▶ 0:04:53I know this seems like deja vu all over again, but uh this wonderful group was just before us just about a month or so ago. So, always welcome back. Thank you so much. Uh, it's my pleasure to welcome acting principal deputy assistant secretary of the army for civil works, Robin Colossimo. Thank you.
▶ 0:05:14And Chief of Engineers and Commanding General of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Lieutenant General Butch Graham to discuss the uh fiscal year 2026. And I think I forgot somebody, didn't I? Um Oh, it's further down. You took care of me. Okay. Um uh let's see. I'm equally pleased to welcome senior advisor to the secretary Scott Cameron. Mr. Cameron, good morning, sir.
▶ 0:05:41To discuss the request for the Bureau of Reclamation and Central Utah project. We scheduled this hearing with the expectation that we would have the full budget request for these critical programs. I appreciate the challenge facing any new administration in submitting a timely budget request to Congress. However, we cannot do our work without those details.
▶ 0:06:04I hope we can expect that information soon so that we can begin the important work of funding our nation's water resource development programs. In the meantime, the administration has provided a topline budget request for the core and reclamation, highlighting specific areas where reductions are proposed. The request for the core totals $6.7 billion, a reduction of $2 billion or 23%.
▶ 0:06:35Within the total for the core, 1.7 billion is proposed for harbor maintenance trust activities, which is approximately 1.8 billion below the maximum offset provided in law. Consistent with prior years, the budget request does not maximize investment in our nation's ports and harbors. One of my top priorities, continuing the progress on the recapitalization of our nation's inland waterway system.
▶ 0:07:04I was pleased to see a $32 million included in $32 million included in fiscal year 2025 work plan to award additional option for the final contract at Chikamaga Lock which is in my my district. I want to express my gratitude for the Trump's administration's prioritization of this important project. I look forward to working with our witnesses to get Chicklock across the finish line. In fact, I'm going to visit there again next week.
▶ 0:07:33I appreciate the plan's robust investment in construction on the inland waterway system more broadly and I hope the full fiscal year 2026 budget continues that support. We expect significant outyear demands for this work and the longer we wait to address today's need, the more difficult it will be to manage tomorrow's.
▶ 0:07:54For the Bureau of Reclamation and Central Utah project, the request proposes a total of $1.2 2 billion, a stated reduction of $69 million or approximately 35% below the enacted level. I'm concerned that at this level we will not be able to address the most pressing water resources needs across the West. Of particular concern is the ability to continue progress on existing Indian water rights settlements.
▶ 0:08:25Upholding our nation's treaty and trust responsibilities is among the Department of Interior's highest priorities and we cannot afford to fail delivering access to safe and reliable water supplies across Indian country. We will wait for the details of the request to analyze the proposal's impact on farmers, ranchers, and households across the West that depend on Reclamation's water and power delivery mission.
▶ 0:08:51I appreciate our witnesses for being here today to explain your budget requests and discuss the administration priorities for these agencies. I look forward to working with you and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to develop a bill that addresses our nation's most pressing water resource development challenges. With that, now I will turn to my friend, the distinguished ranking member, Miss Captor, for her opening statement. Miss Captor. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good morning everyone.
▶ 0:09:21Uh thank you for joining us uh you build America uh and uh we respect that. I welcome this opportunity to examine recent actions uh for the budget requests for the core of engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation. Thank you to our witnesses for devoting your lives to the nation and for joining us today. Your agencies play a critical role in developing the resources of our land while mindful of our obligations to future generations.
▶ 0:09:48Your vital work strengthens our economy, sustains life on Earth, and ensures public safety against the now constant onslaught of both increasing natural and human-caused disasters across our country, which is growing in population headed to a half a billion people. For example, the core played a vital role in clearing the waterways after the Keybridge collapse in Baltimore. Thank you so much. and you are currently carrying out wildfire debris removal in Los Angeles County.
▶ 0:10:18Thank you for your exemplary service to our country. You hold us together and all those who serve in the core and the bureau. The proposed cuts to the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation are not just misguided, they are dangerous. Slashing their budgets and eroding their workforce, endangers people's lives and public safety, undermines economic growth, and weakens our national um the national welfare of the country in the face of climate change.
▶ 0:10:48Let's start with the core of engineers. Your work is not just about dams and levies. It's about protecting lives and building America's public infrastructure to manage flood control systems that safeguard our communities from the devastating effects of extreme weather. And we saw that this past week with the terrible tornadoes uh from St. Louis and all surrounding states. Um uh along the shores of Lake Erie, the largest freshwater system in the world, we know what's at stake.
▶ 0:11:16Erosion, rising lake levels, the problems with algo blooms, and increasingly violent storms threaten homes, businesses, and public assets. We cannot build uh safety and a habitable environment for our growing population on shrinking budgets and shrinking staff. In the Great Lakes region, modernization of projects like the Soolocks are prime example of long overdue investments that will turbocharge our economy.
▶ 0:11:44100% of America's domestic iron ore passes through the Soolocks. Think about how important that makes this strategic infrastructure. Steel is a 500 billion dollar industry. It supports 123,000 middle class jobs, and I'm a strong advocate for reshoring the US steel industry and growing those numbers. But we have to modernize the shipping lanes and the waterways and our ports for today and the future.
▶ 0:12:11This project will ensure our heartland's maritime, industrial, agricultural, and commercial um products are safe and efficiently moved. Think about our region as the shortest distance by way of the Atlantic Ocean to the ports of Northern Europe and beyond. Uh Canada, the Great Lakes, and St. Lauren Seaway hasten global trade, and President Eisenhower understood its place within our continental enterprise and global defense.
▶ 0:12:38So must we as we witness the dawn of the new Arctic age. Similarly, the Brandon Road project um uh aims at arresting the potential enormous economic and environmental damage that can be unleashed by the invasion of the Asian carp.
▶ 0:12:55They could exterminate local and regional aquatic fish and species, and that would be devastating to our Great Lakes 7 billion dollar fishery and its $16 billion recreational boating industry. These are astounding numbers. The core of engineers has a return of investments of over 200 to one in terms of economic benefits for every dollar invested.
▶ 0:13:19Ports, locks, and inland waterways maintained by the core are vital arteries for our very large nation and its commerce. In the Great Lakes region alone, these investments ensure that goods from American steel to Ohio soybeans can reach domestic and global markets. And cuts to this work would cause costly delays, limit our competitiveness, and harm local economies. Now, to the Bureau of Reclamation. Uh though it serves primarily the western United States, its importance cannot be overstated.
▶ 0:13:48Uh, the bureau manages water supply for over 31 million Americans in the dry and I guess I would say coming from my part of the country drier western states, irrigates 10 million acres of farmland and generates hydro power for millions of homes. In this time of unpre unprecedented drought and water stress, we must bolster, not diminish, reclamation's capacity to invest in sustainable water systems and innovative conservation technologies.
▶ 0:14:16Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover understood what development west of the Mississippi would require. So must we. Let's be clear. Disinvestment in the corn bureau now will lead to higher costs down the road. Deferred maintenance becomes disaster recovery. Preventable failures become na national emergencies. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, this is not the time to retreat. It is time to lead.
▶ 0:14:42We must provide these agencies with the resources they need to protect our growing population, strengthen our economy, and safeguard our environment for generations to come. Finally, I truly condemn the extreme politicization of critical Army Corps construction funding decisions as we saw in last week's work plan. It is yet another reminder that Congress must reclaim its authority over funding decisions by passing fullear appropriation bills. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members. and our guests. I yield back.
▶ 0:15:12Thank you, Miss Captor. U once again, thank you to our witnesses for being here today. Uh without objection, your full written testimonies will be entered into the record. With that in mind, we would ask that you please summarize your opening statements in five minutes. Um, and the significance of that is I'm sure we're going to probably have two rounds even of questions and the like, but I want to make sure that everybody has an opportunity to to ask you questions.
▶ 0:15:40Uh, with that, uh, Miss Kalisimo, you are now recognized for your opening statement. Thank you. Thank you, Chairman Fleshman, Ranking Member Captor, and distinguished members of the committee. I want to thank you for the opportunity to be here today to discuss the president's budget request for the civil works program of the Army Corps of Engineers. As you know, the president's discretionary funding request for the fiscal year 26 was submitted to Congress earlier this month.
▶ 0:16:06That request laid out the president's priorities for discretionary funding with recommendations to reach balance and restore confidence in America's fiscal management. The president's topline discretionary funding request for fiscal year 26 includes 6.663 billion for the Army Civil Works Program. The civil works program has dedicated its primary missions of commercial navigation, flood and storm damage reduction, and aquatic ecosystem restoration.
▶ 0:16:31The budget focuses on opportunities to support these missions that provide high return to the American public, such as facilitating maritime commerce and addressing the most significant floods facing communities. The details of the president's budget, which will present a unified, comprehensive plan for America to address the overlapping challenges we face in a fiscally and economically responsible way, will be released in the coming weeks. I look forward to discussing the details of the fiscal year 26 funding request for the civil works program of the Army Corps of Engineers soon thereafter.
▶ 0:17:00Since the detailed budget for fiscal year 26 has not yet been finalized and released, we will not be able to discuss capabilities of individual projects or studies at today's hearing. While the president detailed budget request for fiscal year 26 has not been released, we did recently release the fiscal year 25 work plan for the civil works program. The work plan supports our coastal ports and inland waterways, invests in projects that will reduce floods risks, and includes 446 million to advance the president's commitment to restore Florida's Everglades.
▶ 0:17:29I would like to highlight a few examples of the projects funded in 25 work plan today. The fiscal 25 work plan will improve commercial navigation at our nation's ports and waterways. It includes 264.13 million for the Susalt Marie replacement lock in Michigan and 172.711 million in the Savine nature's waterway in Texas and 33.436 million for the Houston ship channel in Texas to prepare place in that case to prepare and placement areas for future dredging
▶ 0:17:59and 1.62 million to complete the validation study for the Madagory ship channel widening and deepening project in Texas. It also provides 32.19 million for the Chick Lock and Tennessee River project, 44 million for the upper Ohio, Alageney, and Beaver Counties Pennsylvania project, and 122.9 million to complete the major rehabilitation of the Illinois Waterway TJ O'Brien Lock & Dam.
▶ 0:18:23The work plan also funds important dam safety projects including 283.719 million for the Rough River Kentucky project, 65.33 million for the Pipe Stem Lake North Dakota project. Finally, the work plan advances reforms to bring better value to the American public.
▶ 0:18:40For example, it includes 49.25 25 million for the hydraulic structures validation test bed in Bixsburg, Mississippi, which will provide a new physical modeling capability that will enable neighbor largescale testing of lock and dam components. This facility will empower the core to innovate infrastructure more efficiently. The work plan also reflects on the core's commitments with its non-federal partners to accelerate projects and create efficiencies in their delivery through non-federal implementation where appropriate.
