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Engineers, Science, and the Public Interest: Water Resources Planning in the Atchafalaya Basin

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 October 2011

Martin Reuss
Martin Reuss
Affiliation:
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Department of the Army
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Extract

The work of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the Atchafalaya (Uh-CHAFF-a-LIE-uh) Basin in southern Louisiana is an especially revealing example of the problems facing government agencies trying to balance conflicting economic and environmental demands. The basin contains precious wetlands and wildlife and major economic resources such as oil, gas, timber, and fish. It is also the center of one of the most hydrologically dynamic areas in the world. For the Corps, the basin serves as a vital part of the flood-control system for the entire lower Mississippi Valley. The problem was to reconcile this purpose with the continuing need for resource exploitation and increased concern for protecting the environment. In the Atchafalaya Basin, science proved its limitations and the art of politics its worth. This was a natural laboratory that taught engineers and environmentalists alike.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Policy History , Volume 3 , Issue 3 , July 1991 , pp. 282 - 308
Copyright
Copyright © The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA. 1991

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References

Notes

This article is a substantially revised version of a paper presented at the Second Annual Workshop on “The Impact of Environmental Affairs on Engineers,” held on 26 January 1990 at the University of Southwestern Louisiana, Lafayette, Louisiana. The paper was included in the proceedings of the workshop, published in 1991 by the University of Southwestern Louisiana. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of the Army, or the Department of Defense.

1. Reuss, Martin, “Along the Atchafalaya: The Challenge of a Vital Resource,” Environment 30:4 (May 1988): 7.Google Scholar

2. Material on the geological history of the Atchafalaya River was obtained from Latimer, Rodney A. and Schweizer, Charles W., The Atchafalaya River Study, 3 vols. (Vicksburg: Miss., 1951), 1:9 and 31Google Scholar, and Fisk, Harold N., supervisory consultant, Geological Investigation of the Atchafalaya Basin and the Problem of Mississippi River Diversion, 2 vols. (Vicksburg, Miss., 1952), 1:8–9.Google Scholar

3. Reuss, “Along the Atchafalaya,” 7–8.

4. Ibid., 10; a popular and insightful account of the effect of the Old River Control Structure on the Atchafalaya and Mississippi rivers is given in McPhee, John, The Control of Nature (New York, 1989), 3–92.Google Scholar

5. Davis, Norah Deakin, The Father of Waters: A Mississippi River Chronicle, with photographs by Joseph Holmes (San Francisco, 1982), 152–53Google Scholar; Louisiana Office of Tourism, River Trails, Bayous and Back Roads (Baton Rouge, n.p., n.d.), 75. See also , Jack and Rudloe, Anne, “Trouble in Bayou Country,” National Geographic 156:3 (September 1979): 376–97.Google Scholar

6. Reuss, “Along the Atchafalaya,” 8, 11.

7. Ibid., 11,36–39.

8. Ibid., 39; on the impact of NEPA and the EIS requirement on the Corps, see Taylor, Serge, Making Bureaucracies Think: The Environmental Impact Statement Strategy of Administrative Reform (Stanford, 1984).Google Scholar

9. Reuss, “Along the Atchafalaya,” 39; interview with Oliver Houck, New Orleans, 17 March 1983; fact sheet, April 1979, Civil Works Reference Paper Files (81), Atchafalaya Basin Study Fact Sheets. New Orleans District (NOD) files; Kimball to Clarke, 12 October 1971 and 5 November 1971; memorandum to the file from NWF staff, subj: Atchafalaya—Meeting with Lt. Gen. F. J. Clarke, Maj. Gen. Andrew Rollins, Col. Richard F. McAdoo, Lt. Col. Leon E. McKinney, 4 November 1971; Clarke to Kimball, 6 December 1971; Kimball to Clarke, 13 December 1971. All in NWF files. All documents cited are available either in the original or in photocopy in the records collections of the Office of History, Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Ft. Belvoir, Virginia. The author conducted all interviews used for this article, and the Office of History retains interview transcripts.

