Dear Senator:

On behalf of 125 groups and our millions of members and 
supporters, we urge you to co-sponsor the Water Resources 
Planning and Modernization Act of 2006 (S.2288) and 
push for its consideration by the full Senate this year. 

The devastation along the Gulf Coast last year underscores
the critical need to improve our water resources planning. 
All studies to date show that levees protecting 
New Orleans failed due to poor engineering by the Army 
Corps of Engineers and lack of proper oversight. The City
was also far more vulnerable to flooding due to the 
dramatic loss of wetlands caused and exacerbated by 
Corps projects.

Unfortunately, New Orleans is not the only community at 
risk from poor water project planning. Each year our 
nation continues to lose valuable wetlands which help 
control flooding, protect our water supply, and are 
important for recreation, fish and wildlife. Our current 
water resources policies encourage development in high 
risk areas; turn a blind eye to flawed engineering, 
design, and construction; ignore economic realities; 
destroy natural systems; and fail to prioritize national 
needs. We can and must do a better job.

S.2288 will help keep Americans more secure as it:

Establishes a national policy that ensures all Corps 
water resources projects reflect national priorities 
for navigation, flood damage reduction and ecosystem 
restoration.

Modernizes the rules and policies governing Corps 
planning to help reduce the vulnerability of people, 
property and critical infrastructure from flooding, 
and help protect taxpayers and the environment.

Ensures effective project planning by providing 
independent expert input into costly or controversial 
water resources projects.

Requires Corps water resource projects to meet the 
same mitigation standards as everyone else to help 
protect and restore natural systems, which are the 
first line of defense against flooding and are important 
to fish and wildlife.

The rules and policies governing Corps project planning 
must be modernized to protect lives, communities, 
economies, and the environment. As the post-Katrina 
flooding of New Orleans so tragically demonstrates, 
modernization is urgently needed to ensure that future 
Corps projects provide the promised levels of protection, 
and safeguard healthy ecosystems that protect and sustain 
communities. We urge you to co-sponsor S.2288 and support 
efforts to include it in any water resources legislation 
considered this year.

Sincerely,