▶ 0:19:09To that end, the core is developing guidance to implement section 1043b of the water resources development act of 2014 as amended. This will allow the core to transfer funds to non-federal sponsors for the implementation of projects. The president's 26th budget will build on this momentum and continue to advance the primary missions of the core. Thank you for inviting me today and I look forward to the discussion. Thank you so much for your opening statement.
▶ 0:19:35Um, General Graham, uh, you are now recognized, sir, for five minutes for your opening statement. Thank you, sir. Chairman Fleshman, Ranking Member Captor, and members of the subcommittee, I'm honored to testify before you today in regard to the president's fiscal year 2026 topline discretionary budget request for the United States Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works Program.
▶ 0:19:57Through the civil works program, the Army Corps works with our partners to study, build, and operate water resource projects focusing on our three main mission areas of commercial navigation, flood and storm damage reduction, and aquatic ecosystem restoration.
▶ 0:20:11The navigation program underpins the economy, ensuring that commodities can move reliably and efficiently among 12,000 miles of inland waterways, 13,000 mi of inter coastal waterways, and into a thousand coastal Great Lakes and inland harbors.
▶ 0:20:29Our flood and storm damage reduction program maintained 746 dams and over 13,000 miles of federal levies that provide over 200 billion, which is an astonishing number, in flood damages avoided when averaged over a 10-year period. The Army Corps is also the largest owner operator of hydroelectric power plants in the United States with 75 plants producing approximately 25% of the nation's total power.
▶ 0:20:58As Miss Colosimo spoke to, the civ works program is performance-based and focused on high performing projects and programs. The core uses a targeted approach to invest in water resources which benefit the nation now and into the future. The discretionary request includes nearly 6.7 billion for the civil works program. As we discussed when I was last in front of this committee back in February, our objective every day is to safely deliver quality projects on schedule and within budget.
▶ 0:21:29To this end, our current, as of yesterday, onschedule rate across the civil works portfolio is an 81%. That's a low B. This performance is influenced by factors both controllable and Focusing on those things we can control. The Army Corps is absolutely committed to procedural improvements in the following three areas. We got to get the engineering right. The focus here is on the maturity of the design.
▶ 0:21:53I remain committed to my pledge that I made last time I was here to not request project authorization unless the engineering design is at the 35% level. Second imperative is to get the project management right. Here we're focusing on crafting logical, fully resourced schedules and sticking dogmatically to them, ensuring that we're delivering these important projects with a great sense of urgency. Third thing is to get the team that's building these right.
▶ 0:22:19We're striving to bring together the right mix of talent either by onboard professionals within the core or by leveraging the private sector. So the path to success is clear. Plan projects thoroughly and then build them rapidly with the right team of master craftsmen. I look forward to working with this committee to stay on that path. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to testify today and I look forward to answering any questions. General, thank you for your opening statement. Uh, Mr.
▶ 0:22:49Cameron, uh, good morning, sir. You are now recognized for five minutes for your opening statement. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, Chairman Fleshman, Ranking Member Captor, members of the subcommittee, delighted to be with you this morning to talk about uh the president's fiscal 2026 budget blueprint request for the Bureau of Reclamation and uh discuss what our team is doing to make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous.
▶ 0:23:15Reclamation's projects and programs serve as the water and power infrastructure backb backbone of the American West constituting an important driver of economic growth in hundreds of basins throughout the 17 western states. Reclamation manages water for agriculture, hydropower production, municipal and industrial use and provides flood control and recreation for 90 million people.
▶ 0:23:39Reclamation's activities support economic activity valued at 64 billion and support approximately 500,000 jobs. Reclamation delivers 10 trillion gallons of water to millions of people each year and provides water for irrigation of 10 million acres of farmland, which yields approximately 25% of a nation's fruit and nut crops and 60% of a nation's vegetable harvest.
▶ 0:24:05Bureau of Reclamation's 2026 budget blueprint of 1.2 billion focuses on the core mission of maintaining assets that provide safe, reliable, and efficient management of water resources throughout the western States. The water and related resources appropriations account is a primary source of discretionary appropriations for carrying out reclamation's mission to manage, develop, and protect water and related resources in the western US.
▶ 0:24:34This account supports the planning, construction, operations, maintenance, and rehabilitation of reclamation projects that deliver water for agricultural, municipal, and industrial use, generate significant amounts of hydroelectric power, and support environmental stewardship and recreation. It also supports programs that promote water conservation, improve infrastructure reliability, and ensure compliance with applicable environmental laws.
▶ 0:25:00Within the water related resources account, appropriations are organized into several of functioning um categories. Land management and development covers the stewardship of federal lands associated with reclamation projects including recreation, cultural resources, and public safety.
▶ 0:25:20The fish and wildlife management area develops uh development supports species and habitat protection ensuring compliance with the endangered species act and other environmental statutes. Facility operations ensures that reclamation dams, canals, and power plants operate safely and efficiently to deliver water and power generation to our communities.
▶ 0:25:44As the chairman mentioned uh earlier, Indian water rights is a significant uh concern for the Bureau of Reclamation and uh within a budget constrained environment, we intend to do everything we can to meet our obligations uh to tribes. The Central Valley project includes multiple divisions including the American River Division, Delta and the Trinity River Division.
▶ 0:26:08Together they maintain and modernize facilities and increase water conveyance to Southern California and the Sanwaqin Valley. The Clamoth project in Oregon and California ensures operational flexibility for irrigation deliveries and natural resource management. The Bureau of Reclamation's work on the Colorado River is increasingly important, especially in light of a 2026 exploration of of a number of agreements.
▶ 0:26:34We are working very closely at a senior level very intensively with the governor's representatives of all seven basin states to help them find a mutually agreeable path forward realizing that it needs to be a state uh a driven um solution. In summary, uh M Mr. Chairman and uh members of the subcommittee look forward to uh answering your questions and thank you for your time and I thank you Mr. Cameron.
▶ 0:27:02Uh we will now begin with questions for five minutes. I'm going to ask everybody to please hold their questions to five minutes because we have other people having to move in and out with other hearings going on. Uh beginning with my own. Um General Graham, thank you again for being with us a second time this year. You and I have already discussed the importance of finishing the job on Chikamaga Locker. I was disappointed with last year's setback caused by an uncompetitive bid environment.
▶ 0:27:32Many projects have faced similar challenges in recent years. With the revised contract country currently out for bid, what steps has the core taken to enhance competition and avoid similar problems? Are there lessons learned that can be applied across the enterprise? Uh, finally, more generally, it seems like Chikamaga Lock is out ahead of several ongoing inland waterway construction projects.
▶ 0:27:57In what ways are you leveraging this project as a learning opportunity to improve project delivery across the nation? Thank you, Chairman Fleshman, thank you for that question. specifically on increasing competition at Chikamonga.
▶ 0:28:15A lot of our facilities are in remote areas where and as the ranking member mentioned earlier, the Sue Lock and Dam is another example where we've got to go um and make the steps necessary to attract contractors and the labor force to go to these remote areas.
▶ 0:28:33So the lesson learned from the um unsuccessful last um project award is we have a targeted marketing campaign that we've had ongoing to reach out to the 26 largest prime contractors that do this work. The pool of contractors, general contractors that do this work that have the bonding capacity to do this level of work is fairly limited and we know who those are.
▶ 0:28:57So this time around the district and with support from its division were much more targeted in reaching out to those those contractors. They held virtual site visits to attract talent and we I'm happy to announce we had 74 attendees um join us for that virtual site visit.
▶ 0:29:16And then they did before the proposals went out, they did on-site pre-proposal site visits, and we had over a two-day period, 75 contractors showed up on the first day, 24 showed up on the second day. And so that's many, many more than we've had at um the pre-proposal visits in the past. And so that's a best practice. And for all of our uh construction projects in remote areas, Mr. Chairman, we we plan to make sure that the districts are following those those best practices.
▶ 0:29:45Um, so your your second question was how are we getting better at making sure that we've got the right team doing the design work and doing the construction work. We've consolidated that. Um, Chikamonga and the Kentucky Lock and Dam, those two Tennessee River projects, those are legacy projects. We haven't done work that way for 10 years. What we do now is all the design for the inland system is with one center, the Inland Nav Design Center. Just like how you get good at anything, it's reps and sets.
▶ 0:30:13And so we're not building locks and dams in all the districts throughout the country. We're doing them in uh one or two specific districts at any given time. And so that will concentrate the design reps and sets. The second thing we're doing then is once you design it, you got to build it. And so we're concentrating the contracting and then the construction into two districts. And those will be Pittsburgh and Rock Island. And that'll give them the reps and sets.
▶ 0:30:40In fact, Pittsburgh just took over the construction of the Kentucky Lock and Dam. We're leaving Chikamonga with uh the Nashville district with close oversight, and we're confident that we'll get that this contract awarded um this summer and we'll get this block up into operation by 28. Thank you, sir. Uh in my remaining time, Mr. Mr. Cameron, thank you for your opening remarks about Indian water rights and settlements very important to us and I think members on both sides of the dis.
▶ 0:31:10Can you provide us a status update for uh for the subcommittee on ongoing settlements and recognizing you can't share the details about the requests? Uh can you please speak to the administration's big picture plans and vision for delivering on those commitments? Mindful we have less than a Uh Mr. Chairman, we are focused primarily on the statutory deadlines for fulfilling our financial obligations to Indian tribes. That's the top priority.
▶ 0:31:38The uh the second priority is working with tribes to figure out how they might contribute to uh broader settlement of water rights issues on a regional basis and water allocation such as in the Colorado River Basin. Thank you, sir. Uh, at this time I would like to recognize the ranking member, Miss Captor, for five minutes for Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Um, thank you for your testimony.
▶ 0:32:07Uh, General Graham, I wanted to, um, ask your help um, and you already are helping with your fuse wrap program, uh, for the, um, areas that have been contaminated around our country. And one of these is in northwest Ohio in the town of Lucky, not far from where I grew up and still live today.
▶ 0:32:28The Toledo Blade over the last uh couple of months has done superb reporting on the history of this site and the horrors done to the workers and surrounding community uh during the Cold War as part of the nuclear weapons race under the purview of the former atomic energy commission. Um if I, Mr. Mr. Chairman, if I could, I'd like to place on the record uh two important articles from the blade on this topic. Without objection, so ordered.
▶ 0:32:58Thank you very much. Uh General Graham and Miss Coliseimo, uh as part of this reporting, the Blade discovered radioactive substances in multiple locations around the Lucky Site which were above normal. You have been very proactive, thank you, in communicating with me and my staff on this topic. Uh, however, one of the things you told my office was that you had confirmed that the radioactive materials discovered by the blade were not related to the lucky site. Did we understand that correctly?
▶ 0:33:27Is that still your position? Yes, ma'am. It is. Okay. Can you please explain to me what other possible sources of this magnitude of radiation might be responsible for its presence in this area if not for the lucky site? Ranking member Captor. Thank you. We remain confident that no food wrap related material has migrated off the lucky site and we're committed to self or a safe remediation of that site. I understand what happened in St.
