The Obama administration is getting tough on the keep-busy ways of the Corps of Engineers. It’s insisting on scrapping projects that don’t provide a sufficient return on investment.

That’s the good news. Now the irony: The decision means the Corps is being forced to scrap a hydroelectric project on the Arkansas River about 35 miles east of Fort Smith. According to this, shutting down the project will cost $4 million more than it would cost to complete it.

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Rep. John Boozman, that crusader against government spending, represents the district in which the project sits and you know what he wants to do — keep busy. The Ozark-Jeta project could still get money from Congress.

Longtime observers of the Army Corps say the Arkansas project is a symbol of a venerable problem: No one is in charge of crafting a coherent vision for the nation’s water infrastructure.

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Needed here: George Fisher.

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