Morgantown Dominion Post
12 January 2008
By Eric Bowen
Boaters and waterway officials said Friday that they are afraid the federal government is poised to create a new toll that would charge users to go through locks such as the Morgantown Lock and Dam.
Officials met Friday to discuss a rumored toll that would charge users to go through locks such as the Morgantown Lock and Dam (above). - Ron Rittenhouse - The Dominion Post
Members of the Upper Monongahela River Association, the Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce and state officials met at the Waterfront Place Hotel this week to discuss the issue.
Col. Michael Crall (left) and Mary Ann Bucci attend the meeting at Waterfront Place Hotel to discuss new navigation traffic patterns on the Monongahela River. - Ron Rittenhouse - The Dominion Post
Patrick Donovan, director of the West Virginia Department of Transportation Public Port Authority, said the fee would be the boating equivalent of paying a toll on the interstate. He said details are sketchy right now, because nothing has been proposed officially.
A toll for boaters could have a major impact on travel through the Monongahela River, and the rest of the Ohio River system, Donovan said. The Pittsburgh District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which operates the locks, has 23 locks that could end up having tolls, including nine on the Monongahela River.
"It's the equivalent to a toll booth on the waterways vs. a toll booth on the interstate," Donovan said. "If we put a toll on every lock and dam, that puts us at an economic disadvantage."
Wally Venable, technical coordinator for the Upper Monongahela River Association, said he has heard rumors about the tolls, but nothing definite. Venable said many boaters and commercial haulers would likely challenge such a fee, if enacted, adding the United States has had a tradition of free and open waterways.
The idea for a toll has been brought on by limited funding for operating and maintaining locks, officials said.
Rich Lockwood, chief of the operations division of the U.S.Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District, said sufficient funding is available to operate the locks.
Most of the funding to operate and build locks and dams comes from the federal government and a tax on fuel for commercial boats.
Maintenance money is falling behind, however, Lockwood said.
One lock and dam on the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh is 102 years old, more than 50 years beyond its original operating life, and has large holes in the dam.
"In the short term, it should be totally transparent," Lockwood said. "We are getting enough funding ... to operate the lock. What we haven't done for a long, long time is get the money that we need to do all of the maintenance tasks that need doing. Little by little they deteriorate."
Venable said that a shortage of funds has made for reduced hours at the lock, and made it more difficult for recreational boaters to use the locks. The Corps shortage of funds has forced it to make commercial traffic a priority over recreational boating.
Venable said he thinks the Corps has been working well with local recreational boaters and increasingly recognizes that recreation is an important part of the life of the Monongahela River. And commanders there have begun to make a minimum level of service an important priority.
Venable said the Corps is looking into ways to automate operation of the lock. But he said that kind of innovation will take time. "We're not expecting anything in the way of a sudden change," Venable said. "But the country has to keep evolving. Evolution is a gradual and slow process."
Lockwood said the lock system will continue to operate, and will allow recreational boats through the locks. But the primary purpose for the locks is to provide transit for commercial shipping. "We do the best we can, and try to strike a balance between commercial use and the needs of the recreational boaters," Lockwood said. "I think right now, if you talk to [recreational boaters], they would say we're doing a pretty good job, but it isn't as good as they would like."
To raise the profile of the local locks and dams, Donovan said the state is looking into new types of reporting that would show the true usage of locks on the Ohio River system. One way to do that would be to designate stretches of the river as statistical port systems for the sake of reporting tonnages of goods. Donovan said that if the Monongahela River between Pittsburgh and Fairmont was considered one port system, it would be among the largest inland river systems in the country. Another section of the Ohio River would rival even the largest coastal ports in terms of tonnage. Donovan said that with a designation as a major port, West Virginia and other states along the Ohio River could receive more federal funding to repair locks and dams. It could also allow the state to secure money for port security.
"We can collectively start looking at the marketing opportunities, getting our economic developers involved, giving our congressional representatives a tool they can use when it comes to transportation economic development," Donovan said. "It gives our recreational boaters an opportunity to be part of a port system and field their concerns to the federal level."