▶ 0:33:56Louis is a possible analog to what's happening in our area. Uh in that case the contamination was migrating through the soil to the water. Is that a possible explanation here? Not that I'm aware of. I'm very concerned about this situation. would like to have more clarity on what's in the water, what's in the soil, and what the dangers are to this region. Can you commit to me that you will get the water and soil tested?
▶ 0:34:19Working with our state um partners with Ohio EPA, um we they're they're the ones that are currently doing the water testing and so we are being absolutely transparent with them with what is on the Lucky site and our remediation plan. Um, can you commit to me uh that you'll continue to keep us informed of everything that is going on out there, even to do a public briefing at some point uh in the region? Absolutely.
▶ 0:34:49Thank you very much. Um, I want to change topics to Brandon Road. Uh the Brandon Road project is aimed at arresting the economic and environmental damage unleashed by the unfortunate migration of um Asian carb species that will definitely eliminate our massive fishery if allowed to proceed up into the Great Lakes. It's vital that the Brandon Road project proceed in a timely manner.
▶ 0:35:13Could you kindly, General Graeme, tell us the status in getting all federal and state entities on the same page to proceed with the project? Ranking member Captor. Thank you for that question. On Brandon Roads, the president had signed a memo in support of that on the 9th of May. And on that same date, Governor Pritsker had a press release saying that his needs are met and that Illinois is working to get the necessary real estate.
▶ 0:35:38So with that in hand, we released the solicitation for contract 1A last Friday. And what that first contract for is for the bubbling system and the acoustic system. This is part of a multi-layered defense. And so that contract has been released and once that's awarded and constructed that will be the start of fish deterrence which is great news. All right.
▶ 0:36:02Uh is it possible for your staff to get us the um press release or whatever went out seeking uh contractors in that area? Yes, ma'am. Appreciate that very much. Um do we assume that the fiscal year 2026 budget uh request will include the full capability for the Brandon Road project? Uh ma'am, we're certainly going to put forth the best estimate we can and have the administration consider it.
▶ 0:36:31Um we do expect to have that FY26 here soon, but the president um signaling his interest in this project and support of it will be a helpful action there. Thank you very much. Um I'm going to really switch to another subject here. Uh, General uh, Graham, do you share General Spelman's goal of 70% use of dredge material for uh, beneficial use by 2030? Absolutely you do. Uh, thank you very much on that.
▶ 0:37:00Um, my time is expired and uh, thank you so very much for answering our questions this morning. And thank you, Ranking Member Captain. We will have a second round for anybody who who would like to ask additional questions. At this time, I'd like to uh recognize my friend uh Mr. Simpson of of Idaho is chairman of the Interior Subcommittee uh of appropriation and has also served as distinguished chair of this subcommittee in the past. Mr. Simpson, you're recognized for five minutes. Thank you, Mr.
▶ 0:37:29Chairman, and thank you all for being here today. You're the largest construction company in the world, and you do a great job, and you have uh projects in every congressional district, I believe, and uh we sometimes complain, but we're really good at that. So, I'll start off by complaining just a little bit. No, not really. I've been working on a project, Gooding Idaho, the Gooding Wall Replacement, for about 20 years now. In fact, I've been told by some of my constituents down there that I can't retire and enjoy the rest of my life until this gets done.
▶ 0:37:58So, you're affecting my future by not getting this done. Uh, the design for the project seemed to be moving along just fine. Uh, until the core recently had to increase its cost estimates for the project. Now the city of Gooding will have to consider alternatives including shrinking the project's footprint and attempting to get more funding in order to keep the project moving forward. Seems to me we are going in a we are going a bit out of order here.
▶ 0:38:23Are there ways the Army Corps of Engineers could do things differently or uh authorities that Congress could provide you all that we have better ideas of the true cost of these projects before we have funded them. And along that same line, depending on how Gooding wants to proceed, we may approach the 902 limit for the project.
▶ 0:38:42Should we hit that limit, do I have your commitment that the core will do its part in providing the information needed to increase the project's authorized level and will continue to do the work to express capabilities in future fiscal years. Represent Simpson, thank you for that question. On the last part of the question first, absolutely on the 902 limit on um the cost increases. We absolutely have to do a better job that last hearing that was our commitment to this subcommittee and that all starts with getting the engineering right.
▶ 0:39:13No more putting out a programming number where we're unsure about the um what it is we're going to build. Right? You can say, "Hey, I want to go build a house and put a number out there. But until you know you want a threecar garage, uh, four bedrooms and three bathrooms with a walk-in pantry, you don't really know with good certitude what that construction project is likely to cost. And in the past, we have done that.
▶ 0:39:37We have asked for authorization where we don't really have the scope defined and because we don't have the engineering advanced at least up to 35% design. So on gooding, that's a a case where we absolutely have to make sure we get the engineering right at the beginning. Thank you. I appreciate that. And just remember, you're affecting my future and the enjoyment of my future. Anyway, uh one other question, a couple others.
▶ 0:40:02The Snake River quaga m quaga muscles, as you know, in 2023, we found quaga muscles in the Columbia Basin starting in the Snake River and uh the Department of Agriculture in Idaho started a eradication program. The core is currently partnered with the state of Idaho in its efforts to control the spread of these quaga muscles uh in the Columbia River Basin. is authorized to provide up to 50% cost share for rapid response efforts on quaga muscles. What is the current status of the core's reimbursement to the state of Idaho for eligible expenses in the quaga mice quaga muscle treatment?
▶ 0:40:35Represent Simpson, thanks for that. The aquatic plant control uh project remains currently funded. Um but we will run out of funding in that program at the end of We'll try to make a change in that. Okay. Uh I'm going to ask a question about Albany Falls Dam in North Idaho on Lake Pere.
▶ 0:40:59Uh the core has determined that the the uh that the locks are the uh locks are are inadequate or are defective and that probably all of them are and so they're going to have to be replaced.
▶ 0:41:12the community in North Idaho this I mean this affects the level of the lakes and so forth and the community this recreation is a huge issue uh up there and so the lake levels change because of that because you're conservatively man monitoring that the communities are concerned that this your estimate that it may take till the end of the decade to replace this is that where we still are that it will take that long represent Simpson we absolutely understand that um the risk reduction measures we've had to take place
▶ 0:41:43by lower the pool that that affects the users around the lake and we take that very seriously but the spillway gates need repaired. They're in design right now and like I said earlier with a good engineering estimate then we can put a good construction estimate out there. But our commitment to you is to get those gates repaired and get the lake level back to its uh water control manual levels as soon as possible. Thank you. Uh Mr. Cameron, one other question. I'm glad as the chairman is that you mentioned Indian water rights.
▶ 0:42:11it's going to eat the interior budget. Uh these these water right settlements are enormous cost. Uh we've wondered why they don't come out of the judgment fund like other settlements do that the federal government engages in. But that's something we'll have to explore. Uh but I wanted to ask you what is the water outlook for Idaho right now uh for the upcoming growing season? Uh Mr. Simpson um the the West is in chronic drought in most places. Uh it varies obviously regionally.
▶ 0:42:42Uh my understanding is that Idaho is probably not much worse than most of the rest of the West and some parts of the state are actually in better shape. Thank you all for being here and for what you do. Mr. Simpson, I I thank you again for all you do and for your questions. At this time, I'd like to recognize my friend and colleague uh Mr. Lean uh of California for five minutes. I thank my friend the chairman and I thank you all for being here.
▶ 0:43:08Uh the Army Corps Civil Works program has a long history of funding critical infrastructure work for water resource development. In California, where I'm from, that's often included flood control and beach nourishment. And the core strength as an institution rests in nonpartisanship and in its ability to provide engineering and construction support regardless of political affiliation. The nonpartisan nature of the core ensures that projects are executed objectively and meet the needs of the public.
▶ 0:43:37I think that all of us in this room can agree that our vital infrastructure simply should never be partisan. So, uh, Miss Colossimo, I was shocked when I saw the core released its fiscal 25 work plan last week, which zeroed out funding for critical construction projects in California.
▶ 0:43:57And when you dig deeper into the numbers, you see that the administration has shifted more than $250 million away from the construction of critical infrastructure projects in the so-called blue states like California and Washington and moved it to the so-called red states. Miss Coloss, do you agree that the core should operate in a nonpartisan manner? Yes, sir. We should always be I appreciate that.
▶ 0:44:25I have the numbers right in front of me that indicate that that may not be taking place. The core decided not to fund projects in California that were in the fiscal 25 budget requests and included in both the House and Senate bills on a bipartisan basis. That includes $34.4 million for the American River Common Futures Project, $ 38.5 million for the Pajaro River Project, $10 million for the Sanwaqin River Basin project, and $43.5 million for the West Sacramento project.
▶ 0:44:51simply does not make sense that the most populous state in the country should receive zero dollars for construction work. And this isn't limited to California. In total, the so-called blue states saw a reduction of nearly half a billion dollars, while the so-called red states saw an increase of $257 million. I'm going to repeat, these core projects should be nonpartisan. They should be focused on saving lives, reducing damage to property, and spurring local economies.
▶ 0:45:21And this is what I think a lot of us feared when we saw that our colleagues rushed through the continuing resolution that stripped Congress's ability to direct funds with state and local input and instead gave all discretion to the administration to unilaterally decide how to dole out taxpayer funds. I would hope that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle find this as distasteful as I do. This is a lousy precedent that's being set here.
▶ 0:45:47Miss Colossimo and General Graham, can you both commit to standing up against efforts in future work plans and budget requests that would further politicize the Army Corps budgeting Yes, sir, if I may. Um, we we always put forth the best projects. Um, in this case, it's a dicey situation as you said. Um, you know, the House and Senate marks were around three billion and we were at the continuing resolution of about 1.8. So, they made hard choices, the administration did, and they had that discretion.
▶ 0:46:15Do you reclaiming my time, do you have any other possible explanation for the way the administration wants to uh distribute these funds other than partisanship? They want to prioritize life, safety, flooding, and American prosperity. And you think all the projects in California, Washington, other states don't do that? That's not my judgment to make. That was what they prioritized within the funds that they had discretion to allocate. Right. General, would you care to comment on this? Uh, I go with Miss Cosimo. Let me guess. No, you don't want to comment on this.
▶ 0:46:45Uh, Mr. Cameron, you want to comment on Uh, sir, I've got no insight at all into the core's budgetary process. I can tell you at Interior the Bureau of Reclamation, we try to invest our dollars where we can manage uh the produce the greatest benefit and the greatest public safety based on uh the technical and the engineering aspects of these projects. Do you feel that that has been done?
▶ 0:47:09That taking money $250 million away from the so-called blue states, giving it to the so-called red states, do you think that that's consistent with solid engineering and technical work that's been done on these projects? Do you really believe that, Miss Clausmo? I believe all the projects put forth are good projects. That's not what I asked. What I said was I believe they were all good projects. How they stack against the projects one by one is difficult to answer in one sound bite.
