WASHINGTON -- United States Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., today testified in front of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee about the need for comprehensive reform of the Army Corps of Engineers. During the hearing, titled "New Orleans Hurricane and Flood Protection and Coastal Louisiana Restoration: Status and Progress," Sen. Landrieu shared her vision for flood protection and coastal restoration in Louisiana and around the nation.

"We need a new direction. The piecemeal approach that we have used for over the last 40 or 50 years is what I now call the 'patch and pray' model," Sen. Landrieu said in her testimony. "This model has failed our nation. It failed the people of New Orleans and our region. It has failed South Louisiana. Our coastal communities can no longer afford the backlogs, the delays, the inefficient process of overlapping and confusing federal authorization and delayed appropriations. We must build a better model. We must find a new way to focus our efforts at the federal, state and local level so that we can construct water infrastructure in a more natural landscape that keeps communities safer and strong."

Sen. Landrieu stressed that flood protection and coastal restoration priorities must extend beyond the New Orleans area. As the backbone of America's fisheries, port system and offshore oil and gas industry, cities like Lake Charles, Houma and Lafayette should be part of any comprehensive plan to provide structural protection along our coast. Sen. Landrieu also urged the Committee to view the Corps' current inadequacies as problem that impacts communities around the U.S.

"We do not think this is just about Louisiana," Sen. Landrieu said. "We think that this is about looking for a new engineering model that will work for the whole country. Louisiana happens to be, basically, the canaries in the coal mine at this particular point. But it is only a matter of time until a major storm hits Florida or some catastrophic flooding occurs in California. I am waiting for the Corps of Engineers to get to the point where they admit that the model we have is not sufficient in any way to protect people from catastrophic flooding in this nation."

Sen. Landrieu recently concluded a Congressional Delegation trip to the Netherlands where she studied the world-renowned Dutch integrated water management system with federal government officials. The Netherlands and Louisiana share many challenges in protecting populations and economic infrastructure below sea level. While 60 percent of the Netherlands' population lives in a delta landscape beneath sea level, the national water management system must protect more than lives and structures. Sixty-five percent of the the Netherlands' Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is generated from areas beneath sea level.

The Netherlands' governmental, cultural and scientific approach to living with water has allowed their nation to thrive in a vulnerable delta landscape. The Dutch have incorporated flood protection with urban development in a way that is both aesthetically pleasing and that spurs economic development.

"While not every element of the Dutch model will apply to coastal Louisiana or other communities in the United States, what we do know from them is that large and growing communities, as well as small cities and villages, can live safely below sea level," Sen. Landrieu said in her written testimony. "Our friends from the Netherlands have found a way to increase - not decrease -- property values in these areas. This Committee must work to develop a more 'Dutch' styled model."

"Learning from the Dutch goes far beyond envy for their impressive infrastructure. Our conclusions go beyond a desire to simply throw massive amounts of money at a problem. For too long, our nation has neglected water management and failed to put forth a comprehensive federal policy that meets the urgency of our crisis. Our problems our almost innumerable: Flood protection that fails, navigation maintenance that does not keep our ports competitive in global markets, la ack of dependable sources of drinking water, no real plans for restoring natural ecosystems and wildlife habitats. The list goes on and on. We have a broken system and no real solution to repair it."

Sen. Landrieu outlined several important steps to reforming the Corps. These include:

*Extending the District Commander's rotation in Louisiana to six to 10 years;

*Integrating traditional water projects, programs and activities along with the other critical activities that are unique to south Louisiana: waterborne commerce, oil and gas industry, commercial and recreational fisheries and cultural preservation;

*Enhancing the existing authorization for coastal restoration and protection by establishing a robust programmatic authorization to better coordinate federal agencies as true partners;

*Establishing stronger partnerships with state and local governments. By establishing a more equal partnership in the planning and implementation of water resource, coastal restoration, flood control and navigation projects, state government and the communities of south Louisiana will have the ability to control their own destiny; and

*Moving the Corps and overall federal planning and implementation to a comprehensive approach, looking at all of the landscape in a holistic fashion that reflects the unique nature of a coastal delta and Chenier plain.

For more on Sen. Landrieu's ideas on reforming the Corps, her written testimony can be accessed by visiting: http://landrieu.senate.gov/media/EPW_Written_Testimony.pdf

During the hearing, Sen. Landrieu also addressed the controversy surrounding the Corps' selection of Option 1 for the construction of permanent pump stations along Lake Pontchartrain.

"If Hurricane Katrina taught us anything -- it is that we must coordinate and manage our outer hurricane protection system with the interior drainage and flood control of the city," Sen. Landrieu told the Committee. "If we fail to properly design this system -- we will fail the people of New Orleans and the region, and likely repeat the same mistakes that killed over 1,400 people in Louisiana and brought a major American city to the brink of collapse. I urge this Committee to take swift action to address the concerns of the State of Louisiana, the City of New Orleans, Jefferson Parish, and the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board."