GAO reports $34 billion Corps disaster spending since 2006
The Army Corps of Engineers' flood-risk projects have drawn over $60 billion in disaster funds, with $34 billion spent FY 2006-2025.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office found that the Army Corps of Engineers, which designs and builds much of the nation's federally funded flood-risk infrastructure, receives disaster funding primarily through post-disaster supplemental appropriations. From fiscal year (FY) 2004 through FY 2025, Congress appropriated more than $60 billion to the Corps for disaster response via 19 supplemental appropriations acts and $450 million through annual appropriations.
During FY 2006-2025 the Corps spent more than $34 billion on disaster-related activities, including preparedness supplies, emergency response, and project repair. When needed, the Corps transferred about $910 million from other appropriations accounts into its Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies account; transferred funds are reimbursed once a supplemental appropriation is received.
After a disaster, the Corps assesses damage to its projects and uses that information to improve flood-risk management models, early-warning systems, and evacuation protocols. The agency also applies the information to modify damaged structures - such as raising levee heights - under the authority of Public Law 84-99.
The report notes that many dams and levees were built over 50 years ago and may be increasingly vulnerable as disaster frequency rises. The Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act of 2024 directed GAO to analyze the Corps' disaster preparedness and response activities.
GAO's analysis relied on budget requests, appropriations acts, Corps expenditure data, and agency guidance. Expenditure data were reported from post-disaster supplemental appropriations beginning in FY 2006 because that is when the Corps began using specific financial codes to link spending to those acts.