▶ 0:47:35Well, you have believe they represent the priorities administration of life, safety, flooding, and coastal. You already said that. Try again. That's what I believe. Okay. You think that this was all on the level? You don't think there's any partisansship at all? You believe they had to make trade-offs that I was not privy to? Right. And those uh trade-offs were of a partisan nature, weren't they? I don't believe they were partisan, but that's their decision. You don't believe they were partisan? So, what's the explanation if it's not partisanship? It's the priorities they placed that were different than priorities than other projects. You would have to ask them directly.
▶ 0:48:04I'm out I'm out of time, but I I find your uh testimony to be completely uh unbelievable. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Leven. Uh going in the order of how folks showed up, I now recognize my friend and colleague, Miss Lee of Nevada for five minutes. I was waiting for a Republican, but okay. Thank you. Give me these rules and I try to be even. I'll take it. Uh well, thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 0:48:34Thank you all for being here. Uh Mr. Cameron, I obviously am concerned about uh the water negotiations on the Colorado River. And as we gather here, as you know, the American Southwest is and confronting the effects of the worst drought in 1200 years.
▶ 0:48:53In fact, our local newspaper just had an article on basically saying we expect Lake Meade uh the water runoff to be about at 55% of average in this summer. So, it's just getting worse. And so, these negotiations are incredibly important. 40 million people, including my constituents, rely on the Colorado River.
▶ 0:49:17Uh so s you know successfully coming to an agreement and implementing new operating guidelines is incredibly important. I heard you say I just want to get conf confirmation that the bureau is prioritizing a consensusbased approach uh to crafting these guidelines as it has done during previous uh negotiations. Is that correct? Uh absolutely.
▶ 0:49:43Congressman Lee when uh I first greet the secretary on the Colorado uh he gave me three orders. The first is department's senior political leadership will be working intensely with the seven states. The second uh priority or second decision was he really wants a sevenst state solution and we are to work aggressively with the seven states to achieve achieve that.
▶ 0:50:05The third is in the unfortunate we hope unlikely circumstance that the seven states can't come to an agreement he'll exercise his responsibility as water master in lower basin. Great. Um I you know I would be remiss if I didn't alert you to an amendment that was passed in the middle of the night during the natural resources uh markup of this big bad bill that is being negotiated in the rules committee as we speak.
▶ 0:50:34and I may have to leave uh to go propose an amendment, but it sets a precedent for the one for the selling of public lands uh which my colleague Mr. Simpson uh adamantly opposes. But more concerning to our work is it sets the stage for a potential water grab by the state of Utah uh throwing a wrench into these already enormously complicated uh negotiations.
▶ 0:51:02And so, uh, I hope to get, uh, reassurance from you and the bureau that we can ensure that this type of water grab, uh, would be addressed in these negotiations. Um, Congressman, I'm unfamiliar with what happened last night, what I can can tell you is, uh, as recently as last week in Sacramento, met with the representatives of seven basin states, and they were making substantial progress together in a very cooperative fashion.
▶ 0:51:30And I' I've got to give John Enzinger, the Nevada state rep, credit. He's been a real leader and been very creative on these things. So really value Nevada's, you know, active involvement. Absolutely. Well, you know, our economy and our life depends on it. Uh so I just want to alert you to that. I hope that uh you and your staff will take that into consideration.
▶ 0:51:53Um, I want to now turn to uh the skinny budget that we saw that uh saw a $69 million reduction for for the bureau, which is crazy. Uh, and you know, we didn't get too many specifics, but I am hearing some concerning reports that this includes uh may include zeroing out funding for the water smart program altogether.
▶ 0:52:23Now listen, this is a highly successful program. When you want to talk about dealing with these negotiations, I think we should be doing everything possible for reduction and re use of water. Uh but this basically allows the the rec bureau to work with western states to limit water loss uh by providing grant funding that has been critical for projects in Nevada such as converting 1.5 million acre feet or square feet of
▶ 0:52:53uh athletic fields to water friendly turf. Um, you know, I hope I I just want to confirm. Am I hearing only rumors or is this uh what is coming down the pike? Um, not in a position, as you know, to talk about the details of the president's budget at this point.
▶ 0:53:12I can tell you that water conservation particularly in the Colorado drainage is a is a priority of this administration and we'll look uh use every tool at our uh disposal to work with the seven basin states to achieve the water conservation goals in both the upper and lower basins. All right. You know, it's already been uh just before I close out, it's been brought to my attention that existing water smart funding opportunities have been under review.
▶ 0:53:40So, I hope we can get your assurance that uh these already appropriated water smart initiatives uh will still remain open for application. Uh Congressman, I believe actually we're sometime this summer we're going to be coming out with the FY25 water smart uh notice of funding opportunity. So, uh yeah, they they are in the pipeline. Okay. Thank you, Miss Lee. I thank you for your questions.
▶ 0:54:10At this time, I'd like to recognize my friend, the distinguished gentleman from California and the chair of the defense subcommittee of appropriations, uh, Mr. Calbert. Thank you. Great. Thank you. Thank you. And, General, thank you for what you're doing in LA. I know you're ahead of schedule, hope be done, but by July, I understand, on the cleanup part of uh, of that disaster. And so, we want to work with you to make sure that uh, that it's done right.
▶ 0:54:36Most of the people signed up for it, just the minimous number unfortunately did not, but uh so looks like it's on schedule and you're going to get it all done by July. We are on track right now to to meet that need. I know that it was important to try to get Pacific Coast Highway open and we're working with uh the governor of California on that as we speak. Great. And I I understand that some of u facilities are going to be used for the 28 Olympics.
▶ 0:55:05And so u are they budgeting for that? Is the budget going to support the core's involvement in that national effort? Representative Calbert, I I don't have the answer to that question right now, but as soon as we know that, we'll share that with you. Let let us know. And regarding these negotiations with the upper and lower basin states in California, obviously California is like always a donor state.
▶ 0:55:29And so um you know with the water rights primarily with Imperial Irrigation District and other agencies in Southern California. So, uh I know those negotiations are ongoing, but uh obviously have to recognize those previous water rights and we we love our friends in Nevada and Arizona and elsewhere, but uh that that has to be worked out delicately.
▶ 0:55:56More water lawyers involved in that than I can count. Uh but to make up for that, uh we're going to need additional water delivery uh from the north to the south. um uh and obviously the Sanwaqin Delta and uh trying to move this conveyance system along. Um how are we how's that moving along? Unfortunately, we didn't go with a dualpipe system.
▶ 0:56:23We would have had it built by now, but nonetheless, how's the single pipe system coming? Um so, a couple thoughts, Mr. Calbert. Um the first is I can assure you I am reminded almost on a weekly basis of who's got senior water rights everywhere in in the Colorado basin. So it's not something anyone lets me forget and we're you know we're very mindful of that.
▶ 0:56:45Uh speaking in terms of the the Delta and the Central Valley project, um more generally, uh the administration is working very hard with the uh uh the water districts uh both uh north of the Delta and south of the Delta to come up with a a water management regime that will allow more water uh to to to head south. Uh we're lucky this year Shasta is fairly close to full uh which is a which is a good thing.
▶ 0:57:14Uh but uh it's unlikely that that'll be the pattern, you know, year after year after year. So, we definitely need more water storage uh in California. There's no no doubt about that. Uh we've got no particular position on the governor's, you know, latest proposal for uh additional uh conveyance. We're we're watching that closely. We're interested. Anything that creates more flexibility in terms of how we manage water in California would be very helpful and and and very much appreciated.
▶ 0:57:43Well, obviously we we need to build sites. I'm going to have a meeting on that later today. And uh you know, hopefully that is going to be all the approvals are going to be finalized here very soon. And we're actually going to get that under construction. And uh and of course, I hope uh Shasta, you know, to me is we've been going through the permitting process for so long on Shasta that hopefully we can get an agreement to we're only going to raise that what 16 18 ft.
▶ 0:58:12But that delivers about 600,000 acre feet of wet water. So it also works as well for water management. So I hope we can do that. Also, uh, one last question to you, General. Um, obviously the LA district's been actively involved in several projects in my district, the Praau Dam, Marriott Creek project, which I'd like to hopefully see completed in my lifetime. Not just like Mr. Simpson's time in Congress, within my lifetime.
▶ 0:58:41So, um, how are we doing on those Representative Calbertt on Marietta Creek, uh, phase 2 Bravo should be awarded in June of this year. So, we're excited to see that move forward and we're re um engineering the phase 2 Charlie and we'll work to fit that in within available funding on PRAA. delighted to see that the base pre-construction service contract was awarded in April of this year.
▶ 0:59:11And what that allow us to do is to make sure that we have a construction contractor looking at our design and they'll have an opportunity to go ahead and do the construction um which we hope to get out next year. Just one final comment if I can, Mr. Chairman, but I was around when we had the devastating floods in the early 90s that wiped out all those helicopters at Camp Pendleton.
▶ 0:59:33Santa Margarita Creek overflowed and you know it's a huge cost when that I forget the number but it was a big number so we don't want that to happen again so I hope we can keep Mirana Creek on track and finish that up chair. Great thank you and that does have downstream consequence even to my friend Mr. Leven because that goes into his district. So there's a project I hope to get funded in California. Thank you Mr. Calbertt.
▶ 1:00:01At this time, I'd like to recognize my friend and colleague from Indiana, Mr. Mvin, for five minutes. Thank you, chairman. Thank you, panel. Uh, I want to follow up on a line of questioning from our oversight hearing in February. Uh, there's an issue with finding storage for contaminated sentiment in the harbors. This is extremely costly. In the case of the Michigan City Harbor, this hampers the core's ability to dredge the entirety of the channel. When I asked uh Major Condre about the issue in February, there was not a clear answers on the path forward to address this issue.
▶ 1:00:32Specifically, uh what is being done to find additional capacity for dredged materials? Uh and what are some of the specific challenges that you can point to that Congress might be able to helpful be helpful in addressing? Representative Mvin, thank you for that question. Um and we we are tracking closely the dredge material disposal site uh at the edge of the Calat River where it meets Lake Michigan.
▶ 1:01:00Um with the change of support from Illinois, what that has allowed us to do is to in the in the lawsuit um being dismissed now we can have open discussions with the state which are ongoing right now which is okay, what's next? We weren't able to do that before. So, we got that uh cleared out of our way. And so, those those discussions are ongoing. What are the discussions? What are the hurdles that have to be overcome with those discussions? It it's location, location, location.
▶ 1:01:29Where where's the material going to go? What are the options? Uh I I don't have that that at my fingertips, but we can get that to you. What's the timeline in which a decision might be I don't know. uh what as a member of Congress can we do or Congress can we do to to find new capacity? What is your percentage of that working out with Illinois?
▶ 1:01:55Um so right now we have nowhere to put that material I believe as as you well know. Um and our commitment is to continue to work with the state to find a viable solution. So you're working with the state of Illinois for a viable solution. That's correct. If that is not a viable solution, whether what's option B or C?
▶ 1:02:16Um, we have taken a look to see if we can use other CDFs around the area, particularly maybe down in Indiana, but uh the district reports that the capacity for those are already claimed. So that's not viable right now. Okay. As my colleague had mentioned, it is a viable obviously this this sentiment is going to keep coming up, right?
