1. US Army Corps of Engineers BUILDING STRONG ® America’s Great Watershed Initiative Major General John Peabody President, Mississippi River Commission Commander, Mississippi Valley Division St. Louis, Missouri September 27, 2012

2. BUILDING STRONG ® We recognize that there are no trivial occurrences in life if we get the right focus on them. - Mark Twain's Autobiography

3. BUILDING STRONG ® Mississippi River Watershed Sub-basins Missouri River Basin Arkansas- White River Basin Red River Basin Lower Miss. River Basin Ohio River Basin Upper Miss. River Basin

4. BUILDING STRONG ® 41% of U.S. drainage flows through the body of the nation World’s 3 rd Largest Watershed 4

5. BUILDING STRONG ® Global Agricultural Zones and the Basis for US Greatness

6. BUILDING STRONG ® U.S. Ports: Vital to Trade and our National Economy N Million Tons Over 100 50 - 100 25 - 50 10 - 25 Houston Corpus Christi S. Louisiana New Orleans Baton Rouge Texas City Lake Charles Plaquemines Tampa New York/NJ Valdez Long Beach Beaumont Lower Delaware River (9 harbors) Duluth/Superior Los Angeles Port Arthur St. Louis Portland Seattle Freeport Huntington Richmond Oakland Tacoma Boston Hampton Roads Port Everglades Jacksonville Memphis Detroit Cleveland Savannah Charleston Indiana Hbr Cincinnati Portland Two Harbors Anacortes Honolulu Chicago Pittsburgh Baltimore Pascagoula IMTS is a distribution system for coastal ports… Toledo Mobile Matagorda Kalama Barbers Pt Nearly 12,000 miles 9 ft & over 196 lock sites / 241 chambers Moving over 600 million tons Carries 18% of Nation’s inter-city freight at a cost of 2/3 that of rail and 1/10 of truck

7. BUILDING STRONG ® 2011 1927  1927 Flood = 16.8 M acres (Challenge)  2011 Flood = 6.35 M acres (Response)  $112 B damages prevented - $487 B since 1928 - 34 to 1 ROI  $7 B in crop damages prevented  4.5 million people protected  $3B Annual Transportation Rate Savings 1927 vs. 2011 Mississippi River Record Flood: From “Levees Only” to “Room for the River” From “Levees Only” to “Room for the River”

8. BUILDING STRONG ® Mississippi River Low Water: 2012

9. BUILDING STRONG ® Mississippi River Flood of 2011 Supplemental Appropriations: Dredging, Ports and Harbors Authorized Purpose: Remove flood-induced sediment from channels, ports and harborsAuthorized Purpose: Remove flood-induced sediment from channels, ports and harbors FY12 MR&T and O&M Appropriation for Channels and Harbors = $143 million (surveys and minimal dredging)FY12 MR&T and O&M Appropriation for Channels and Harbors = $143 million (surveys and minimal dredging) 56 of the approved 253 Supplemental Project Repair Items for Dredging: Est. cost $214 million56 of the approved 253 Supplemental Project Repair Items for Dredging: Est. cost $214 million Biggest Impact: Available funds for harbor dredgingBiggest Impact: Available funds for harbor dredging

10. BUILDING STRONG ® # Items Scheduled Schedule to Substantially Complete by Flood Season Post FS14 – 27 10% 2011 Flood Damage Repair Plan – Current Status as of September 6, 2012 as of September 6, 2012 253 Total Repair Items 13 September 2012 10

11. BUILDING STRONG ® Lockport video Insert icon here 11

12. BUILDING STRONG ® Armored surface Unarmored surface Multiple areas where sheet piles are failing or near failure NB entrance to auxiliary chamber NB entrance to main chamber Failure point Vicinity of Normal water line Emergency Repairs L/D 27: St. Louis District

13. BUILDING STRONG ® MVD Civil Works Funding Trend Comparison Investigations, Construction and O&M (Regular Appropriations ) $ Millions (Constant 2012 $’s)

14. BUILDING STRONG ® NHC CONSENSUS ADV34 Peak Surge Entire Simulation ft. NAVD88

15. BUILDING STRONG ® Track rack damage LaPlace Flooding Hurricane Isaac Impacts Louisiana Lafitte, South Louisiana

16.  Potential Loss: 1,750 sq. mi. over next 50 years  Largest Port Complex in US: ► 60% of Agricultural products ► 22% of Energy capacity  Largest Fishery in the Lower 48 The Nation is Experiencing a Coastal Crisis in Louisiana Predicted Land Change Over Next 50 Years

17. BUILDING STRONG ® Challenge and (Provisional) Response  Gather insights and lessons from the Past  Identify Challenges, Provisional Responses, and Longer Term Impacts  Build a Vision for the Future BUILDING STRONG ®

18. Value of Partners  Strength in Diversity  Leverage Resources  Broader Thinking  Survivability  Variety of Solutions  Multiple level commitment  Innovation Upper Mississippi River Basin Association Expanding Opportunities. Delivering Results.

