Springfield, Cape Girardeau Flood Control Included in Water Resources Bill

Press Release

Bipartisan legislation to boost water resources and infrastructure-which today received final approval by the U.S. Senate-includes significant resources for flood control in Springfield and Cape Girardeau, Mo.

"This bipartisan legislation is a jobs bill, pure and simple," said McCaskill, who voted to support the legislation. "And in addition to the important projects it will support, it also symbolizes our ability to fund infrastructure and boost jobs, without relying on earmarks."

The Water Resources Reform Development Act will authorize the Army Corps of Engineers to study and construct water projects to maintain navigable channels, and reduce flood and storm damage. The legislation addresses a range of funding issues for water projects by establishing a new pilot loan program to fund flood and water supply projects, addresses harbor maintenance and issues surrounding lock and dam projects on the inland waterways, and increases funding for levee and dam safety programs.

The legislation also includes:

$20.86 million Jordan Creek project for Springfield Mo. for increased flood protection
An increase in the authorized spending leveler for the Cape Girardeau flood protection project to $18 million.

Additionally, the legislation funds a number of regional watershed projects, including improvements to soil moisture and snowpack monitoring in the Upper Missouri River Basin that could aid management of the river during future extreme weather events and seasons.

The bill will make a number of policy changes to Corps projects, addressing a range of topics ranging from project de-authorizations to the streamlining of environmental reviews, and abandons the outdated and flawed approach of authorizing individual projects through Congressional earmarks. Instead, this legislation authorizes a limited number of projects that have been reviewed and determined by the Corps to provide a positive cost-benefit ratio.

McCaskill led the effort to institute the current moratorium on Congressional earmarks, preventing billions of dollars in pork projects from being authorized. Earlier this year, McCaskill, along with Republican Senator Pat Toomey (R-Penn.), introduced the bipartisan Earmark Elimination Act which would expand the temporary moratorium and permanently ban earmarks from the legislative process.

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