▶ 1:02:40Uh when we talk about commerce, when we talk about the steel industry, when we talk about having the navigable ability to be able to get through those waters, it all is contingent upon the dredging of the sentiment. But yet, we don't have an answer to where that sentiment might go, which is holding up projects. absolutely agree the importance of the Great Lakes harbors to the economy of the region is tremendously important.
▶ 1:03:07Also acknowledge that there's a great deal of uh concern out there that from the legacy pollution that is in those sediments that the public rightfully fears that you know they don't want that to do any more harm. And so that's our commitment and I know that's not absolutely right. I'm I want to protect the community first and have clean waterways second. Sir, absolutely. And so um right now or before we had a roadblock that we couldn't advance discussions with the state because of the lawsuit.
▶ 1:03:35That roadblock has been cleared and now so those discussions are ongoing. So we'll if we believe that and um more engagement by any of the the the Great Lakes um congressional representatives would be helpful, we'll certainly reach out. Okay. Um what I'm asking for and getting to is that we have an open line of communications uh that my office along with the department the army corps is able to understand what the path forward is.
▶ 1:04:00So the impact that it has on those projects going forward we have an understanding of what will be going on and the protection of our communities. Um and then on a micro scale uh northwest Indiana is near Chicago. Chicago headquarters was on the list to be eliminated. It's now off the list. Uh there is a small office in Griffith that allows people to use as a workstation. Uh that is on the list.
▶ 1:04:27Um what is the current situation with obviously to assure me that the Chicago headquarters stays there because that is the capacity that the federal building didn't have the ability for them to move into. And then secondly, what is the Calmed office in Griffith's future look like?
▶ 1:04:46uh rep the the district is staying put the area office um we're still working this with GSA but we have our own real estate authorities that I can enter into yearbyearby-year leases if we need to and we'll exercise that real estate authority if we have to. We're trying to find a more efficient way. Okay. Uh if we can find an efficient way to keep that simply because it has to do with the the productivity that's right of what goes on in my district. and I thank you very much for your time.
▶ 1:05:15I yield back. Thank you, Mr. Mvin. At this time, I'd like to recognize my friend and colleague from Washington, Mr. New House, for five minutes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Appreciate that very much. Thank you all for being with us this morning and thanks for your work. Um, such an important topic in the arid West. I want to direct my first question to you, Mr. Cameron. Uh, first of all, appreciate your response to a letter that my office sent to you.
▶ 1:05:43as long as as well as some my colleagues co-signed the letter um regarding the imminent failure of the Akmati irrigation district canal. It's in my district. Certainly look forward to working together with you to find solutions to prevent this canal uh from devastating impacts of of impact impending failure.
▶ 1:06:06I know the bureau's aware of the current state of the canal and certainly the importance to the area and the lives and livelihoods literally hanging in the balance because of the situation there. Um, what I'd like to do is just respond and and what some of you you mentioned in your letter uh that you've directed the bureau to provide any assistance necessary to the district to prepare and submit an application uh for the aging infrastructure account and to f further evaluate
▶ 1:06:36whether the activities qualify as an emergency extraordinary u operation and maintenance work and that you expect a final decision sometime very soon by this fall so that work could commence as early as 26. I just want to uh tell you how important it is to adhere to the uh timeline in order to prevent the catastrophic impacts of failure of this canal which you know I usually we like to say it could happen this it's imminent.
▶ 1:07:05It's just the situation is such that it's not a matter of if but it's a matter of when and so we have to be as prepared as possible. So just would love to have your commitment to continue continue working with my office and the irrigation district to make sure that this work happens. Uh Mr. New House, you're absolutely correct. It's a very bad situation. Uh I've met with representatives from the area on at least one maybe two or three occasions.
▶ 1:07:32Uh actually uh we were able to provide a a small emergency grant. we were able to provide um a loan and as you indicated there will be an opportunity to submit a proposal. Yeah, it's a very bad situation and we are monitoring it carefully. We want to be as cooperative as we possibly can to uh reduce the uh public health and safety risk and the economic risk. Yes. To the to the area. It truly is an all hands-on deck situation. So, I appreciate your your commitment.
▶ 1:08:02Uh thank you. Um uh then I'd like to direct a question to you, General Graham, Lieutenant General. Thank you for being with us this morning. I wanted to draw your attention to two very important construction projects that are imperative to the movement of over 31 billion billion dollars worth of cargo annually on the Columbia Snake River system. And certainly the first of that is the South Jetty located at the mouth of the system.
▶ 1:08:28requires at least $30 million in additional funding to complete the the rehabilitation project which is certainly critical from pre preventing sand from impeding the navigation channel in the event of a breach. Second, it's my understanding that the gate replacement at Bonavville and McNary locks is being planned for 2030. As you know, an unplanned outage could be detrimental to the entire system and there are no redundant locks.
▶ 1:08:54I must acknowledge the men and women of the core perform regular maintenance on this infrastructure that's critical to prevent an outage impacts navigation on the entire system. These projects were not included in the recently released FY25 work plan and I'm concerned that the work will extend beyond the 2030 date uh target because of a series of components and systems that need to be repaired or replaced in sequence between now and then to stay on track.
▶ 1:09:22So just a question as to how you will work with the Portland and Walaw Wala districts to ensure they're able to complete the the jetty rehabilitation and that was started almost 10 years ago I believe as well as stay on track for the 2030 gate replacements in a planned and coordinated fashion. Yeah, represent new house. Thank you for those questions.
▶ 1:09:44absolutely committed to making sure that the Columbia River system m is maintained as a reliable uh engine of commerce for the Pacific Northwest. I've got a daughter that lives in Portland and so I get out there as often as I can. It is it's it's amazing.
▶ 1:09:59Um, so our commitment to make sure that the South Jetty work, critical work, that that continues, as well as on Bonnyville and McNary, making sure that the cranes are in good repair to be able to move the gates and that the the gate maintenance is on track for 2030 and we'll continue to work with your office to keep you informed. Okay, we look forward to that as the work plan can moves forward. So, thank you very much again. Thank you all for being here. Mr. Chairman, I yield and I thank you, Mr. New House.
▶ 1:10:29At this time, I'd like to recognize my friend and the chairman of the House Ethics Committee, Mr. Guest of Mississippi, for five minutes. Uh, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, to our witnesses, uh, thank you for joining us uh, today. Uh, as we begin, I want to first mention the incredible work the research and development uh, that we see the Army Corps is conducting at your sites across the country.
▶ 1:10:53uh know that there are seven labs across four states, New Hampshire, Illinois, Virginia, and then my home state of Mississippi. So, I always want to take a moment to brag about the incredible work uh and what I believe is a substantial return on investment that those sites provide not only the Army Corps of Engineers, but the American public as a whole.
▶ 1:11:15Um, as we start looking at uh FY 26 budgets, um, I see that at least the information we have, we see a reduction in the Army Corps of Engineer budget. Um, and while I and other members of this committee want to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars, um, I believe that the funding of the Army Corps of Engineers is an investment. Uh, it is an investment um, for the American public.
▶ 1:11:42uh unlike some other spending that uh the federal government um may authorize um the money that we spend on the Army Corps of Engineers is extremely important uh and you do some amazing work and so as we look at the potential of a reduction in budget going into the next budgetary cycle I know that the Army Corps manages a large portfolio of of infrastructure across the country. some of that infrastructure is aging.
▶ 1:12:08Uh and so uh can you talk just generally uh about um how we're going to uh make sure that with a reduction in budget uh that we are delivering on the commitments that we've made to various communities across our nation. So if I may um I think just like we were talking about earlier with Mr. Leven, we're going to continue to focus on the priorities of the administration, right?
▶ 1:12:34So I would expect those same priorities to be focused on life safety, flooding and American prosperity. That extends a broad net. It doesn't mean other things aren't included, but we believe that will be the initial umbrella under which we will fall. And there are many many investments there. Uh and then want to talk just about uh one instance uh specific to my district.
▶ 1:12:57Um um I know that um as we continue to move forward uh we have issues at times with staffing with with personnel. Um press release came out uh just uh today uh from the uh Army Corps of Engineers Mobile District uh announcing the closure of roughly half a dozen recreational sites uh across um their uh area of control.
▶ 1:13:24um uh one of those uh there uh in my home state of Mississippi um uh in which is a 3,800 acre lake about 11,000 total acreages uh within the recreational area uh that has been closed at least temporarily.
▶ 1:13:42uh no um uh time frame as to how long those uh closures will last as we come into Memorial Day, as we come into the Fourth of July, the summer months where people would be much more likely to use these recreational areas uh and also these recreational areas have an economic impact uh to the businesses that serve those. Um uh concerned uh that these temporary closures uh may last through the summer. well into the summer.
▶ 1:14:12Uh again, the times in which these facilities would be most used um we see the the these at least this facility that I'm talking about specifically is being shuttered indefinitely. Uh and so I just uh ask one and I hope that this is the exception to the rule that we don't see widespread closures across the country.
▶ 1:14:33Uh but I would just ask for a commitment from uh each of you that that you would look into the closings of this facility and and the facilities in general uh to see that these facilities reopen as quickly as possible knowing that we need to make sure the facilities are properly maintained. Uh that we are providing safety for those individuals that use those facilities, but balancing maintenance and public safety also with the uh use of those facilities.
▶ 1:15:00Uh, and so if y'all would each promise me that y'all would uh look into the reopening of these facilities as quickly as possible, I would greatly appreciate it. If anyone would like to respond further, uh, we'd be happy to, but not asking for a more thorough response than that. I I would like to respond briefly if that's okay. Um, appreciate you raising this, right? The recreation is an incidental mission for all of our projects, right? But a huge one to the local economy and what people see every day in their lives.
▶ 1:15:26And yet we're find ourselves in the situation where we're downsizing our workforce because of voluntary um departures from federal service. And that's hit some places hard and recreation is the first one that's really coming about. And so we are working with the core to work through a process to figure out how we can start to bring folks on during a hiring freeze. It is challenged by how close this was happening as Memorial Day to Labor Day season opens, right? And so that seasonal workforce is hard to gather.
▶ 1:15:54Um, we're still hoping to get some of it, but we're working through it with a goal of at least partial opening, knowing that we're going to have some workforce challenges across and to to the workforce point, broader workforce. We're just now starting to see the numbers and so we're actively managing it across portfolios including Well, thank each of you for being here today. Mr. Chairman, I yield back. And thank you, Mr. Guest. Um at this time uh we're going to engage in a second round of questions uh consistent with the first.
▶ 1:16:24I would ask that folks uh keep their questions to five minutes so that we all can ask uh additional questions. I will begin with myself uh General Graham uh a matter that has been discussed earlier but of prime importance to me and members on both sides of this dis uh is Asian karp. Uh, it's of tremendous importance to my home state, great state of Tennessee, preventing the spread of invasive carp further into the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers.
▶ 1:16:54Program implementation has faced repeated and avoidable delays despite robust funding provided by Congress. I appreciate the Nashville district's renewed commitment to this work. Time however is of the essence on this and we cannot afford to be discussing this program development this time next year. Sir, uh where are we on finalizing uh the program implementation?
