Federal projects are inspected and reviewed by federal agencies, funded by congress. due to funding, or lack of it - there indeed can be a conflict of interest. for federally operated and maintained structures, generally safety is of high concern. however, for turn over projects (locally sponsored projects), funding for operation and maintenance is often lacking and may not be a priority for a sponsor. while periodic inspections are conducted by the government, it is not unusual that risk reduction is not always the highest priority for the owner. this was made obvious painfully obvious in the aftermath of Katrina. I will note that NRCS contracts a lot of engineering out to consultants. And most NRCS structures have local sponsors, so it is incumbent on the sponsor to do the O&M.
