Shelby, Rogers Meet with Corps of Engineers Nominee

U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Mobile, will be in the national spotlight this week, as he puts U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor thorough her paces in the hot seat of a confirmation hearing, but U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, and U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Saks, are doing a little grilling of their own this week.

Today Shelby and Rogers met with Jo Ellen Darcy, President Barack Obama's nominee for assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works. In this position, Darcy would oversee the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

During the meeting, Darcy committed to a fair and transparent process when reviewing the ongoing water dispute in the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa and Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basins, according to a release from Shelby's office.

Darcy also stated that it is not the role of the office to regulate a resolution while litigation is pending in federal court and that she will not use her office to manipulate the court case through the corps’ actions.

“Congress never intended for the federal reservoirs in Georgia to be used primarily for Atlanta’s water supply,” Shelby said. “That conclusion has been reached by every court that has ever considered the issue. The Corps should not interfere in ongoing litigation and it is my hope that, unlike her predecessor, Ms. Darcy will uphold her commitment to an honest and fair adjudication of the situation.”

Last week, Shelby successfully added an amendment to the fiscal 2010 Energy, Water, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill during the full committee markup to require the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to report how the water along the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa and Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basins is currently being allocated. Alabama, Georgia and Florida have been locked in legal disputes over the basins for two-decades.

-- posted by Markeshia Ricks