▶ 1:17:21And as a followup to that, what steps are you taking to work with the state of Tennessee and other prospective sponsors so that projects can be ready for funding and execution as soon as the program management plan is finalized? Thank you, sir. Um, Mr.
▶ 1:17:37Chairman, thank you for that question and and we absolutely our commitment is to um do everything we can using our facilities to help limit the spread of invasive carp both into the Great Lakes and throughout the the Tennessee and Cumberland system and down through the um down through the Alabama and 10 Tom Bigby waterway. And so this program is tremendously important to us.
▶ 1:18:01And chairman, the direct answer to your question is we'll continue to work with the states uh to see if we can get them to act as a non-federal sponsor. continue work with the great partners in the Tennessee Valley Authority to make sure that when the programmatics are ready to go that we aren't trying to figure out the PPAs that ideally that those are on the shelf ready to go and and I thank the general for his comments and and I just want to comment by saying as issues come up from time to time throughout the the district
▶ 1:18:32this is an issue that I literally hear from uh throughout the Here they have meetings to discuss the invasive carp species uh and they are literally scared uh uh environmentally, economically because where the carp have uh become a major problem. It's been extremely devastating.
▶ 1:18:56So, uh, I thank the general, uh, for his efforts, but we really want to get that done because I'm doing my best to assure these constituencies that that I and the core and all the other partners are doing their very best to address this pressing concern. Uh, and I thank you, sir. And in that regard, and in the interest of time, I'm going to u recognize my my dear friend again, Miss Captor, the ranking member for five minutes for her questions. Thank you.
▶ 1:19:26Thank you. Uh Mr. Chairman, you know, I share your concern about the Asian Karp and uh I do wonder whether we have the right um architecture as a country to solve this. In other words, you've got the big burden on your back as the core. But for example, in terms of genetic research, I don't know if the Vixsburg lab of the core is sufficient.
▶ 1:19:50Uh I look at other instrumentalities that we have uh at Noah, at Department of Commerce that I keep thinking about uh our own research labs uh at DOE. Um we need a genetic solution perhaps. I don't know.
▶ 1:20:08But it just seems like the carp are getting ahead of us and we have a fish out strategy working with the um uh Department of Interior and I don't think it's enough. And I had one member from your state, Mr. Chairman, I won't say who it was, he came up to me, he never cared about it until it hit his district and then all of a sudden he went crazy. Okay. So, um I really do need your advice.
▶ 1:20:36Not now, but think about who else could help across the government of the United States. What can we do to stop this spread? We're going to put up engineering barriers. That's part of it. But there are probably genetic controls. We can't seem to get to the scientific answer. And so I'm just asking for your advice there. Who else would you like to have partners around the table? I don't know how you feel about it, Mr. Chair.
▶ 1:20:59Well, I share the ranking member sentiments and of course for years the ranking member has been a champion for the Great Lakes watershed and I thank her for that. Uh God forbid these invasive species get there. Uh so uh I will commit to working with the ranking member uh and anybody who will work with us in Congress on this issue to get a viable solution. Um I yield back to the gentle lady. Thank you, Mr.
▶ 1:21:24chairman very much and just we we really appreciate appreciate your advice and welcome your advice general uh in this area. Um I wanted to just switch for a second uh on the dredge material issue also. Um in our region we have the largest budget in the Great Lakes for Lake Erie as you well know. It fits every year if you were to put all that material together it would rise 400 feet high uh in the Cleveland Brown stadium.
▶ 1:21:53Now they and some people have said to me, "Well, you should fill the Cleveland Brown Stadium." But, uh, you know, when you think about that year after year after year and I think of our scientific capabilities, my goodness, um, what can we do with that dredge material? I keep thinking, can we put we Cleveland has the largest sewage treatment plant uh, in all of Ohio? And it, uh, does amazing things because of science.
▶ 1:22:19we are able to produce fertilizer at the end of the process that EPA approves and I keep looking at this dredge material again I go to the high science we have all these research labs uh do is there a bigger answer here where we can use the dredge material we wouldn't have to you know go to the 20th century solution of confined disposal facilities but where we can put it through tubes right and we can figure out whether there's dissolve reactive phosphorus whether there's burillium in there whatever it is it seems to me that there's a way for detection.
▶ 1:22:49If we are going to Mars, you mean to tell me we can't decide what to do on Earth with our dredge material? Again, I ask you for your scientific and engineering uh that would guide us uh as you know mere house representatives here from our region trying to do the best for the people going forward.
▶ 1:23:09If you put a consortium table together with the EPA, with uh our energy research labs, with Vixsburg, whatever, let's go after this from another way uh that is perhaps more promising uh going forward. Maybe it's impossible, but I just um uh and in this regard, I'll just put on the table this interesting fact. As we try to look at new forms of power, we're realizing we're wasting a lot of power. And this committee is energy and water.
▶ 1:23:38We have solutions nobody else can come up with. The Cleveland sewage treatment plant in one year throws into Lake Erie the equivalent of 400,000 barrels of oil and waste heat. Imagine if we could use that power all across America, all across the Great Lakes and create a subutility to help process this very stuff, this dredge material. Imagine if we could do that. We're not we're thinking in the past. Um we have nuclear power plants along our shore.
▶ 1:24:05Uh, I believe by regulation they throw that waste heat into Lake Erie at a temperature of 93 degrees. That's wasted thermal heat. We have the ability to do things that other centuries haven't had, but I don't see the thinking across the government. I think it's too stovepiped into different agencies rather than sort of crossbread. And I I just share that with you as we try to figure out what to do with this dredge material.
▶ 1:24:30Um, so, uh, please answer a question about if you could reshape how we find the answer both to the Asian Karp threat and to the contaminated sediment. Help us help us put that architecture together across the federal government. Final question, Mr. Chairman, real quickly, in terms of enlistment in the core, do you have skills that you are short?
▶ 1:24:55And have you considered creating a program like Starbase that works across DoD to help encourage young people to come into the sciences, engineering, solving real problems for this country? There is one called Starbase that is used in different places that is already authorized. I would love to have your suggestion on what we could do through the core. You touch every community in the country.
▶ 1:25:18I mean, you have an unbelievable ability to draw young people in, and I just want to push you a little bit uh in in that direction. Thank you very much. My time is expired. And I thank the ranking member for her questions. Um uh uh folks, ladies and gentlemen, uh we have had some additional members show up, so I want to welcome them. Uh at this point in time, I'd like to u recognize Miss Mallaloy of Utah, my friend, for five minutes.
▶ 1:25:47She is a water attorney by profession. So, uh, not only is she more than welcome on this committee, but she's going to help me on the water side. So, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Chairman, you'll just I want to compliment you because under your leadership, uh, and I hope I've helped, we've had such great turnout on our subcommittee. Uh, if you look across the Congress and what happens, this is a working subcommittee. Thank you, Mr.
▶ 1:26:10chairman and members that have come and I I thank the ranking member and and I appreciate that the ranking member has chaired this subcommittee before I do it. We've had other members do it but there is a tremendous degree of cooperation uh and it really is a a source of pride and and inspiration I hope u but I thank the ranking member with that I recognize Miss Mallaloy. Thank you Mr. Chairman. Um for the benefit of the people who are here to testify I apologize that I missed the first round.
▶ 1:26:37I had another hearing at the same time, so I got here as quick as I could. Um, Mr. Cameron, uh, my constituents appreciate the funding and efforts Reclamation provided earlier this year to complete the 12mile Slooh modification work pursuant to the 2024 SEIS.
▶ 1:26:56Given that last year's bypass of Glen Canyon Dam's hydropower generators cost the basin fund nearly 20 million and deferred critical maintenance, can you assure this committee that you will seriously consider a non-bypass or no action alternative in your summer 2025 operational decisionmaking to avoid further financial and grid reliability Uh Miss Mallaloy, coincidentally I was just briefed on this topic yesterday. Oh, good. And uh and we we are looking at it. We're trying to be creative.
▶ 1:27:24We're trying to figure out ways that uh we cannot add to the financial you know burden of the of the power users for instance and and and WAPA. So uh yeah we are looking for uh looking for options but we also need to figure out a way to get rid of those smallmouth bass as as you're very much aware. Yeah, thank you. anything you can do to help avoid the rate payers, my constituents bearing that cost directly, I would really appreciate it. And we're happy to work with you as you move forward.
▶ 1:27:55Um, okay. For either Miss Clausimo, I don't know if I'm saying your name right. I'm sorry. I I haven't been here. Colosimo, thank you. Or Lieutenant Graham. Uh, Penguitch Lake Dam in my district is it's a small dam. It serves a small town, but the the dam started to crack last year and they've been working to try to repair the dam and they keep running into delays.
▶ 1:28:20And one of So, they're trying to get a stream alteration permit and they keep getting more requests for information, requests for information. They don't feel like they're getting a lot of help, just a lot of letting the clock run while, you know, it's spring and the lake's filling back up and the pressure is back on the dam and what they need is a solution so that they don't lose that lake.
▶ 1:28:44Will you work with us to make sure we can get them the help they need in a timely manner so that we we're not losing a dam and losing the water supply for a rural part of my district? Ma'am, absolutely. This is a private dam and and they're looking for assistance both probably with the permitting and the repair. I I think they're just looking for assistance with the permitting, but I will get you. Okay. We'll contact your office, ma'am, and get in contact with the the dam owner operator and see how we can help. Thank you. I appreciate that.
▶ 1:29:13Um, another one for the two of you. Uh in Twilla County, Utah, the local government is trying to plan transportation and some of it requires navigating a process to obtain transportation rights away across the Tilla Army Dep Depot, which is DoD managed land.
▶ 1:29:30Recognizing the Army Corps of Engineers engineering and environmental expertise, how can our local government, somebody like Twilla County, leverage the CORE's assistance to assess feasibility and impacts of new transportation corridors to improve regional mobility while maintaining national security interests and I know the national security interest is really important to them, but that area is growing quickly and they've got to be able to have transportation you have our absolute commitment that we'll meet with them to see if we can come in
▶ 1:30:01with a win-win solution that manages and and balances out both of those needs, the national security interests and the needs for improved transportation to a growing region. Okay, thank you. Um, last question. I'm moving quickly. This is one of those days where everything's happening fast. Uh, how is Reclamation working with Utah stakeholders to streamline permitting or NEPA compliance for our local water infrastructure projects, particularly in rural counties that may lack capacity to navigate federal processes?
▶ 1:30:32Uh, thank you very much for that question. So, we we work with our local um water district partners on a regular basis to try to provide technical assistance. One of the things that we are also exploring is whether we can leverage the expertise and frankly the streamlined acquisition processes that our non-federal partners often have so that we can uh uh leverage their ability to get uh contracts issued faster and at a lower price and might be the case of of our federal
▶ 1:31:02agencies that would stretch this committee's uh dollars as well. So, uh, we're always open to, uh, creative thinking about how to work more effectively with our partners. Please work closely with my staff and and we would love to be the bridge between our Utah partners and both of your offices to make sure we're getting that assistance to people in a timely manner. The speed at which the federal government moves on these projects is a huge source of frustration. We share that frustration, believe me.
