There was hopeful news coming out of Congress for shore protection funding. The Senate Energy and Water appropriations bill called for $50 million for Shore Protection (Construction) funding in the 2017 budget, $10 million more than 2016. It was projected that the bill would sail through the full Senate with bi-partisan support. It was not to happen. An unrelated amendment jeopardized passage and the bill failed. If the appropriation bills don’t pass, we could be looking to a lame duck omnibus bill (like last year) or continuing resolution, which would keep last year’s funding level.
Update: S2848, the Water Resources Development Act 2016 has been placed on he Senate Legislative Calendar and will be taken up in the sequence in which it was added to the calendar.
On a good news note, the Army Corps of Engineers under Title VI Water Resources Infrastructure authorized the final feasibility studies for water resources development and conservation. Cape May County from the Hereford Inlet to Cape May Inlet was approved for a project under hurricane and storm damage risk reduction projects.