For those who have never had an Army Corp of Engineers project around them

[RB TexLa]

They do not end. The Corp operates pretty much as a business whatever course of action that will get the most money from congress is the course they are going to take. Doesn't matter if that course is the best or the worst. They also are like the scheduler for a bus company, as in once you have the schedule working perfect your job is no longer needed. They have been building and changing levees along the Mississippi river forever in Louisiana and they will guarantee that they will do so forever. They don't care any more than other Americans how many Louisianians live or die in a storm or flood, just what's in the next appropriations bill.

[XOKCowboy]

1. Very true.. Use it or lose it has long been the COE's unofficial motto

Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner details them and the Bureau of Reclamation using that same approach since the 20's.

[liberalmuse]

2. I've never understood "government funding".

"If you don't use it, you lose it" is a very wasteful and inefficient way to operate. That needs to change.