Rep. Guthrie Questions Head of Army Corps of Engineers About Removal of Dam

Screenshots from today's questions from Rep. Brett Guthrie to Assistant Secretary Michael L. Connor, head of the Army Corps of Engineers Civil Division.

Darren Doyle, story:
Today, U.S. Congressman Brett Guthrie questioned Assistant Secretary Michael L. Connor, the head of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Civil Division about the dam removal process in Edmonson County.

Rep. Guthrie explained the situation to Assistant Secretary Connor, how Congress had passed a bill to allow the Corps to remove the dam in order to return the river back to its original state prior to the dam 100 years ago; however, he noted that engineers from the Corps got the information wrong and that because of those mistakes, the water supply in Edmonson County has now been endangered. Approval from Congress was based on the studies from the Corps.

He asked AS Connor, "It is frustrating that we don't foresee these problems and try to get a jump on them. Does the Corps look at those issues before and try to mitigate moving forward? I don't know how familiar you are with that specific project, but that's important to us."

Mr. Connor said he was becoming more familiar with the issue and planned on visiting the local office within the next couple of months.

"We should be looking at those (issues)," Connor replied. "I don't know the specifics of the situation, how, you know, we didn't believe the levels were going to drop, then the intake was at risk, so I need to learn more about that. But the bottom line is, in any water resource project, we now understand, it's not just aquatic ecosystem, flood risk reduction, or water supply--they all affect each other now. So, if we didn't, we should be looking at all those factors of dam removal as we consider all the benefits or the implications of it. So, we'll do a deeper dive, but I appreciate right now, we've got a strategy where some of the stakeholders are offering assistance, and let me be clear, we will work with your office, we do, do environmental infrastructure projects, so if we need to add that water supply piece to help effectuate this overall dam removal process, we are definitely open to working with you guys."

Guthrie then referenced arguments that have been made of returning the river to its natural state. He said while he understood that, not just wildlife, but life in general has adapted to the changes to the river over the past 100 years and that that notion should also be considered.

The state of the river was changed long before the Edmonson County Water District used the Green River as a water supply and Guthrie said he understood the natural standpoint of the project, but the dam removal now affects the current society--a society that has adapted to the dam being in place for decades.

"So, do y'all factor that in as well when you factor in projects for bringing dams out?" Guthrie asked. "I know that's not the way God created it, but it's the way human society has developed around it, and that's important to factor in as well."

AS Connor answered, "Yes, Congressman. I've been involved in a lot of dam removal situations in other capacities as well as working with the Corps. Most of those situations are driven by the interests of local stakeholders that start a dialogue and try to build a coalition. A lot of times it's related to the benefits of this facility. While they were once significant, are no longer of value, particularly when you take into account the costs from an environmental standpoint or the implications as in other situations where you're other communities such as tribes in the Snake River Basin, Columbia River System. So usually, that's where the dialogue happens and that's why I say all the dam removal projects-breaching issues, and some aren't breached, is driven by local circumstances and usually local folks."

Guthrie's time was up and had to turn the mic over to another speaker, but as far as the "local folks" that AS Connor referred to, we have found no locals that were ever in favor of any dam removal project in Edmonson County, so that answer did not seem to apply to the removal of Lock and Dam No. 6 or 5.