National Watershed Coalition, I want to provide you with important information as you and your Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture craft a Fiscal Year 2017 appropriations bill. Our coalition strongly believes that significant investment is needed in the nation’s water resources infrastructure. TheWatershed Protection and Flood Prevention Program (the Watershed Program) administered by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is one critical part of this water resourceinfrastructure. As the committee deliberates on the Fiscal Year 2017 appropriations bill, the National Watershed Coalition respectfully requests your leadership and support for funding the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Program (WPFP) accounts at the following levels: $300 million for Watershed Operations; $35 million for Watershed Surveys and Planning; and $75 million for Watershed Rehabilitation.
The Watershed Program established through the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act of 1954 (Public Law 83-566) authorizes NRCS to work with local sponsors to install watershed protection and improvement projects. The authorized purposes of the program are flood prevention, water quality or water quantity protection, agricultural water management, municipal water supply management, fish and wildlife habitat protection and public recreation development. Often projects are mutually supportive of more than one purpose.
These projects create and protect vital infrastructure while conserving natural resources and contributing to local economies. The Watershed Program focuses on both the design and construction of structural water control measures and on land treatment measures. Watershed planning provides a basis for partnering at State and local levels to identify and co-invest in projects reflecting the highest priority needs.This critical infrastructure program protects lives and property, builds community resiliency to extreme weather events, reduces the need for federal disaster assistance, improves water quality and quantity, provides reliable, high quality drinking water, creates and preserves jobs, and broadens the economic base.
Flood prevention and reliable water quality created by the Watershed Program are essential to developing and maintaining strong rural communities. Watershed projects not only protect lives, property and reduce flood damages, but also create economic growth and strengthen local economies. Flood protection is essential to prevent the unnecessary loss of infrastructure and capital to developing economies in rural America.Investing in the Watershed Program expands opportunities for natural resource conservation and provides important national economic and environmental dividends for all Americans. There are countless successful examples that verify the value the Watershed Program brings to rural areas in the form of water supply, recreation, flood protection, and sustainable economic development. Watershed Program projects are an economic engine that make participating communities more productive places to live, work and play.
In a recent report to Congress, NRCS estimates that this program, by avoiding and reducing flood damages, annually provides more than $352 million in benefits to agriculture and more than $462 million in benefits to non-agricultural uses, such as roads, bridges, and homes. Other benefits, such as erosion control, water conservation, water quality improvement and irrigation efficiency, exceed $441 million on agricultural lands and over $957 million in recreation, fish and wildlife, rural water supply, and municipal and industrial water supply, annually.
In total, as a result of installed watershed projects made possible through the investment from NRCS and local sponsors, the Watershed Program provides an estimated $2.2 billion in average annual benefits across the Nation. Another way to view these benefits is by the number of people and communities who benefit directly from watershed projects. The existing projects are protecting over 610,000 homes, 46,000 businesses, 180,000 farms and ranches, 61,000 bridges, and 28,000 domestic water supplies. As a result, over 48 million people across the United States benefit from the Watershed Program every year. [1]
The Watershed Program allows NRCS and local sponsors to deal with a wide range of natural resource issues, including flood control, water quality, sediment and erosion control, water supplies, and water based recreation. Watershed projects also build resilience and reduce the risk and costs associated with the impacts of changing climate conditions. It is a proven, cost-effective program with thousands of success stories.
The Watershed Program also plays an important role in protecting resources vital to the agricultural economy as well. Agricultural water management includes measures that help to manage water supply for agriculture and rural communities. Measures include drainage water management, ground water recharge, irrigation management, water conservation, water quality improvement, and rural water supply. The WatershedProgram is federally-assisted, but locally planned and implemented. Local project sponsors use local resources to maintain constructed project measures which contribute directly to a stronger national economy and a responsible national environmental future.
Watershed Rehabilitation is a critical component of the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Program and Congress recognized this in the Agricultural Act of 2014 by providing $262 million for the rehabilitation of upstream flood control dams. Our coalition members continue to work diligently with the NRCS to ensure these funds are spent wisely, efficiently and on the highest priority projects. The funds previously invested in these projects have protected life and property as well as reducing damages from flooding. Projects across the Nation have provided damage reduction and natural resource conservation benefits valued well beyond the initial investment in this program.
We know you are well aware of the extreme weather we have all endured in the recent past. The current predictions for a major El Niño driven wet weather pattern for 2016 add an exclamation point to the serious need for federal investment in this program. The program costs are shared across federal, state and local government. Federal funding is both essential and critical for leveraging state and local funds to plan and complete new projects and rehabilitate older works to maintain the critical stream of benefits they provide.
As the significantly invested local sponsors of watershed projects, our coalition members have felt that we have suffered from an inadequately funded federal partner for much of the past decade. As part of NRCS’s recent report to Congress, the agency evaluated specific watershed protection and flood prevention project needs and associated costs. This included a review of the existing authorized but unfunded projects, existing projects needing remediation, and potential new projects. Through this process, 220 projects were identified addressing a variety of purposes from flood prevention and watershed protection to agricultural water management and municipal and industrial water supply. The cost of these projects was estimated at nearly $1.4 billion from FY 2016 through FY 2020. With your leadership on this issue, great strides can be made to keep the program a strong and effective water resource management tool for both rural and urban communities.The National Watershed Coalition members believe these proposed funding levels are in line with the documented national needs and the Agency’s capacity to deliver. We know this funding will keep the Watershed Program a viable key component of the country’s water resources infrastructure.
The National Watershed Coalition appreciates your consideration for our funding request for Fiscal Year 2017. As always our local watershed sponsors and Coalition staff would be pleased to provide program information to you or your committee members.
Sincerely,
Mark Gilbert
Chairman
National Watershed Coalition
[1] Report to Congress, USDA-NRCS, Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Program Multi-Year Plan