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c' Structural mmsuw to directly control floodwaters have ban used on virtually all scaks- from modifying a majar rhoer cou.rse, such as th4t of the Colorado, Missouri, or 7bmmee, to controlling tk flow q( (usUlllly) insignificant tributaries. Corn:rete cho.mul and retaining LI-'all, Sihoer Crerk, Lt)'rkn 7bu'TlJhip, IliilWis. resources are not available to undertake all required remedial actions. One option being actively considered and already used on a limited basis by the Soil Conservation Service and others is breaching small dams that are no longer functional. Investment in Flood Control The Flood Control Act of 1936 established the federal interest in control. ling floods on the nation's navigable waters and their tributaries. Under this Act, $310 million was authorized for carrying out flood control projects, with the Corps receiving major responsibilities for mainstem and downstream projects. The Soil Conservation Service was later assigned responsibility for flood protection on upstream .......atersheds. This act established the condition that federal involvement in flood control would be appropriate "if the benefits to .......homsoever they may accrue are in excess of the estimated costs and if the lives and social security of the people are othen....ise adversely affected." For 50 years this phrase has been the basis of efforts to analyze the benefits and costs of water resources projects. In addition to the Corps and the Soil Conservation Service, the Bureau of Reclamation and the Tennessee Valley Authority are involved in the con- struction of flood damage reduction structures. The Bureau of Reclamation has planned and constructed many large irrigation and hydropower reservoir projects in the western United States that also provide flood control, including Grand Coulee Dam, the Central Valley Project, and Hoover Dam. The Ten- nessee Valley Authority has played a role in flood control since its creation in 1933; two of its statutory purposes are "to improve navigation in the Tennes- see River and to control destructive flood .......aters in the Tennessee River and Nlississippi River Basin." Between 1936 and 1975 the federal government spent about $13 billion for dams and other structures. A fev\! of the first flood control projects were financed 100% by the federal government, although most required the con- tribution of land, easements, and rights of way by state and local governments and maintenance of the project after it was completed. Today, hO\vever, state and local governments and private sponsors are required to share the costs of practically all flood control projects. State and local governments play two major roles in funding water resources development: constructing and operating their o"m projects, and financing their share of and maintaining the projects built for them by the federal government. Tremendous variations exist in the extent of state and local involvement in each role. As of 1988, 23 states provided technical assistance to communities for flood control; many more states are directly involved in local structural flood projects in other ways. Expenditures by Federal Water Resource Agencies, 1986 Federal Agencies Tolal ~ ~ $3.4 Billion us. Army Corps of Engineers Expenditures ~;IOOdC'm"'(39orol ~'8'"'OC -~ WATER RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT BY THE STATES . F/oridn has creatRd Hiller It,.ftl1lagemenf DistrulS that are authorized to levy ad valorem taxes to jirum.ce local water prqjects. . In Afo71tann, a water devf!wprmnt fund was mated in 1981 to make wam and grants jor all water de/Jelopnunt purposes. . Louisia711l, .AIa7)'wrui, and ll1innesota have recently created programs ro provide finmuial aSSls- taner in communities l!w! develop flood control plans. . lliLshington provides grants to communitus to help maintain levees and other flood protection projects. - 35