▶ 1:31:32Thank you. With that, I yield back. And I thank you, Miss Mallaloy. At this time, I'd like to recognize my friend and colleague uh again from California, Mr. Levven, for five minutes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh Mr. Cameron, back in February, Doge published a list of agency offices whose leases were to be terminated.
▶ 1:31:51The Bureau of Reclamation Southern California Area Office, which provides water management support throughout Southern California, including in my district, uh was and is I just checked the list again, uh on that list, along with hundreds of other facilities across the nation. The Southern California area office administers several essential programs that assist with water conservation and efficiency strategies, water recycling and desalination programs, and other watershed management activities. The decision to close this office and others like it makes our water less secure.
▶ 1:32:21And now Southern California is uh doing everything it can, charging ahead with innovative desalination and water recycling and reuse technologies. But when I look at what Doge is doing regarding these lease cancellations, I fear that they'll leave communities like mine vulnerable despite our best efforts to develop a resilient local water supply. Mr. Cameron, were you personally involved in the decision to uh close this office? Were you in the room? Uh no sir, I wasn't.
▶ 1:32:45Uh my understanding is that the general services administration provided of the the department other departments a list of leases that they were planning to cancel and we have been uh very actively involved uh in terms of going back to GSA and indicating situations where we thought eliminating those leases would be problematic. That includes this office. Do you you agree with the decision to close this office? I I'm not aware of that particular lease to be honest with you, Congressman. I'm happy to look into it.
▶ 1:33:15I can tell you that um there are quite a few Bureau of Reclamation leases where we've been actively talking about GSA about why it would be a real problem, but I'm happy to look into that one in particular. What criteria do you think that Doge used to decide which offices to close? Um my impression is that it was actually a General Services Administration directive. Whether it was the Doge people at GSA, I don't know. Uh, I think they were looking at leases that were about to expire across the whole government, across all federal agencies.
▶ 1:33:46Do you think it's contrary to uh Reclamation's mission of protecting water resources and interests of the American people to be closing these offices all over the place? We we clearly have an interest and a need to operate the the government as efficiently as possible to stretch the dollars that the subcommittee um provides and where we've identified situations where we think it's counterproductive to close offices.
▶ 1:34:10You know, we've been uh actively chatting with our friends at the General Services Administration and uh at least in a number of instances uh successfully. So, I'm not aware of this particular situation, but I'm happy to look into it. Mr. Leven, uh, well, we'll follow up with you on that. U, Miss, uh, Clausmo, I want to get back to the California projects that I mentioned earlier.
▶ 1:34:32Were you personally involved in the decision-m to not fund any of those projects or not fund all of those Um, and do you have any idea who specifically was? Well, we deliberate the package with criterion we submit to OM and OM and the administration make the decision. So, do you have an actual human being that was responsible for making the decision. Do you have an email? Do you have We don't make the decisions. We make recommendations. I understand that you don't personally, but you just said that OM relayed those decisions to you.
▶ 1:35:00Do you have any correspondence with them that would indicate why those decisions were made? I do not I do not have any correspondence. Office management budget did their How did you learn how did you learn those that those determinations had been made? They provided us the final product. Who the office of management budget did? Who specifically? They didn't provide it to me. I don't have a name, but it would be our examining unit. Okay. Who in your examining unit received the information in my in our office? I'm trying to understand who at OM made the call.
▶ 1:35:30Well, I think it goes all the way up to the director. Okay. So, you're telling me Russo, the director of the OMB, personally made the decision to take $250 million away from California and the blue states to give it to the red states. Is that your testimony? My testimony is is that he was engaged with his staff as anybody would be as far as a simple yes or no question. I can't answer that question. Okay. I don't have full visibility on information. Okay. I appreciate that. We'll we'll ask questions for the record to try to understand and get to the bottom of it.
▶ 1:35:57You said before the criteria used were life safety, flooding, and American prosperity. Which of these criteria were not met by the California projects that I mentioned earlier? I don't know the details of the California projects you're talking about. Well, let's unpack one. How about the Sacramento Delta? Do you agree that that Sacramento Delta region is perhaps most at risk for catastrophic flooding of anywhere in the western United States?
▶ 1:36:19I know they have challenges and risk, but I'm not at liberty to say what the trade-offs were on which the projects they chose were Do you not think that it meets life safety or flooding or American prosperity to try to protect uh lives and property in the Sacramento Delta region? I'm sure it does. How it stacks against other projects was not my call. Do you uh agree or disagree that it's one of the most floodprone areas in the western United States, if not the entire country? It is certainly susceptible to flooding. All right.
▶ 1:36:46So, it sounds like it doesn't meet the criteria that were that you laid out before. I don't think OM followed and I think you're getting played by OM and you don't even know who would OM. And with that, I'll yield Uh thank you, Mr. Levan. At this time, I'd like to recognize the distinguished vice chairman of this subcommittee, my good friend from the great state of Texas, uh, Mr. Cloud for five minutes. Thank you very very much, Miss Mr. Chairman, and thank you all for being here.
▶ 1:37:16Uh, the work y'all do is extremely important to the the economic lifeblood of our nation, and uh, thank you for that. I first want to just say thanks and especially to the to the the core for the great work done at the Corpus Christie ship channel over the last several years. Uh June 2nd I believe will be uh whatever you do when the project for I don't know if you can ribbon cut across a channel but but uh the great work is under the water level so a lot of people don't see it but it's extremely important and we certainly see the effects of it. So I want to thank you for that.
▶ 1:37:46Uh I do want to touch on the Madagorta ship channel. Uh that's been a a difficult project to deal with over the last few years. For the first time ever under the Abiden administration, we had a congressionally authorized project, have the record of decision revoked and um after that we have worked with the core to try to work on timelines, anything we can to speed up those timelines. There's been a number of delays along the way.
▶ 1:38:12some of uh some of them with excuses that weren't really uh appropriate I guess or valid uh you know we sent an email to a wrong place and so we have to delay this for a month and and what have you and then working with leftist NOS's that really don't have a stake in the the area or district um to to kind of cater them and and do what they could to drive up the BCR and delay this project and in an effort try to kill it.
▶ 1:38:39So, uh, under new leadership, uh, that understands the importance of our ports and the development of it, hopefully we can turn a course on that and get it our timeline on track. Uh, I will say we've gotten a timeline on the, uh, the SEIS, but we still have some work to bring some more detail to that and then we need a timeline for the whole project. So, could we work on on getting that when could we expect that? Yeah.
▶ 1:39:06So represent cloud thank you for that question and at the beginning statement I know you just got here I said one of the first things we have to do in the core is we've got to get the engineering right and on the matagor ship channel deepening we did not get the engineering right in fact we got the trigonometry wrong sure and that's what we sent over to the authorizing committees to authorize and we didn't calculate correctly um we calculated how much material would need to remove from the channel, but we
▶ 1:39:36didn't calculate correctly where we would place that. And so that's what's causing we have to go back and fundamentally redo the environmental impact statement because it's we have double the amount of material. We're going to move from one place under the water to another. Right? In times past, the pra the practice has been to work concurrently with a revised supplemental impact study and to continue the project. So the fact that it was the record of decision was revoked and the whole point of a record of decision is to bring certainty to a project.
▶ 1:40:06I mean that's what in in the name of the title the record of decision. So uh we undid a decision. So uh you know so that was concerning but going forward anything we can do to to to shorten you know sometimes there's like four months to make a decision anything we we've had these discussions before. Anything we can do to to shorten those timelines going forward. This project's been pushed back plenty far enough. uh and and you know with this president's help I I believe hopefully we'll be able to finally execute on it uh moving forward.
▶ 1:40:37So our commitment to you Rosan Cloud is to get the engineering right on this and to move forward as rapidly as as we possibly can. Sure. I I I appreciate it. Uh thank you for that. I wanted to touch on uh Del um you know Corpus Christie is a leader for the region as a water provider. Uh one of the issues we've been looking at is uh what we can do to to continue to provide water for the region.
▶ 1:41:04Del of course uh being along the the Gulf of America being an important option. uh when we look just generally speaking at Texas and Texas has really been overlooked when it comes to water projects and I know we're waiting uh on the ASA to be confirmed but I'm curious uh how long we think it'll take once we have confirmation to stand up the grant process uh and to be able to move that forward and then really what we can do to turn the corner on getting uh funding
▶ 1:41:34to the state of Texas that you know when you look at the projects that have been funded in the state of Texas when it comes to water is very minimal from a uh from a federal standpoint uh where other states and certainly when you think of federal dollars going to a region it's because of federal purposes and so you know you have states like California that high have high regulations that make it difficult you know to provide an e economic flow into the country and then Texas which is you know pretty strong
▶ 1:42:05and friendly to business and and being a lifeblood of of uh commerce into the into the country has been overlooked on on these water projects. And so I I'd like a a commitment on what we can do to to begin to to look at and prioritize Texas and the region when it comes to funding of these water projects. Um any comment on how long it would take to stand up at least the grant process? I think we'll have I think we'll have to loop back with you. Just to be clear though, you're talking about a loan, right?
▶ 1:42:33It's from the It's from this infrastructure loan program. I believe we don't we don't have grants, right? Okay. So, I think we'll have to get the details and loop back with you if that's okay. Thank you. And I thank Mr. Cloud at this time. I recognize now my friend Miss Lee of Nevada for five minutes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh Mr. Cameron, uh just I received uh com Yeah, I had a small offline discussion with Mr.
▶ 1:43:00Ensman and he appreciates to your leadership in these negotiations. So, thank you. I don't envy you uh at this point, but um can you give us any daylight on how you're actively working to build consensus? What you see as the prospect um you know given Mr.
▶ 1:43:22Calbert's line of questioning, obviously the water rights issue, but ultimately um I think it's imperative that we come to a consensus because if we don't, it's going to be years and years and years of legal wrangling before we see any type of agreement and I don't think we have it. So, misly um reclamation and the seven basin states have a pact to not disclose the details of negotiation.
▶ 1:43:53I figured that I thought I'd ask. Okay. But what what I what I can tell you is uh at our most recent meeting in in Sacramento, several of the seven basin states reps came up to me and said, "We've made more progress in the last two days than we had in the last year and a half." So you know I I I think in government you have to be an optimist or you know why you doing doing anything in government.
▶ 1:44:16So I'm I'm quite optimistic that um working with the seven states we'll end up getting to a good place uh on a on a timely basis and uh I believe all seven states are negotiating with each other and with reclamation in in very good faith. They all want a solution and they all agree that it's much better for them to come to a deal than have the interior secretary impose a deal. Absolutely. Godspeed.
▶ 1:44:45So, uh you know, last uh um month UCLA released a report which found that states across the Colorado River Basin are squandering a critical opportunity to ease this water crisis. It's uh water recycling and reuse. Uh while my home state of Nevada reuses 85% of our treated wastewater, the seven basin states combined reuse only 26% of this water.
