Thomas Hughes is an economist with 30 years of water resources planning experience, 15 years of experience working on policy development and implementation at the national level and 15 years of experience evaluating economic output of water resource projects with the Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District. He has developed economic policy and evaluation guidance at both the Army Corps of Engineers, HQ and for the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army CW (OASACW).

Hughes has collaborated with the Department of Agriculture, Council of Economic Advisors and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) relating to the development of new procedures of fully evaluate the economic benefits associated with inland navigation projects.

As the Senior Economist for the OASACW, Hughes provided key coordination between the Corps of Engineers and OMB to assess the administration’s position on a wide array of Chief’s reports. He has also been instrumental in the development of agency specific procedures for the implementation of the Principals, Requirements and Guidelines (PR&G) signed in 2015. The PR&G established the parameters for which the Corps will study and evaluate water resource development projects.

As lead economist for the Office of Project Review at USACEHQ, Hughes worked directly with the study team throughout the study process to review documents and study progress to assure compliance with the 1983 Principals and Guidelines and relevant Corps guidance. He provided policy compliance reviews on coastal storm risk management project including Mississippi Coastal Improvements Program and North Atlantic Coast Comprehensive Study, navigation projects including Boston Harbor and Charleston, flood risk management projects in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Sutter Basin, California, as well as ecosystem restoration projects in Los Angeles, California and Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration project.