Editorial
The Waterways Journal
30 January 2006
There was a time in 2005 when river supporters thought both houses of Congress would pass the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2005. Alas, as in five previous years, something else came up - Hurricane Katrina.
When Katrina arrived, the contents of the coffers of the U.S. were suddenly put up for grabs. The country talks about little else other than recovery. Reports from the Gulf Coast indicate millions of dollars are being unwisely spent and with little accounting.
So, inland waterway leaders are striving once again to educate Congress and the entire nation about the importance of our waterway system and early introduction of WRDA 2006.
Ironically, the numbers we hear when it comes to financing recovery for the Gulf Coast and New Orleans are gargantuan compared to the drop in the bucket needed to fix our water-ways. Earlier, when Katrina wasn't among our wildest thoughts, critics of water resource development talked about the cost of modernizing the Upper Mississippi and Illinois navigational facilities as though the amount were outrageous. "More than $2 billion," they would say. An estimated half of the amount is planned for ecosystem recovery, which really comes under the classification of environmental improvements. These misrepresented figures have been accompanied frequently by the inference that waterways do not pay for themselves. Yet low-use waterways feed more important water-ways, which in turn feed major ones, and in the end the system is successful.
So once again the waterways are waiting. We are not implying by any stretch of the imagination that the House and Senate were not serious about helping improve waterways last year. Congress passed WRDA 2005 before Katrina struck. But isn't there always something - something that comes up year after year to stand in the way of the money needed to make our waterways viable?
This ongoing struggle reminded reader Carl Hugh Jones of something he read while researching old Waterways Journals. Written more than 75 years ago, his find seems as important today as it did on July 19, 1930.
The writer was writing about the need for waterway maintenance when he added, "...you can't make the rivers pay, under present and future economics, in any other way. River channels must first be adequate, and second they must be dependable. And when they are both, they must he maintained and constantly improved upon. They most not be restricted by shallow, narrow, or tortuous channels or small locks, or by allowing bridges to be built too low or with spans too narrow."
"Our first job will be to hold what we have, but from now on, under the principles laid down by Congress, we shall be working for something better all the time. Improvements must begin, of course, with the trunk lines, and then work upward and outward to the tributaries."
Railroad tracks and highways are in constant need of repair. Why should it be different with waterways?
Another friend put it another way. "You can't expect horses to pull a heavy wagon if you don't feed them."
For too many years we have failed to adequately nourish our horses. Water transportation has a fine record over the decades, moving upwards of 15 percent of all domestic cargo for some 2 percent of the transportation cost. Water transporters have also had to contend with contentious nature. Poorly maintained waterways and lack of modernization are handicapping our horses.
In the meantime, our population has grown. Transport modes have difficulty accommodating growing demands. Railways have no place to expand. Trucking companies can only put more trucks on the road, making it more difficult to travel and gobbling up natural resources at a time when the nation is facing acute oil problems. Waterways, on the other hand, are underused and under maintained.
Aside from the $5 billion-plus that needs to be voted on under WRDA 2006, we need to spend the $3 billion-plus to fix the Upper Mississippi and Illinois. Water transport is environmentally friendly and much cheaper. If we truly want to improve our environment, water transport is the way to go.
We're optimistic about WRDA prospects this year, as is R. Barry Palmer, president and chief executive officer of Waterways Council Inc. Getting the act approved is one of the council's key objectives for 2006. Another council objective is to press for authorization of the lock and dam modernization projects on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers.
Gulf Coast recovery from hurricane damage will take decades, we're told. And we know it is necessary. However, marine industries that handle millions of tons of export and import cargo are moving fast in that direction. They need help, too. A healthy inland waterways system can only be an added benefit, for it, too, accommodates much of that cargo. Spending $8 billion plus over the next few years to improve our system will pay big dividends.