▶ 1:45:16You know, just to put it in perspective, if these states were able to collective collectively raise their reuse rates to just 40%, we're talking 14% increase, we could gain nearly 900,000 acre feet of new water annually, enough to supply nearly 2 million homes.
▶ 1:45:37Um, UCLA researchers emphasize this represents a cons a significant percentage of the projective shortfall on the Colorado River and a solution that could be pursued aggressively to ensure sustained management of the river.
▶ 1:45:53Um, so I'm asking, is the Trump administration committed to continuing and building on the kind of bipartisan support for water recycling and reuse initiatives which Congress advanced uh in the legislation that was passed uh in the bipartisan infrastructure law, water reuse and recycling definitely have to be part of the solution. Absolutely no doubt about that.
▶ 1:46:18you know, we're we're obviously dealing in in situations where individual states, individual municipal governments have to make their own decisions about what's the smartest thing for their particular locality. So, we're we're mindful of their their perspective on their water rights. We're mindful of their own economic decisions, but uh we are very interested in working uh with the municipalities across the Colorado basin to promote and encourage water recycling. And Nevada's been leading the way. They are absolutely right.
▶ 1:46:49Thank you. Well, thank you and thank you for your leadership. And I'm I'm finished. I yield and I thank you, Miss Lee. At this time, I'd like to recognize my friend again, Mr. New House, Washington State from great state of Washington for five minutes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 1:47:05Just let me say not only has this committee benefited from strong leadership over the years, but certainly the subject matter we deal with impacts every single community energy and water as a our key uh building blocks to our economic and and uh health success in this country. So thank you sir. So thank you.
▶ 1:47:24Um, General Graham, u in my state of Washington, the core is certainly responsible for the majority of the federal hydropower uh facilities, which as you know provide clean, renewable power to uh at least half, I think well over half of the constituents that I represent. It's my understanding that there's been cuts to the facility maintenance as well as the fish production staff at uh the four federal hydropower dams on the lower snake.
▶ 1:47:55This is particularly concerning because these dams, as you know, produce an average of approximately a gawatt of power and up to an emergency situ situations of 3 gawatts of power. So, I'm concerned that such cuts could jeopardize the administration's goal of achieving energy dominance for millions of people in the Pacific Northwest.
▶ 1:48:18Uh, could you tell me, has the core designated any of these staff as essential staff and either why or why not? and does the core have the staffing necessary to truly reliably operate the system for power but also other federally authorized purposes. Representative New House, thank you for that question and the importance of those facilities. We absolutely share your recognition of.
▶ 1:48:48We also share your recognition that for those facilities to operate reliably for your constituents that they've got to be staffed by well-trained members. And so as we go through workforce optimization right now um critical work such as our power plant operators, critical work such as our maintenance divers, critical work such as any of our crane operators.
▶ 1:49:16we are putting that at the top of the of of our list of we're going to we have to manage those folks very carefully to make sure that we have the right talent on board to continue to operate these facilities safely. So to recap all that, we're going through the process right now of looking to see what individuals with what skills are leaving the organization and what we have.
▶ 1:49:40And we're in the process of making sure that whatever it takes to move the right people where they have to be to continue to operate these facilities effectively for your constituents, we'll do. I appreciate that. Of all the resources we have and enjoy and manage, certainly the human resource is one that we have to get right. So thanks for your efforts, sir.
▶ 1:49:59both you general Graham and Miss uh permitting it's often one of the biggest challenges that we have when it comes to completing projects and adequate staffing is vital to completing that work as well especially when there are inter agency consultations involved the FY25 core work plan again uh included $221 million for the core core's regulatory program Um, however,
▶ 1:50:29I would say other agencies are not as fortunate. Uh, there have been staffing cuts at Noah Fisheries, uh, in the US Fish and Wildlife Service that may have may impact this process and the skinny proposes significant decreases to these agencies.
▶ 1:50:46So to either your knowledge uh have reductions in staffing staffing excuse me had an impact on the permitting processes and what's the core's plan for getting consultations completed in a timely manner for these civil works projects which are so important um for these projects sought by reg a regulated public. So sir thanks for that question.
▶ 1:51:09It's a really important subject as you say and I think the big thing overarchingly here is for the inter agency process to work right and we have to get those connections happening particularly as we're losing staff across agencies because the already existing relationships are weakened the minute you lose one person. So I think there's a things we need to do in DC to make sure we're setting up the agencies collectively for success um both on civil works projects but also to the permitted public through normal permitting processes.
▶ 1:51:36I think the other part is rules are happening and up getting updated at the same time. So we have to be current with what the best tools are to make sure we're able to not continue to make stoppage if that makes sense. I mean there is risk when you're doing new rules at the same time you're losing staff. There's also opportunity and so I think there is a lot of collaboration across the aisle to try and make sure we're doing the right things here. Um so we need our leader to arrive to do that with his counterparts but we're beginning that already. Good General Graham. any comment?
▶ 1:52:07So, represent new, the health of our regulators right now, it's when I as we're going through the process of looking to optimize the federal labor force. Um, right now pretty healthy on on our regulators. So, it's it's not a great concern for me right now, which is a good thing. Okay. I appreciate that. I see my time has expired, Mr. Chairman. Apologize, but thank you all for being again here with us again today. Mr.
▶ 1:52:31New House, I thank you again, sir, for your Um, it has come to my attention that a few of the members would like to ask some very brief questions in the third round being mindful that it's 11:50. I'm going to personally pass on my third round and recognize the ranking member, Miss Captor, for her question and anybody else who would like to uh engage in a third round. Thank you. It's very generous of you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 1:52:59And um I want to thank uh you General Graham for including uh priority for the Soolocks uh and the continuing efforts on that project and appreciate the fiscal year 25 work plan included $264 million. Uh however that was 63 million below the house bill and 186 million below the senate bill.
▶ 1:53:23Um, I just want to re-emphasize that funding for the Soolock is critical because there are many time-sensitive contracts over the next two years. And uh, may I ask both yourself and um, Miss Coliseimo, what is the COR's plan to ensure the project receives adequate funding so that the contracts can proceed as closely as uh, planned and not result in further cost It's a priority, ma'am.
▶ 1:53:50And I think we recognize the value of this project and continuing to make sure that happens. So we're going to continue to advocate the merits of completing the work on time and within budget and getting the resources to make those increments happen. It's at a vital stage. Thank you. So ma'am to the to building upon that um the four remaining contract options that would that would expire at the end of this fiscal year. We believe with the money that we got in the work plan that we can award all three of those and so that's great news. All right. Thank you for trying on the contracting.
▶ 1:54:20Is it still open for contractors to So in this case, these options were part of the is a base plus option for the people the contractor that's doing the current work. And so these options are already priced out. And so as long as we provide the funds, which we with the work plan funding, we will be able to do um there should be no issues uh executing those options four, five, and six. My last two questions are Mr.
▶ 1:54:45Um uh let's see here in terms of the Bureau of Reclamation over the last several years what percentage of agriculture has been cut off in the west uh that simply doesn't get water anymore or does it continue as it has in the past? I don't have a sense of what's happening on the ground.
▶ 1:55:05Uh and then I wanted to also ask uh the general again um are you full up on your recruitment or do you have enlistment shortages and if so can you provide us with a list of what are the skills that you need that you don't Um so Miss Captor um the answer to your first question is it varies a lot from year to year and region in the west to region depending upon the hydraology.
▶ 1:55:34I can tell you that for the first time in a very long time, the Clamoth Basin in California and Oregon has got plenty of water. Now, that probably won't be the case two years from now, but you know, for this year, we're lucky. And also, this year, Reclamation was able to provide more water to Central Valley, California farmers than in in the last several years. But we really are at the at the mercy of the weather and the snow and and the rain, plus of course the regulatory constraints. which I know you're aware of.
▶ 1:56:04But while um while I'm answering your question, I do want to point out that um the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the US Geological Survey are both heavily involved in Asian Karp. So uh I I I hope that uh if you have friends on the Interior Subcommittee that uh you know they're tracking that as well, you know, certain Thank you, Mr. Cameron, for that. The problem is we have all these geniuses, but the discomfort we feel is because it doesn't seem like there's a general.
▶ 1:56:32uh there's a lot of of people out there but we don't really have a coordinated effort in my opinion and believe me we study this a lot but we don't and on the science front I don't see the surge I just don't see it and so we're fishing out this is really like you know what 1850 uh uh rather than 20 uh 50 you know in the way we're looking at this and so um I I just mentioned that in general what about uh needs
▶ 1:57:02in the core. What should we be telling audiences? What should we be saying you need? So, so two points. I wear a couple hats for the army. One of those is I oversee the tactical engineer branch that does the the war fighting piece and the army's meeting its enlistment goals. Great deal of effort. Uh that entails uh to make sure that we we get citizens coming in to continue to join our ranks. And I'm I'm absolutely delighted to report that that right now is going well.
▶ 1:57:28On the core of engineers side, we're primarily a civilian organization with with military leadership. Um, our biggest challenge with our civilian workforce, and it's been that way since I've been here, is the schools producing STEM graduates. And I'm sure that that's the same for any of those.
▶ 1:57:44And so, um, when I was a district commander, we worked really close, as all of our 44 districts do, with the local universities because that's that's where it happens, to try to encourage young minds at the high school level to get out and explore careers in the science, technology, and engineering realm. That's where it's got to start. We can't look any different than what the school houses are, and you got to get them in high school.
▶ 1:58:10How do we work with the core in order to we have a core small teeny office in our area. How do we sponsor a symposium for young people? How do we do that? Think about it. Let us know. Okay. Thank you. And I yield back. Thank you, Miss Captor. Uh Miss Malloy, you're recognized for third round. I will keep it brief. I know you guys have been here for a long time. Mr. Cameron, we're going to submit some questions for the record to you on the Central Utah project and the changes in funding there.
▶ 1:58:38Um, I I'd rather have you have some time to do some research and get back to us with thorough answers than put you on the spot here. Um, so just be prepared that that's coming. And like my colleague Ms. Lee, I also represent one of the Colorado River Basin states. So, thank you for the assurance that the state negotiations are moving forward. Um, and with that, I will yield. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Miss Malloy. Um, uh, a few comments.
▶ 1:59:06Uh again, I'd like to thank all of our witnesses for being here today. And as the ranking member did uh allude to in her comments, you saw tremendous turnout on both sides of the dis. That's not only out of respect, it's out of admiration for each and every one of you all. You were here before us in February. That was a very fertive hearing as was today. So we accomplished an awful lot. So I I do sincerely thank you in in in that regard.
▶ 1:59:34Uh for the record, if you could please ensure uh that the hearing record uh questions for the record and any supporting information requested by the subcommittee are delivered in final form to us no later than four weeks from the time that you receive them. Members who have additional questions for the record will have to the close of business Tuesday to provide them to the subcommittee office. Uh with that the I say thank you and the subcommittee stands journal.