10. Minutes, Second Meeting of the Atchafalaya Basin Steering Group, 28 April 1972. NOD files.

11. Robert Schroeder, NOD, to Copp Collins, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), 14 April 1972. FWS files; Russell E. Train, chairman, Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), to Kenneth E. Belieu, under secretary of the Army, 3 November 1972; and Memorandum for Record (MFR) by Captain James P. King, Environmental Officer, NOD, subj: Briefing for Mr. John Bustrud [CEQ], n.d., but briefing held on 1 December 1972. Atchafalaya Basin Water and Land Resources Study Correspondence, 1972. NOD files. All FWS files come from the Lafayette, Louisiana, field office. I am indebted to David Soileau of the FWS for his cooperation in allowing me access to them.

12. Oliver Houck to Thomas Kimball, note attached to copy of letter, Houck to LTC William E. Lee, Jr., acting district engineer, NOD. Oliver Houck personal files. Mr. Houck graciously granted the author access to his files.

13. Interview with Don Schueler, Louisiana Audubon Society representative, 14 March 1983, New Orleans. Interview with Oliver Houck, 17 March 1983, New Orleans.

14. For documentation on these disputes, see “Atchafalaya Basin Study: History, Status, and Coordination Efforts,” 17 October 1979. NOD files.

15. In this regard, it should be remembered that the Army Corps of Engineers, responsible for both civil works (primarily water resources) and military construction projects, employs about 40,000 civilians and only a few hundred military officers.

16. On this, see Grigg, Neil S., Water Resources Planning (New York, 1985), 157Google Scholar; Metzger, Philip C., “The Need for Institutional Modernization,” in Viessman, Warren Jr, and Schilling, Kyle E., eds., Social and Environmental Objectives in Water Resources Planning and Management (New York, 1986), 32–33Google Scholar; Constance Elizabeth Hunt, with Huser, Verne, Down by the River: The Impact of Federal Water Projects and Policies on Biological Diversity (Washington, D.C., 1988), 163–64.Google Scholar

17. On this, I am indebted to the insights of William B. Lord, “An Evolutionary Perspective on Social Values,” in Viessman and Schilling, eds., Social and Environmental Objectives, 1–11.

18. For more on this, see van Beek, Johannes L., Smith, William G., Smith, James W., and Light, Philip, Plan and Concepts for Multi-Use Management of the Atchafalaya Basin (Las Vegas, 1977), 14–16.Google Scholar

19. Reuss, “Along the Atchafalaya,” 42. The Greater Atchafalaya Basin Council was an organization established in 1963 by the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce that served as a forum to discuss common basin problems.

20. “Atchafalaya Basin Study: History, Status, and Coordination Efforts,” 17 October 1979. NOD files.

21. Houck to Bruce Montgomery (Arnold and Porter), 19 November 1974; Houck to Colonel E. R. Heiberg III, district engineer, 26 November 1974; Houck to Thomas Kimball, 2 December 1974; Houck to Montgomery, 3 December 1974. All in Houck files. On 20 February 1975 a representative of the firm of Arnold and Porter did meet with the New Orleans District engineer and other federal and state representatives to clarify issues. The meeting provided a “spirit of cooperation” that dispelled any thought of suing the Corps, see Lawrence C. Maisel to Colonel E. R. Heiberg III, Washington, D.C., 21 February 1975 (copy).

22. Houck Interview, 17 March 1983; transcript of introductory comments at Lafayette meeting in Atchafalaya Basin Floodway, Louisiana, Steering Group Correspondence, 1975. NOD files; Lawrence C. Maisel, counsel to NWF, to Colonel E. R. Heiberg III, 21 February 1975. FWS files; MFR by Colonel Heiberg, subj: Meeting at Morgan City, 12 April 1975, Atchafalaya Basin, Louisiana, Study, General Correspondence, 1975. NOD files.

23. Newman Trowbridge, Jr., to Heiberg, 27 May 1975; Iberville Land Company and St. Martin Land Company to Heiberg, 3 June 1975. Both in Atchafalaya Basin General Correspondence, 1975. NOD files; Trowbridge to Colonel Early J. Rush III, district engineer, 30 October 1975. Atchafalaya Basin General Correspondence with Other Agencies, 1975. NOD files. The Iberville Land Company owned about 17,000 acres in the lower basin, and the St. Martin Land Company owned about 33,000 acres.

