I like your sense of federalism, but the Corps of Engineers has had responsibility for the navigable waters of the US since before the Civil War, and rightly so. These waterways cross not just State boundaries, but Regional ones as well. Except for the Pacific Region, every region shares a navigable waterway with a neighboring Region. (The Pacific has waterways, they just don't reach across the Rockies to connect with those of the other Regions.) If the Corps didn't have juridiction then we would need to form multi-Region compacts to handle them. Especially since for the inland waterways, things done upstream affect what happens downstream. The Corps generally does a good job, within the limits of their funding. Could it be decentralized? Yes, but it would complicate the administration of the waterways, altho not as badly as if it were handed to the States instead of the Regions. There are no great policy disputes to be found here, so I don't see any pressing need to decentralize this.
Ok then, just merely asking, I thought it could be more eficient.
I'm not familiarized with the waterway system.
By the way, is all this money really needed?
