Barbara Boxer: “In a move that will help communities, taxpayers, and the environment, a House-Senate Conference Committee has produced…”

“In a move that will help communities, taxpayers, and the environment, a House-Senate Conference Committee has produced reforms in a bill that will improve how the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) does business. The Water Resources Development Act of 2007 (WRDA), H.R. 1495, will begin moving the Corps into the 21st century. The Corps is the nation's primary river management agency and in 2006 accepted responsibility for faulty floodwall and levee designs that led to the tragic flooding of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. The Corps' designs were so flawed that levees and floodwalls collapsed in the face of a storm they should have withstood. Corps projects also destroyed vital coastal wetlands that could have reduced the Hurricane's storm surge, and funneled that surge into the heart of New Orleans. The problems with Corps planning highlighted by Katrina affect Corps projects across the country.”