24. Veysey to Director, Civil Works, 12 December 1975. Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works (OASA/CW) files; Veysey to Director, Civil Works, 23 December 1975. Major General Earnest Graves files.

25. MFR, Dr. Benjamin Dysart, science adviser to the assistant secretary of the Army, Civil Works, subj: 7 January meeting with Graves and others. OASA/CW files.

26. Graves to Division Engineer, Lower Mississippi Valley Division (Major General Francis Koisch), subj: Lower Atchafalaya Floodway Project, 17 January 1976. OASA/CW files; Koisch to Graves, subj: Lower Atchafalaya Floodway Project, 18 February 1976. Quote is from note attached by Graves to 18 February letter.

27. Koisch to Veysey, 1 March 1976. Graves files.

28. Ellison Madden, project director, Atchafalaya Basin Land and Water Management Study, FWS, to Colonel Early Rush, district engineer, 12 March 1976. OASA files.

29. Graves to Distribution (Civil Works Directorate), 29 March 1976. Graves files.

30. Graves to Koisch and Graves to Veysey, both 30 April 1976. Graves files.

31. Veysey to Director, Civil works, 21 May 1976. This note is attached to an 18 June letter from Graves to President, Mississippi River Commission (Major General Koisch). Graves files.

32. Koisch to Civil Works Planning Division (CWP-C), 17 August 1976. Graves files.

33. Morris to Koisch, 13 September 1976, Atchafalaya Basin General Correspondence with Other Agencies, 1976. NOD files.

34. Koisch to Graves, 6 December 1976, Atchafalaya Basin General Correspondence with Other Agencies, 1976. NOD files.

35. Minutes, Mississippi River Commission Low-Water Inspection Trip, Meeting at Morgan City, 22 October 1976, Atchafalaya Basin General Correspondence with Other Agencies, 1976. NOD files.

36. Rush to Koisch, 15 September 1976, Atchafalaya Basin General Correspondence with Other Agencies, 1976. NOD files.

37. Ellison Madden, FWS, to Rush, 22 October 1976, Atchafalaya Basin General Correspondence with Other Agencies, 1976. NOD files; Thomas Kimball, NWF, to Veysey, 23 November 1976. Graves files.

38. Graves to Koisch, 3 December 1976. Graves files.

39. Roy Aguillard, Louisiana Office of Public Works, to Rush, 20 January 1977, Atchafalaya Basin General Correspondence with Other Agencies, 1977. NOD files.

40. Trowbridge to Rush, 15 April 1976. FWS files.

41. Governor Edwin Edwards to Congressman Richard A. Tonry, 26 January 1977 (with attached 20 January Aguillard letter), Atchafalaya Basin General Correspondence with Other Agencies, 1977. NOD files.

42. Rush to Aguillard, 18 February 1977, Atchafalaya Basin General Correspondence with Other Agencies, 1977. NOD files.

43. Day, J. C., Fano, Enzo, Lee, R. R., Quinn, Frank, and Sewell, W. R. Derrick, “River Basin Development,” in Kates, Robert W. and Burton, Ian, eds., Geography, Resources, and Environment. Volume II: Themes from the Work of Gilbert F. White (Chicago, 1986), 124Google Scholar; Wengert, Norman, “A Critical Review of River Basin as a Focus for Resources Planning, Development, and Management,” in North, Ronald M., Dworsky, Leonard B., and Allee, David J., eds, Unified River Basin Management (Minneapolis, 1980), 9–27.Google Scholar

44. Rush to Black, 3 June 1977, Atchafalaya Basin General Correspondence with Other Agencies, 1977. NOD files.

45. Interview with Robert Misso, 9 November 1983, Office of History, Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps estimated that the FWS received $900,000 for various studies between 1971 and 1983. The Atchafalaya Basin Water and Land Resources Study cost about $6,570,000, of which approximately $4 million was spent on nonengineering scientific studies of various sorts. James R. Hanchey, chief, Planning Division, Lower Mississippi Valley Division, to the Dr. Michael Robinson, the division historian, 7 September 1990.

