Inhofe: Hope is not lost for low-water dam improvements
BY WAYNE GREENE World Senior Writer
Monday, November 19, 2012
11/19/12 at 7:35 AM
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe disputes
suggestions that there is
no chance for promised federal
funding for low-water dam projects
along the Arkansas River in
Tulsa County.
“That would not be an accurate
characterization,” Inhofe said in
a telephone interview last week.
“Yes, it is difficult. There is a lot
of competition out there, but we
looked at our projects ... that are
already authorized and would
encourage some attention from
the Corps of Engineers.”
In 2007, Inhofe successfully
got an authorization for $50 million
in federal funding for the
Tulsa County projects included
in the Water Resources Development
Act.
Authorization is the first step
in federal funding. Typically,
projects then would need to get
an appropriation before spending
could move forward.
During Supreme Court arguments
over the legality of a state
bond issue to fund improvements
to the Zink Lake dam, state
Sen. Patrick Anderson, R-Enid,
brought up the issue of federal
appropriations.
“They’re not ever going to appropriate
$50 million,” Anderson
told the justices. “We can hope all
we want, but that is not going to
happen.”
Inhofe said the current political
atmosphere in Congress
makes the chances of an appropriation
unlikely, but that doesn’t
mean there’s no hope for the federal
money.
Getting the money for the dam
projects without an appropriation
would require persuading
the Corps of Engineers to reprioritize
its projects and use existing
appropriations for the work,
Inhofe said.
That’s a bit of an uphill struggle,
but Inhofe has some influence
over the corps because he
sits on the Environment and
Public Works Committee and the
Armed Services Committee, the
two Senate committees with jurisdiction
over the corps.
Last week, Senate rules required
Inhofe to step aside
as ranking Republican on the
environment committee, but
he remains a member and
the move allowed him to step
into the ranking GOP spot on
the Armed Services Committee.
“When you’re on both of
them, you should get some
level of prioritization,” Inhofe
said.
“I’m on both of them and
will continue to be.”
Inhofe said he successfully
persuaded the corps to
bump up prioritization on
another important project,
the Red River Chloride Project,
a corps effort to control
natural chloride brine emissions
at 10 major source areas
and improve water quality for
municipal, industrial and agricultural
use.
The Red River project has
started but faces future funding
issues, according to the
Corps of Engineers website.
“We can still work with the
Corps of Engineers,” Inhofe
said.
“My job of course is to encourage
that from the Corps
of Engineers.”
The $50 million authorization
for Tulsa County
projects is limited to use on
things like flood control and
ecosystem restoration and
can’t be used for recreational
facilities, but Inhofe said he
thinks the money was justified
when it was approved by
Congress and remains so.
Wayne Greene 918-581-8308
wayne.greene@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
Sen. Jim Inhofe says he successfully persuaded the Corps of Engineers to bump up prioritization on another important project. MIKE SIMONS / Tulsa World file
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