Improved Planning and Management of the Central and Southern Florida Flood Control Project Is Needed

"Although the initial work authorized in 1948 was primarily for flood control, the emphasis of the project has shifted over the years ... The overall project plan has not been updated and is not current, complete, or accurate ... Also, we believe that this restructured project plan is essential for effective project management and oversight."--Page 9.

GAO reviewed the effectiveness of Corps of Engineers project planning and management for the Central and Southern Florida Flood Control Project which the Corps currently estimates will cost about $2.2 billion. GAO believes that the Corps planning and management of the project needs to be improved. The project plan is inadequate because it contains proposed work that will require major modifications or may never be done due to potential adverse environmental impacts or lack of support by the local sponsor. The Flood Control Act of 1968 expanded the project to provide for increased storage and conservation of water and for improved water distribution. Some authorized project components were placed on an inactive status or deleted from project plans or cost estimates and may never be completed. Both the Corps and the State of Florida are currently in the process of identifying and evaluating many alternatives to alleviate water supply concerns. The 1999 completion estimate is extremely optimistic, since long-term priorities and valid schedule milestones have not been established for the remaining work to ensure that it is completed in the most orderly, efficient, and effective manner. The funding levels used by the Corps to estimate the completion schedule were too high. The uncertain scope of the project has prevented the Corps from preparing and reporting meaningful cost estimates, since the estimates contain costs for work which may not be done and do not recognize costs for new work. In addition, inflation has been understated in the cost estimates.