With important policy changes to the 2014 Water Resources Reform & Development Act being implemented, and an industry-driven 45 percent user fee increase at the end of 2014, 2015 was a good year for inland infrastructure, and developments in 2016 are expected to remain positive.
WRRDA cost-share changes at Olmsted lock and dam (85 percent federal, 15 percent Inland Waterways Trust Fund) has meant more than an additional $112 million flowed to other navigation projects and has put workers back on the job at three new sites. The user fee hike will bring an additional $45 million-plus to those projects.
The next Water Resources Development Act is expected in 2016, and was officially kicked off with the first House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee listening session in New Orleans in November 2015.
With a two-year budget agreement now law, the path toward enacting a Fiscal Year 2016 Omnibus Appropriations bill is clearer. WCI’s goals overall include raising appropriations levels to $360 million to $370 million for projects financed from the IWTF; adopting the House Operations & Maintenance funding level of $3.058 billion (with $1 billion for inland navigation); and urging $10 million for Pre-engineering Construction Design for the Navigation Ecosystem Sustainability Program. WCI continues to press for Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund appropriations of at least $1.25 billion.
NESP represents the future: Authorized in WRDA 2007 but not yet under construction, NESP is an unprecedented, multipurpose program allowing the Army Corps of Engineers to integrate Upper Mississippi River System infrastructure management with ecosystem improvements in five states. NESP includes construction of five modern navigation locks on the Upper Mississippi River, and two on the Illinois Waterway. NESP includes $1.717 billion for a 15-year ecosystem restoration program and $10.42 million annually for monitoring. The unique NESP program facilitates both a healthier national economy and river ecosystem.