The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the foundation of the federal government’s water management plans, has been forced to adapt to billions of dollars in cuts across the federal budget. The Corps accordingly will conduct its important Spring Runoff Meetings online rather than in person this year. While such a shift may be necessary in light of limited funding, stakeholders who use these forums to talk about important topics like flood risks, water management plans, and local infrastructure projects are concerned. Here, we explore the reasons behind this shift, its potential effects on local communities, and the broader implications for water management and infrastructure in communities across the country.
USACE and Water Management: How it Started
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers manages the nation’s vital water resources. The list of responsibilities it shoulders is long — flood risk management, navigation of the country’s waterways, dam and reservoir management, environmental restoration efforts, and more. The Corps is also critical in tracking and regulating the movement of water during spring runoff, which can lead to flooding or drought in different areas of the country.
In the Spring, the Corps conducts a series of Spring Runoff Meetings to inform stakeholders—local governments, environmental groups, and other community members—of river flow predictions, flood risks, and water management plans. These meetings have long provided a venue for critical discussions, and for experts to share data, listen to concerns and develop action plans for the coming year. Despite their success, the federal budget cuts have presented the Corps with challenging new operational environments, requiring them to adapt in ways that could diminish the quality of these vital engagements.
Federal Budget Cuts Affecting Key Agencies
Like other departments and agencies across the U.S. government, federal budget cuts have left their mark on the Army Corps of Engineers. Given its wide-ranging responsibilities for water resources, infrastructure, and environmental protection, the Corps faces a particularly challenging road ahead. Funding for both the Corps’ operational costs and critical infrastructure projects have both been significantly reduced in recent years.
Significant Areas Affected by the Budget Cuts
- Decreased Funding for Staff and Resources: The less money there is in the budget, the fewer staffers the Corps has been able to keep on and, in some cases, operate. Some of its important work, like community outreach and educational programs, have been reduced.
- Maintenance Delays for Critical Infrastructure: The Corps manages a vast network of dams, levees, and flood control systems. The funding shortfalls put maintenance or upgrades of these lifeline of flood protection and water supply at risk, according to supporters.
- Reducing Opportunities for Public Participation: The Corps traditionally meets with communities in person, such that local interest groups can engage directly with Corps officials about water management and environmental concerns. They are not very interactive or feedback-driven, so they have very low engagement but are more cost-effective.
What are Virtual Spring Runoff Meetings?
Virtual Spring Runoff Meetings: COVID-19, Budget Cuts &illon
These decisions are never made lightly, but we believe it is the right thing to do in light of budget cuts. The Corps can fulfill its mission to inform the public, share critical water forecasts, and update those in areas at risk for flooding on their flood management strategies cost-effectively through virtual meetings without paying for meals, facilities, and lodging associated with in-person meetings.
Benefits of Virtual Meetings
- Cost-Efficiency: No travel, no venue booking and other logistical costs, so it is cost-effective too. This allows the Corps to repurpose restricted dollars to more urgent needs, such as flood risk reduction and infrastructure repair.
- WIDER ACCESSIBILITY: Virtual meetings enable remote participants or those with mobility limitations to join and participate more easily. It expands the audience potential and helps ensure that a wider range of stakeholders are able to attend.
- Environmental sustainability: Virtual meetings reduce travel associated with in-person events, helping the Corps achieve sustainability goals associated with its environmental mission.
Disadvantages of Online Meetings
- The greatest loss: What virtual meetings can’t do is face to face. Virtual formats do not lend themselves to the same deeper conversations, spur-of-the-moment discussions, and sense of the community concerns that can usually be gathered in an in-person format.
- Technology Access: Not every participant has reliable internet or technology access to join virtual meetings. This transition may disproportionately impact rural communities and vulnerable populations.
- Less Public Input Opportunity: Virtual meetings can limit the type and volume of input that we get from the public. Although written comments and questions can be submitted, those don’t allow the same kind of real-time engagement as going from room to room.
The Local Communities and Constituencies Response
Response to the Corps’ switch to virtual meetings has been mixed among stakeholders who depend on the Corps’ information and expertise to oversee local water resources.
Local Governments and Community Leaders
Transcripts from the Corps’ in-person Spring Runoff Meetings are an important resource for local governments looking to learn more about flood risks, water management strategies, and emergency preparedness plans. These meetings typically help local officials align their own policies with federal recommendations, and get a sense of what infrastructure upgrades might be coming.
“We’ve been very successful in what we do with in-person meetings over the years,” said Mayor John Reed of a Midwest city prone to flooding. “Definitely understand needing to cut the budget, though it’s a challenge for us to be effective through a screen. We’re missing out on valuable in-person moments to speak to particular area issues.”
Environmental Organizations and Activists
Environmental groups consider the transition to be a double-edged sword, too. They are in almost universal agreement on the value of virtual meetings as a time- and cost-saving tool, but have serious concerns about the efficacy of advocating in a virtual format.
“Virtual meetings are a step forward in terms of accessibility but are a significant step back in terms of the personal engagement that we need when we are raising all of our concerns about water conservation, ecosystem protection, and climate change,” said Sarah Carter, an environmental advocate at the Sierra Club. “We’ll keep attending, but it’s nowhere close to the in-person collaboration that has been so important in the past.”
Water Management Experts
For water resource professionals, who regularly attend the Spring Runoff Meetings to remain in the know about Corps efforts and outlooks, the move to virtual meetings is likewise cause for concern.
“From a technical perspective everything we are hearing in a virtual meeting is no different than what we heard before, but the informal drop-by’s and have a chat are kind of nonscientific, but they’re critical to coming up with solutions that work,” said Dr. Michael Harrison, a hydrologist and flood management consultant. “It’s disappointing, but we’ve just got to make it work.”
How the Virtual Meetings Will Work
Although this is the first time this will be attempted, the Corps of Engineers remains dedicated to making its virtual Spring Runoff Meetings as successful and lively as possible. The virtual meetings will include live presentations from Corps experts, real-time Q&A sessions, and opportunities for participants to provide written comments and questions. The Corps will make available resources for stakeholders that may require assistance in accessing the meetings.
Corps officials also said they are looking to make recorded sessions more widely available, as well as adding digital materials, including interactive maps and data visualization, to help attendees better evaluate flood risks and water management strategies.
The Long-Term Effects of Budget Cuts
Virtual meetings are not the only way federal budget cuts are affecting the Corps of Engineers’ operations. Adapting to Virtual Meetings: Temporary Band-Aid for Water Tragedy in the Making. Although virtual meetings are a useful stop-gap, all the elements of deep engagement and community involvement that is the lifeblood of water resource management are missing.
Infrastructure Delays
Several important infrastructure projects will be significantly delayed due to the cut in funding. Improvements to flood control systems, upgrades to aging dams and levees, and maintenance of the nation’s waterways, among them. Delays in these projects may leave communities more vulnerable to flooding and other water-related hazards.
Managing Water Resources with Stress
In regions where the Corps manages flood control, water storage, and navigability, reductions in its resources can be expected to result in a reduction in the quality of service. If funds continue to diminish, the ability to observe water flows, anticipate floods, and assure the safety of reservoirs could be at risk.
Reduced Public Engagement
As the Corps moved towards more virtual meetings and less in-person engagement, public participation in water management decisions could be limited. The TNI was designed to limit the conflict-specific and response-oriented nature of Corps operations to foster more cooperative engagement, which might lead to low visibility, diminished involvement, or misalignment between Corps operations and local needs
