House and Senate Override President's Veto of WRDA
Story:
On November 8, of 2007 the United States Senate overturned the Veto by president Bush to deny funding of the Water Resources Development Act. The Senate vote was 70-14 in favor of the bill. The U.S. House of Representatives had voted earlier in the week to overturn the veto by a vote of 361-54. The bill, which is typically reauthorized every two years, has not been passed by Congress since 2000.
The WRDA will provide $23 billion in funding for almost 900 projects and studies across the United States, including flood control, improving navigation on waterways and restoring the environment. Passage of the bill will provide much needed funding for the $10.9 billion Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). To date the State of Florida has invested close to $2 billion in CERP, a project which was intended to be a 50/50 split.
In all Florida projects will receive approximately $2 billion from the passage of the WRDA including funding for the Indian River Lagoon Project, the Picayune Strand restoration and improvements in water quality in Lake Okeechobee, the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries and Florida Bay.
The WRDA is the principal funding resource for the Army Corps of Engineers projects and programs, including locks and dams for inland waterway navigation, dredging of harbors, flood control, and ecosystem restoration. This legislation authorizes billions of dollars for projects and programs to restore wetlands, streams, floodplains and coasts. There are several new ecosystem restoration authorities created in this bill that will provide useful tools for restoring our nation’s aquatic ecosystems.
