This commentary appeared in the print edition of the Jan. 6, 2020, Journal of Commerce Annual Review and Outlook.
2020 is a presidential election year, but we also expect the biennial Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) — the policy authorization bill for water resources and the inland waterways — to be passed, and on a bipartisan basis!
In 2019, Mother Nature’s flooding wrath and trade wars wreaked havoc on inland waterways transportation, but WRDA 2020 offers hope.
Today, the only waterways users paying for half the cost of new inland navigation lock construction and major rehabilitation of the system are commercial towboat operators, with funds matched by general revenue money. In WRDA 2020, Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI) is urging conforming maritime cost-sharing to efficiently complete high-priority lock and dam projects either under or awaiting construction. An inland waterways cost-share change to 75 percent general revenue funding and 25 percent Inland Waterways Trust Fund (IWTF) funding, from the current 50/50 formula, was approved for deep-draft ports in WRDA 2016 to expedite channel maintenance and dredging for US ports to receive post-Panamax vessels. Making this change for the inland waterways would ensure funding remains at or above the annual $400 million level that was achieved after a similar change (85 percent general revenues and 15 percent IWTF) was made in the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA) 2014 to fund completion of the Olmsted lock and dam project on the Ohio River, saving hundreds of millions of dollars and accelerating project delivery by four years.
Current funding without a cost-share change means priority navigation projects will not even begin construction within 20 years. A 75/25 change would mean that in half the time (10 years), 12 projects can be efficiently completed, and in 20 years, all 25 priority projects could be finished. Increased transportation efficiency means the nation and its improved export outlook are the true beneficiary.