Retired Brigadier General Joseph Schroedel urged attendees at the “Strategies for Storms, Flooding and Sea Level Defense Investments” conference to support the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers mission to upgrade the nation’s flood control and waterways infrastructure. Schroedel also urged support for budgetary increases in the next Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) which funds USACE projects.
The WRDA passed in 2020 included key provisions to invest in U.S. ports, harbors and inland waterways; build more resilient communities so that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can build projects in an economically and environmentally responsible manner.
Schroedel is currently the executive director of the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) and was introduced by Arvind Acharya, president of the San Francisco District of SAME. The conference took place on April 13th via Zoom and was a collaboration between the Propeller Club of Northern California and SAME.
John Cullather, executive vice president of International Propeller Club of the United States, commended Pete DeFazio, chair of the House, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee which spearheaded bi-partisan passage of the WRDA 2020. DeFazio will be an important champion for President Biden’s infrastructure bill, Cullather said.
Many conference presenters argued that the infrastructure bill must incorporate investments for resiliency and sea level defenses for coastal and inland communities as well as U.S. ports.