This is different from the usual CRS report; it's the 24 March 2021 testimony of staff member Charles V. Stern before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power U.S. Senate: 'Water Infrastructure for the 21st Century - The Viability of Incorporating Natural Infrastructure in Bureau of Reclamation Water Management Systems'.
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Opening Statement
Chairman Wyden, ranking member Hyde-Smith, and members of the subcommittee, my name is Charles Stern. I am a Specialist in Natural Resources Policy at the Congressional Research Service (CRS). Thank you for inviting CRS to testify. This CRS statement focuses on the authorities of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and provides relevant general context on natural and nature-based infrastructure.In serving Congress on a nonpartisan and objective basis, CRS takes no position on legislation and makes no recommendations. CRS remains available to assist the subcommittee in its development and consideration of water resource and other legislation.
I will start by providing context for federal efforts on natural infrastructure. I will then discuss the Bureau of Reclamation’s authorities and potential opportunities for the incorporation of natural infrastructure in its activities, including questions for policy makers.
Background on Natural Infrastructure
Historically, researchers, practitioners, and decisionmakers have used a variety of terms to describe natural features and combinations of traditional hard or gray features with natural components that are used to restore or mimic natural processes. These features may be implemented to achieve certain objectives for humans and wildlife. Some of the most common terms used to describe these features include natural infrastructure, nature-based infrastructure, green infrastructure, natural features, and nature-based features, among others. I will use the term “natural infrastructure” in this testimony, but others stakeholders may use different terms.Natural infrastructure sits on a continuum from natural areas, such as forested lands, to combinations of natural “green” components and engineered or “gray” (e.g., rock, steel, and concrete) components. The benefits of using natural infrastructure include a range of functions, or ecosystem services, such as evaporation, infiltration into the ground, water storage (i.e., within soils, groundwater, and wetlands), erosion and sediment regulation, flood and drought protection, natural resource provisioning (e.g., fisheries, agricultural products, and hydropower), carbon sequestration, and aesthetic and recreation value, among others. Examples of various types of natural infrastructure are depicted below in Figure 1.
Selected Federal Agency Definitions and Applications of Natural Infrastructure
Some federal agencies have supported natural infrastructure under existing statutory authorities. For example, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has supported the use of natural infrastructure features to fulfill the agency’s mandate to research, restore, and conserve natural resources. However, Congress has not defined natural infrastructure in statutes related to NOAA activities. Where Congress has been involved, interest in natural infrastructure has evolved over time. While interest may have been initially in the environmental and social benefits of natural infrastructure, especially as part of restoration efforts, interest in the economic benefits of these features has grown.In recent years, Congress has begun to explicitly define natural infrastructure, as well as nature-based and green infrastructure, in statute for some federal agencies. Congress has directed selected agencies to consider and use natural infrastructure in specific ways. For example, as part of the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act of 2016 (P.L. 114-322), Congress defined a natural feature as a feature “created through the action of physical, geological, biological, and chemical processes over time,” and a nature-based feature as “a feature that is created by human design, engineering, and construction to provide risk reduction by acting in concert with natural processes.” Congress enacted these definitions in the context of the water resource authorities of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). USACE refers to these features collectively as natural and nature-based features (NNBFs). In the same legislation, Congress directed USACE to consider NNBFs in its planning of flood risk management, hurricane and storm damage reduction, and ecosystem restoration projects. As discussed later in this testimony, Congress also provided similar definitions in amendments to the Reclamation WaterSMART program authorized in the Western Water and Indian Affairs title of P.L. 116-260.
Congress has also defined green infrastructure, a similar but not always synonymous term, in the context of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) authorities under the Clean Water Act (CWA). Under the 2019 Water Infrastructure Improvement Act (P.L. 115-436), green infrastructure is defined as “the range of measures that use plant or soil systems, permeable pavement or other permeable surfaces or substrates, stormwater harvest and reuse, or landscaping to store, infiltrate, or evapotranspirate stormwater and reduce flows to sewer systems or to surface waters.” The act also directed EPA to promote the use of green infrastructure in CWA permitting and enforcement, planning efforts, research, technical assistance, and funding guidance.
Other agencies may have their own working definitions that were developed administratively. For example, NOAA defines natural infrastructure as “healthy ecosystems, including forests, wetlands, floodplains, dune systems, and reefs, which provide multiple benefits to communities, including stormprotection through wave attenuation or flood storage capacity and enhanced water services and security.” NOAA describes nature-based infrastructure as “engineered systems where natural features are combined with more hard or structural engineering approaches to create a hybrid system.”
Natural Infrastructure in the Context of Water Availability
In the water availability context, natural infrastructure primarily addresses water supply, rather than demand, through managing water storage, infiltration, and conveyance. These efforts may include conserving and restoring forests, reconnecting rivers to floodplains, creating spaces for bioretention and infiltration, and combining one or more of these features with managed aquifer recharge. Some of the benefits of these actions may include reducing flash flooding, increasing groundwater storage, and improving late season runoff, among other things. There are a variety of options to support the implementation of these features, including direct financial support, technical assistance, grants, loans, tax incentives, and payments for ecosystem services, among other things.Multiple federal agencies provide support for natural infrastructure that improves water availability; this support is typically provided to meet various objectives and mission areas. For example, the Department of the Interior (DOI; including Reclamation), EPA, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) all have broad authorities to provide financial assistance for aquifer recharge. At the same time, USACE, NOAA, USDA, and multiple bureaus within DOI, among others, all have authorities that support the use of natural infrastructure to restore portions of ecosystems at various scales.
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"Life would be much easier to understand if mother nature gave us the source code. " - Graeme MacWilliam
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