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RIVER TRANSPORTATION
Overview
If U.S. farmers
are to remain competitive in the global marketplace, they must be able
to deliver their products to domestic and world markets efficiently
and cost-effectively.
Our foreign competitors
are improving their production capabilities, increasing yield and becoming
stronger forces in world markets. Brazil, Argentina and China all have
made significant investments in their transportation infrastructure,
thereby enhancing their global competitiveness. At the same time, the
transportation infrastructure in the United States is deteriorating
at an alarming rate. The lock and dam system developed nearly 60 years
ago is outdated in light of today’s transportation needs.
Presently, the U.S.
enjoys a comparative advantage in corn production worldwide. The per-ton
cost for transporting corn in the United States is lower than in other
countries. NCGA wants to ensure that U.S. farmers retain their ability
to deliver their commodities to the world market in the most efficient
and economical manner – through barge transportation.
Several of the locks
along the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers are only 600 feet in length
and therefore are unable to accommodate the modern 1100-foot barge tow.
These locks need to be upgraded to 1200 feet in length in order to reduce
costly transportation delays and expedite the movement of corn and other
products to both foreign and domestic customers.
The U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers is in the final stages of the seven-year Upper Mississippi
River-Illinois Waterway System Navigation Study. The study will make
recommendations regarding improvements needed along the system to maintain
a viable inland waterway transportation infrastructure. Such improvements
will be made over a 20-year time frame, and so the study must be completed
and the work must be authorized and funded as soon as possible.
Action Needed
Congress and the
Clinton administration must ensure that the Army Corps of Engineers
Corps releases interim findings of the navigation study immediately
to provide guidance for the authorization process for the Water Resources
Development Act of 2000 (WRDA 2000).
In WRDA 2000, Congress
must provide contingent authorization for:
- the expansion
of lock and dam 25, 24, 22, 21 and 20 on the Mississippi River and
the LaGrange and Peoria locks on the Illinois River to 1200-foot structures;
and
- the addition
of 1200-foot guide walls at Mississippi lock and dam 14-18 to facilitate
the movement of 1100-foot tows.
In the fiscal year
2001 Energy and Water appropriations bill, Congress should provide
$14 million for
pre-construction design and engineering for the second year of design
work on the primary seven locks.
For more information,
contact NCGA at 202.628.7001
or visit our web
site at: www.ncga.com
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