NCGA Gathers Support for Funding of Preconstruction, Engineering and Design on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers (3-20-06)

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) played an integral role in gathering much-needed support for increased funding for preconstruction, engineering and design (PED) on the Upper Mississippi River Systems in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 Energy and Water Development appropriation bill.
 
NCGA Corn Board members visited congressional offices last week urging support of Rep. Kenny Hulshof’s (R-Mo.) congressional letter asking the Energy and Water Development appropriations subcommittee to support $10 million in funding to accelerate PED for new 1,200 foot locks on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers.  Specifically, the letter asks for PED for Locks 20, 21, 22, 24, and 25 on the Upper Mississippi and the LaGrange and Peoria locks on the Illinois Waterway. 

NCGA Corn Board member Garry Niemeyer worked the issue this past week. “Even as Congress is preparing to authorize construction in a Water Resources Development Act, it must act to ensure that modernization can aggressively move forward,” he said.
 
Citing the current condition of the existing structures, Niemeyer noted the need for PED funding is even more urgent. “The design life of the current structures has lapsed, and the existing system has lost 10 percent of its capacity per year over the past 10 years.”

The letter was later sent to House Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development Chairman David Hobson (R-Ohio) and Ranking Member Peter J. Visclosky (D-Ind.) urging their support in the funding levels.

“By the end of the week, we gathered 21 members’ signatures who called on the appropriations committee for the funding of the preconstruction engineering and design,” said Niemeyer. “The broad bipartisan support for this funding is telling of the importance of the Mississippi River as an important transportation corridor. This also shows the continued support for WRDA in the House, which passed its bill overwhelmingly last year.”