46. Misso interview, 9 November 1983.

47. Governor Edwards to Congressman David Treen, 7 June 1977, Atchafalaya Basin General Correspondence with Other Agencies, 1977. NOD files; Louisiana Congressional House Delegation to Edwards, 17 June 1977. FWS files.

48. Misso interview, 9 November 1983.

49. Minutes, NOD and FWS meeting, 25 February 1977, Atchafalaya Basin Management Group meetings, 1977. NOD files; Madden to Rush, 4 March 1977, 22 April 1977, 5 May 1977; Kenneth Black to Rush, 4 May 1977; all in Atchafalaya Basin General Correspondence with Other Agencies, 1977. NOD files; Director, Civil Works to Lower Mississippi Valley Division, 31 August 1977, Susan Hawes records, meetings, 1977. NOD files. Hawes was head of the Environmental Quality section, Planning Division, NOD.

50. Minutes, Meeting of Atchafalaya Basin (Water and Land Resources) Agency Management Group, 10 May 1977, Atchafalaya Basin Agency Management Group Meetings, 1977. NOD files. Landowners attended this meeting, and the discussion on hydrographs degenerated into an exchange of four-letter words between them and FWS representatives. An equally acrimonious discussion occurred on 29 June.

51. Rush to Black, 3 June 1977; Madden to Rush, 25 August 1977; both in Atchafalaya Basin General Correspondence with Other Agencies, 1977. NOD files.

52. Madden to Rush, 25 August 1977, Atchafalaya Basin Correspondence with Other Agencies, 1977. NOD files; Rush to Russell D. Earnest, area manager, FWS, 19 September 1977, Atchafalaya Basin General Correspondence with Other Members, file IV, 1977. NOD files.

53. F. Eugene Hester, deputy associate director, FWS, to major General Graves, 20 May 1977. FWS files; Mississippi River Commission to Civil Works Directorate, 6 February 1978, Atchafalaya Basin General Correspondence with Other Agencies, 1977. NOD files.

54. Paul Kalman to all members, Louisiana Outdoor Writers Association, subj: Public Hearings, “Multipurpose Plan” for Lower Atchafalaya Basin, 5 January 1978. FWS files. Emphasis in the original. The Louisiana Landowners Association paid Kalman to present the landowners' side of the story to the public.

55. Roy K. Wood to Executive Assistant to the Secretary, subj: Water Resources: Atchafalaya Basin Louisiana—Problems and Possible Solutions, 15 June 1978. FWS files.

56. Misso interview, 9 November 1983.

57. Black to Lynn Greenwalt, 28 July 1978. FWS files.

58. Sands to Russell Earnest, 29 August 1978 (summarizing 21 August meeting), and record of phone conversation, Russell Earnest and Robert Misso to Kenneth Black (memo by Black), 21 September 1978. FWS files.

59. Phone conversation, Black with Misso and Earnest, 21 September 1978. FWS files. Misso and Earnest made the comment about “tough sledding.”

60. Ibid.

61. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, The Atchafalaya: America's Greatest River Swamp. A Proposal to Establish the Atchafalaya Fish, Wildlife, and Multi-Use Area, presented to the Atchafalaya Basin Agency Management Group for Consideration in the Development of Alternatives, October 1978.

62. Misso to Earnest, subj: Atchafalaya Meeting with Colonel Sands, 19 September 1978, 21 September 1978. FWS files; Misso interview, 9 November 1983.

63. Greenwalt to AER (?), 22 September 1978. FWS files. Emphasis in the original.

64. Earnest to Greenwalt, 16 October 1978. FWS files

65. Phone converstaion, Soileau to Misso, note by Soileau, 18 October 1978. FWS files.

66. Phone conversation, Misso, Kerlin, and Soileau with Houck, note by Soileau, 23 October 1978. FWS files.

67. Phone conversation, Misso, Steve Gard, and Fred Bagley to Soileau and Kerlin, Soileau memo, 25 October 1978. FWS files.

