Dredging result, originally uploaded by smacss.

The White House quickly declared victory yesterday when Democrats failed to override President Bush’s veto on SCHIP. Now comes the hard part — sustaining that momentum to fight other liberal measures to increase government spending.

The next fight might very well be over the Water Resources Development Act, a bill that’s so chock full of pork that even reliable Republicans like Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma couldn’t resist casting a vote in favor of bringing home more bacon. Scaling back WRDA, as it’s affectionately known on Capitol Hill, won’t be easy for that very reason.

But if opponents focus on the bill’s horrible policy prescriptions and outrageous earmarks, there just might be hope of scoring another victory.

One area of contention involves beach dredging, a topic that’s hardly on the national radar, but one that could impact any American who loves spending time near the ocean. The reason? Coastal conservation advocates are concerned that language in WRDA makes preserving sandy beaches the responsibility of the Army Corps of Engineers. Giving that authority to the Corps means that ‚Äúpreserving‚Äù America‚Äôs beaches involves massive dredge-and-fill projects.

Here’s the problem with dredge-and-fill: These so-called ‚Äúbeach nourishment‚Äù projects usually degrade or destroy the ecology of vast stretches of coast, rendering them less valuable. The shoreline often becomes worthless for fishing, surfing and diving. Unfortunately, these massive dredge-and-fill projects are often sold or mistaken for environmental restoration projects, when they are actually some of the most wasteful and environmentally damaging of the Corps’ projects. Generally, these projects only benefit (very temporarily) the wealthy who are foolish enough to have purchased the title to a sandbar, and give rise to more high-density flood plain development. Oh, and yes, this is all done at the enormous taxpayer expense.

Fixing the statute in WRDA could be an uphill battle, however, as the powerful American Shore & Beach Preservation Association (the dredge lobby) and the Corps dig in for a fight. Terry Gibson, projects editor with the Florida Sportsman Communications Network, longtime contributor to Surfer Magazine and a South Atlantic Fishery Management Council Habitat panel member, called the lobbyists “the carpetbaggers of America‚Äôs beaches.”

They purport to represent the beach-going America, when in reality the snake oil they’re selling displaces the generations of coastal watermen and women—the folks who truly know and love beaches, as well as the wildlife that depends on beaches, the surf zone and nearshore reefs. Congress needs to stop giving them our tax dollars to ruin the places we care most about.

This will be an interesting fight to watch in the next couple weeks. Leaving beach management responsibilities to state and local stakeholders is a far more responsible option than the direction Congress would like to take.