Key Alert

Next week, the U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on H.R. 728, "The Small Watershed Rehabilitation Amendments of 1999," which would address necessary rehabilitation of the nation's small watershed dams. By the year 2020, more than 85 percent of all dams in the United States will be more than 50 years old, the typical useful life span.  Many of these dams are at or nearing the end of their 50-year life spans and need to be rehabilitated.  Some dams were originally constructed in rural areas but have since had homes and businesses built downstream from them.  Consequently, these dams also need to be rebuilt to meet current dam safety standards, which are much more stringent since loss of life and property are possible if the dams should fail.

H.R. 728 would provide up to 65 percent of total costs to a local organization for the rehabilitation of structural measures of certain small watershed dams.  The bill would authorize $60 million per year for ten years to fund these dam rehabilitation efforts.  It would also allow the federal government to provide technical assistance to a requesting organization in planning, designing, and implementing dam rehabilitation projects. Action Requested

Please call, fax, or e-mail your Representative today.  Tell her/him to VOTE IN FAVOR OF H.R. 728, "The Small Watershed Rehabilitation Amendments of 1999."

You may wish to use some of the following points:

• Since the late 1940s, more than 10,000 small watershed dams have been constructed under the United States Department of Agriculture programs.  5,000 of these structures are approaching the end of their design life.
• Dams are an important part of the nation's infrastructure.  These small watershed dams provide flood control, water quality improvement, rural water supply, fish and wildlife habitat, recreation, and irrigation water.
• Thousands of these small watershed dams are flood control structures that are in need of rehabilitation, but the local sponsoring organizations do not have financial resources required to bring these dams into compliance with dam safety standards.
• The needs of America’s dams are significant.  ASCE, in its Report Card for America's Infrastructure, gave our nation's dams a "D" grade, and estimated that repair to the 2,100 "unsafe" regulated dams would cost more than $1 billion.

If your Representative is already a co-sponsor of the legislation, please thank him/her for co-sponsoring the bill and ask that s/he continue supporting the bill by voting for H.R. 728.

Contacting Your Member of Congress

Information about who your Representative is and how to contact her/him can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.house.gov.

You may call the main U.S. Capitol switchboard at 202/224-3121 and ask to be connected to your Representative's office.  If the Representative is not available, ask to speak to the staff person who handles public works or agriculture issues.

If you send e-mail, please be sure to include your full postal address and contact information so that the offices will know where to send a response and, most importantly, identify you as a constituent.  Most offices currently will not respond by e-mail, but if you include your address, will respond by postal mail.

Follow-Up with ASCE

Please be sure to send us a copy of your correspondence or let us know if you made a phone call. ASCE's Government Relations Department e-mail address is govwash@asce.org, fax number is 202/289-6797, and phone number is 202/789-2200.

Background

Dams are an important part of the nation's infrastructure.  Small watershed dams provide flood control, water quality improvement, rural water supply, fish and wildlife habitat, recreation, and irrigation water.  In many cases, the vitality of small rural communities depends upon these watershed projects.

Of the 75,000 dams in the United States, 95 percent are regulated by the states.  Approximately 10,400 of these dams (see list below for individual state numbers) are small watershed structures built under the United States Department of Agriculture programs authorized by Congress beginning in the 1940s (primarily the Flood Control Act of 1944, PL-534 and the Watershed Protection and Flood Control Act of 1953, PL-566).  Many of these dams are at or nearing the end of their 50-year life spans and need to be rehabilitated.

Since the original projects were partnerships with the federal government, ASCE believes that the federal government should again partner with local sponsors to address the needed rehabilitation.  Under the bill, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) would provide 65 percent of the rehabilitation costs; local sponsors would provide the remaining funds.  Current national needs are conservatively estimated by NRCS to be between $500 million and $600 million.  The NRCS is currently not authorized by statute to provide financial assistance for rehabilitation.

H.R. 728 Co-Sponsors:

Robert Aderholt (AL)
Robert Andrews (NJ)
Bob Barr (GA)
Doug Bereuter (NE)
Marion Berry (AR)
Tom Bliley (VA)
Leonard Boswell (IA)
Rick Boucher (VA)
Ed Bryant (TN)
Richard Burr (NC)
Saxby Chambliss (GA)
John Cooksey (LA)
Pat Danner (MO)
Nathan Deal (GA)
John Doolittle (CA)
Chet Edwards (TX)
Jo Ann Emerson (MO)
Lane Evans (IL)
Ernest Fletcher (KY)
Martin Frost (TX)
Jim Gibbons (NV)
Wayne Gilchrest (MD)
Charles Gonzalez (TX)
Virgil Goode (VA)
Bob Goodlatte (VA)
Ralph Hall (TX)
Earl Hilliard (AL)
Ruben Hinojosa (TX)
Tim Holden (PA)
Amo Houghton (NY)
Asa Hutchinson (AR)
Johnny Isakson (GA)
Ernest Istook (OK)
Tom Latham (IA)
Ron Lewis (KY)
John Linder (GA)
Ken Lucas (KY)
Jim McCrery (LA)
Scott McInnis (CO)
Alan Mollohan (WV)
Jerry Moran (VA)
Charlie Norwood (GA)
Richard Pombo (CA)
David Price (NC)
Nick Rahall (WV)
Bob Riley (AL)
Harold Rogers (KY)
Max Sandlin (TX)
Bob Schaffer (CO)
Don Sherwood (PA)
Ronnie Shows (MS)
Ike Skelton (MO)
Ted Strickland (OH)
Bennie Thompson (MS)
William (Mac) Thornberry (TX)
John Thune (SD)
James Traficant (OH)
Wes Watkins (OK)
J.C. Watts (OK)
Ed Whitfield (KY)
Roger Wicker (MS)
Robert Wise (WV)

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Total number of affected dams in each state:

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