Testimony Before the Committee on Environment and Public Works,
 U.S. Senate in 2005
ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS
History of the Lake Pontchartrain and Vincinity Hurricane Protection Project



The original project designs were developed based on the equivalent of what
is now called a fast-moving Category 3 hurricane that might strike the
coastal Louisiana region once in 200-300 years. As GAO reported in 1976 and
1982, since the beginning of the project, the Corps has encountered project
delays and cost increases due to design changes caused by technical issues,
environmental concerns, legal challenges, and local opposition to portions of
the project. As a result, in 1982, project costs had grown to $757 million and
the expected completion date had slipped to 2008. None of the changes
made to the project, however, are believed to have had any role in the levee
breaches recently experienced as the alternative design selected was
expected to provide the same level of protection. In fact, Corps officials
believe that flooding would have been worse if the original proposed design
had been built. When Hurricane Katrina struck, the project, including about
125 miles of levees, was estimated to be from 60-90 percent complete in
different areas with an estimated completion date for the whole project of
2015. The floodwalls along the drainage canals that were breached were
complete when the hurricane hit.

The current estimated cost of construction for the completed project is $738
million with the federal share being $528 million and the local share $210
million. Federal allocations for the project were $458 million as of the
enactment of the fiscal year 2005 federal appropriation. This represents 87
percent of the federal government’s responsibility of $528 million with about
$70 million remaining to complete the project. Over the last 10 fiscal years
(1996-2005), federal appropriations have totaled about $128.6 million and
Corps reprogramming actions resulted in another $13 million being made
available to the project. During that time, appropriations have generally
declined from about $15-20 million annually in the earlier years to about $5-7
million in the last three fiscal years. While this may not be unusual given the
state of completion of the project, the Corps’ project fact sheet from May
2005 noted that the President’s budget request for fiscal years 2005 and 2006,
and the appropriated amount for fiscal year 2005 were insufficient to fund
new construction contracts. The Corps had also stated that it could spend
$20 million in fiscal year 2006 on the project if the funds were available. The
Corps noted that several levees had settled and needed to be raised to
provide the level of protection intended by the design.