68. Ibid.; Misso interview, 9 November 1983.

69. Mike Cook, “Interior Dept. Proposes Corps Buy the Basin,” Baton Rouge Morning Advocate, 27 October 1978; interview with Michael Cook, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 19 January 1984.

70. Houck to B. E. M. Skerrett III, chairman, Greater Atchafalaya Basin Council, 7 December 1978. Houck files.

71. Misso interview, 9 November 1983.

72. Houck to Greenwalt, 7 November 1978. Houck files. Empahsis in original.

73. Trowbridge to Members and Friends of Louisiana Landowners Association, Inc., 31 January 1979. Houck files.

74. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Lafayette Field Office, “Saving the Atchafalaya: Status of the Planning Process of the January 1979 Public Meetings,” 15 July 1979. Robert Misso's personal file on the Atchafalaya. I am grateful to Mr. Misso for his willingness to turn over his file of memoranda and newspapers clippings to me.

75. Interview with Foster Sanders, Baton Rouge, 19 January 1984; Misso interview, 9 November 1983. The extent of FWS involvement is documented in many memoranda by FWS personnel who attended STAB meetings in 1979. See the FWS files.

76. Sanders interview, 19 January 1984.

77. Atchafalaya Story: The Part They Forgot to Tell You. An Attempt at Informing Our Citizens of What Has Happened and What May Happen in the Atchafalaya Basin and its Surrounding Area, published by the Louisiana Landowners Association, Inc., and the St. Mary Industrial Group.

78. Ibid.

79. Interview with Kai Midboe, 10 March 1983, Baton Rouge.

80. Houck interview, 17 March 1983; interview with Newman Trowbridge, 12 March 1983, Franklin, Louisiana; Houck to Trowbridge, 15 March 1979; Trowbridge to Houck, 3 May 1979; memo to the files from Houck, subj: Atchafalaya/Negotiations with Landowners, 14 May 1979. All in Houck files.

81. Trowbridge interview, 12 March 1983; Cook, Mike, “Gov. Treen's Atchafalaya Basin Land Use Plan Both Praised, Rapped,” Baton Rouge Morning Advocate, 16 November 1980Google Scholar; Cook, Mike, “All Agencies Appear Ready to Adopt Basin Plan,” Baton Rouge Morning Advocate, 18 November 1980.Google Scholar

82. Trowbridge interview, 12 March 1983; Anderson, Bob, “Owners Counter Atchafalaya Plan,” Baton Rouge Morning Advocate, 18 May 1981.Google Scholar

83. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, “A Feasibility Report/Environmental Impact Statement on the Atchafalaya Basin Floodway System, Louisiana,” 18 March 1981. The development of water management units to control the inflow and outflow of water from distributary channels within the Atchafalaya Basin was a particularly contentious issue. The EPA took the lead in developing this approach, but environmental personnel from both the Corps and the FWS were also heavily involved.

84. Cook, Mike, “Atchafalaya Basin Hearings Open at LSU uesday,” Baton Rouge Morning Advocate, 12 July 1981Google Scholar; Cook, Mike, “Governor Drops Hint on Basin Compromise,” Baton Rouge Morning Advocate, 19 July 1981Google Scholar; transcript, Atchafalaya Basin Compromise Plan Press Conference, 19 November 1981. Kai Midboe files; McMahon, Bill, “Atchafalaya Plan Approved,” Baton Rouge Morning Advocate, 20 November 1981Google Scholar; Cook, Mike, “A Glorious Day for Louisiana, America,” Baton Rouge Morning Advocate, 22 November 1981Google Scholar; Midboe interview, 10 March 1983.

85. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, “Atchafalaya Basin Floodway System, Louisiana, Feasibility Study,” January 1982; Lieutenant General J. K. Bratton, chief of engineers, to the President, Mississippi River Commission, subj: Atchafalaya Basin Floodway System, Louisiana, 28 February 1983. OASA files.

86. On this, see also Reuss, “Along the Atchafalaya,” 43.

87. Caldwell, Lynton K., “A Constitutional Law for the Environment: Twenty Years with NEPA Indicates the Need,” Environment 31:10 (December 1989): 26.Google Scholar