Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Federal and state governments raise funds
through taxes to carry out their functions. Lower
levels of government may also raise funds through
taxes when they are authorized by state govern-
ments. Special organizations, such as levee and
drainage districts, are frequently given the author-
ity to assess those receiving the benefits of their
activities for the costs of carrying out their duties,
although typically the strict controls placed on
these assessments by the granting body does not
necessarily guarantee that they will be authorized
to raise sufficient funds to deal with the chal-
lenges they face. These special organizations can
also receive funding directly from the federal or
state governments. In the case of flood manage-
ment, many times, local governments become
sponsors for flood management projects in their
jurisdiction and participate in the funding of these
activities.
With somany independently operating entities,
the challenge becomes coordination. The report of
the White House committee following the 1993
Mississippi Flood found that:
layers of government, with the structure of the
sub-state organizations differing across all 50
states. The structures of government at the federal
and state level are generally the same, with each
having an executive branch headed by an elected
official (the President at the federal level and
Governors at the state), a legislature with two
houses (Senators and Representatives), and a judi-
ciary - various courts to deal with civil and crim-
inal issues and to address challenges to the
legality/constitutionality of actions taken by the
government and others. This structure provides
for checks and balances among the different gov-
ernmental entities at each level, and while useful
in ensuring that no one arm of government be-
comes dictatorial, it creates tensions among these
elements and makes rapid change more difficult.
At the state and federal level, andmany times in
the governance of large cities, the actual opera-
tions of the executive branches are carried out by
agencies whose responsibilities are tied to a spe-
cific function, such as agriculture, commerce, etc.
(Fig. 25.2). Within the Congress and state legisla-
tive bodies, committees, generally paralleling the
responsibilities of the executive agencies, carry
out the detailed work. In neither the executive
nor the legislative branches are responsibilities for
water or flood management found in a single
organization, but rather are scattered throughout
many agencies and committees.
Government at the local level varies consider-
ably by state. Most have intermediate level orga-
nizations, counties or townships, between the
states and municipalities, with the specific re-
sponsibilities of the municipalities and interme-
diate organizations defined by the constitutions of
the states.
Water-related organizations are many and op-
erate under charters developed by the federal gov-
ernment, states and local governments. They
range from river basin organizations with formal
authorities to water and sanitation districts, flood
control districts, public and private utilities, and
levee and drainage boards, which typically operate
local flood works. In some cases, at the city and
village level, floodworks are carried out directly by
these organizations.
The division of responsibilities for floodplain
management activities among and between fed-
eral, state, tribal, and local governments needs to
be clearly defined. Within the federal system,
water resources activities in general and flood-
plain management in particular need better coor-
dination. State and local governmentsmust have a
fiscal stake in floodplain management; without
this stake, few incentives exist for themto be fully
involved in floodplainmanagement. State govern-
ments must assist local governments in dealing
with federal programs. The federal government
must set the example in floodplain management
activities
Interagency Floodplain Management Review
Committee (1994).
With the federal government playing a domi-
nant role in floodplain management through the
development of structural approaches and the
management of the National Flood Insurance Pro-
gram, the states and local governments, as well as
the special bodies dealing with floodplain man-
agement, appear to have assumed that the federal