19. BUILDING STRONG ® Regional Memoranda of Understanding  The Nature Conservancy (2004)  Great Lakes and Ohio River Division & Mississippi Valley Division: Section 519 (2004)  Sand County Foundation (2005)  American Land Conservancy (2005)  Northwestern Division & Mississippi Valley Division: Pallid Sturgeon (2008)  National Audubon Society (2009)  LMRCC (2010)  NGRREC (2010)  Forest Service (2010)  Dubuque & New Orleans Aquariums (2011)  Natural Resources Conservation Service (2011)  Bass Pro Shops (2012)

20. BUILDING STRONG ® “Efforts to sustain the Mississippi River system will require a unified vision and intergenerational commitment to realize that vision.”

21. BUILDING STRONG ® Our people enjoy a quality of life unmatched in the world. We...  Lead secure lives along the river or tributary.  Enjoy fresh air and the surrounding fauna, flora, and forests while hunting, fishing and recreating.  Travel easily, safely and affordably.  Drink from and use the abundant waters of any river, stream or aquifer.  Choose from an abundance of affordable basic goods and essential supplies that are grown, manufactured and transported along the river to local and world markets. Our people enjoy a quality of life unmatched in the world. We...  Lead secure lives along the river or tributary.  Enjoy fresh air and the surrounding fauna, flora, and forests while hunting, fishing and recreating.  Travel easily, safely and affordably.  Drink from and use the abundant waters of any river, stream or aquifer.  Choose from an abundance of affordable basic goods and essential supplies that are grown, manufactured and transported along the river to local and world markets. Leveraging local citizen and partner input, international dialogue, science, engineering, technology, and public policy Leveraging local citizen and partner input, international dialogue, science, engineering, technology, and public policy Balancing Nation’s needs for:  National security & flood damage reduction  Environmental sustainability & recreation  Infrastructure & energy  Water supply & water quality  Movement of goods: agriculture & manufacturing The Mississippi watershed is 41% of the United States, encompassing 31 states, 1.25 million square miles, more than 250 tributaries join the dialogue … visit www.mvd.usace.army.mil/mrc or email cemvd-ex@usace.army.mil join the dialogue … visit www.mvd.usace.army.mil/mrc or email cemvd-ex@usace.army.mil America’s Watershed: A 200-year working vision An Intergenerational Commitment America’s Watershed: A 200-year working vision An Intergenerational Commitment

22. BUILDING STRONG ® Homework: Kickoff the Mississippi River Watershed Visioning Campaign 1.What would you change about the current 200 year working vision? 2.Which elements of the vision statement are your top 2 priorities? 3.What would you be willing to compromise on to advance more permanent (and collaborative) solutions to achieve “integrated water resource management” in the basin? HOMEWORK REQUIREMENT RULES: BE BOLD THINK LONG TERM (GEOLOGIC TIME) TAKE OWNERSHIP OF OTHERS’ ISSUES

23. BUILDING STRONG ® My Brother’s Computer A Dream is Just a Dream … A Goal is a Dream with a Plan and a Schedule Douglas L. Peabody, 1959-2012

24. BUILDING STRONG ® … and Other Concluding Thoughts Some Take-aways from Yesterday: LISTEN-- Commitment to Compromise and Consensus POSSIBILITIES (Imagination): Planning, Patience, Persistence PERFECT is the Enemy of the Great … Great is the Enemy of the Good … Good is the Enemy of the POSSIBLE … Challenges  (Provisional) Solutions  CONSEQUENCES Resist the Temptation to “Organize” (Bureaucratize) “A Society grows Great when Old Men plant Trees whose Shade they Know they shall Never sit under” Ancient Greek Proverb

25. BUILDING STRONG ® US Army Corps of Engineers BUILDING STRONG ® What will be Your Legacy?

26. BUILDING STRONG ®  Build recognition among regional and national leaders  Establish an enduring, public-private facilitating entity to connect existing institutions and stakeholders and harness the best science  Develop and report on measures that indicate progress toward achieving sustainable management  Elevate local and regional projects that demonstrate effective collaboration and integrated strategies  Network with river commissions and similar entities in North America and global  Knowledge and best practices related to the management of large rivers and watersheds.