It would be great if rapid changes were benefiting the inland waterways transportation system, but this is not the case when it relates to lock and dam infrastructure. US locks and dams were constructed during the 1930s New Deal, and more than half have outlived their 50-year design life. Emergency outages and inefficiency from antiquated systems are increasing.
The waterways are the nation’s treasure. Locks and dams keep channels navigable, offer hydropower for electricity, prevent floods, supply municipal and industrial water, provide national security, and offer recreational boating, fishing, and swimming opportunities.
On the regulatory front, the Environmental Protection Agency’s withdrawal of the Clean Power Plan regulation could mean a more market-based conversion of coal-fired plants to natural gas. We expect that conversion/retirement of plants to slow, allowing for a more responsive generating system that is ready for weather extremes. Experts felt the Obama administration’s plant closures exposed the nation to a high risk of blackouts or brownouts during events such as the Polar Vortex.
Rivers are economic generators and jobs creators, facilitating competition, particularly for the agriculture sector. In 2014, 73 percent of US agricultural exports and 65 percent of imports moved by waterways. Competitive barge transportation helps discipline rates on other transportation modes, especially important given depressed commodity values. The US exports nearly one-quarter of its grain, and barges transport 61 percent of corn, 42 percent of soybeans, 40 percent of wheat and 26 percent of sorghum. This activity supports more than a half-million jobs.
In addition to farmers, steel mills, coal mines, and manufacturers use the waterways to transport goods to world markets and for use domestically.
A Trump administration/congressional infrastructure initiative could modernize lock and dams that could increase exports, grow the economy, add jobs, reduce highway traffic, and benefit our environment. Let’s move America and its freight forward.