Water Resource Management
Advisor
Semester
The Water Resources Development Act of 2006 (WRDA) tackles the policy problem of both balancing ecosystem health and promoting economic growth. WRDA authorizes a civil works program with 700 individual water resources development projects in the Upper Mississippi River-Illinois Waterway (UMR-IWW). The Army Corps Civil Works projects aim to mitigate environmental concerns and minimize risks to human health, improve flood control, and ensure the creation and restoration of habitats. WRDA plans to mitigate the adverse effects of navigation projects with priority given to the projects that will greatly benefit the nation. This team's one-year plan for the implementation of WRDA includes planning for preconstruction, developing engineering and design, and building a 15-year management program. WRDA will be implemented in UMR-IWW through a number of projects that include dam water level management and wetlands restoration. The group created a master calendar in which first-year implementation will be 100% planning and will culminate in a final work-plan for program management. They created a budget for the first year's costs as well as a management structure.