Morgantown Dominion Post - Editorial
14 April 2006
Development of regional waterway hinges on 24-hour operation of locks
Leaks are costly to repair, but ignoring one can cost you more. A lot more when it's a river's potential dripping away.
Earlier this week, a summit on ways to develop the Monongahela River, appeared to be more than water under the locks and dams. And one message flowed from virtually every stream of thought: The Monongahela River needs 24-hour lock operations to grow.
Commercial and recreational traffic has made waves on the Mon River for a couple centuries. But in the past three decades it has become stagnant.
Rep. Alan Mollohan, D-W.Va., has suggested he's willing to find the money to perform an updated study of the river's potential. We recommend that money would be better spent on appropriations to keep three major locks on the river in West Virginia operating around the clock.
The kind of study he was referring to was last conducted in 1995 for $600,000. Though a like sum won't cover the salaries and other costs to keep Morgantown, Hildebrand and Opekiska locks open, it could serve as one revenue stream for doing that. We also urge Mollohan to lobby for increased funding for the Pittsburgh District of the Army Corps of Engineers, which oversees the Mon. The corps cut its operating hours in 2003 on the river in a move to save millions in annual operating costs. Limiting the hours when river traffic can use the locks to negotiate the 40-mile stretch of river in our state is detrimental to our local economy - and not just in a commercial sense. Morgantown has recently embarked on construction of a $3.2 million marina on the river in an attempt to serve its citizens, but also to lure recreational boaters who traverse the river. As it stands, when you leave Pittsburgh or Fairmont for Morgantown, when you'll get there is anyone's guess. Although conditions might set you back, once you reach the series of locks to steer through you better hope they're open. If not you could be waiting for hours - sometimes 24 of them.
Utilizing the Mon River will continue to be hampered until the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers restores round-the-clock service at the waterway's three locks in West Virginia.
Recreational boaters want longer hours at the locks; commercial interests want longer hours at the locks.
One study at the summit we noted was automating the West Virginia locks so they can be operated from the Point Marion, Pa., lock and dam.
Preliminary estimates show it would cost $10 million to install the system. Arguably, $10 million is not chopped liver, but that sum would seem to be in the realm of an earmark. Barring that we are inclined to believe there are numerous sources of funds and investments our local leaders should attempt to tap into this year. For far too long the value of this greatest of north-central West Virginia waterways has been siphoned off. It's time to plug our river for our own benefit.