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Inland Waterways Trust Fund News

25 Mar 2024

Demopolis: A Cautionary Tale for Increased Infrastructure Investment

Demopolis Lock—which suffered a recent catastrophic failure—is a cautionary tale for other locks and those in Congress and the White House who may fail to see the urgency and importance of investing in the inland waterways system. (Photo: Chuck Walker / U.S. Army)

Demopolis Lock—which suffered a recent catastrophic failure—is a cautionary tale for other locks and those in Congress and the White House who may fail to see the urgency and importance of investing in the inland waterways system.The nation’s inland waterways lock and dam infrastructure, largely constructed in the 1930s, has seen modernization and rehabilitation across the system, albeit very slowly. Despite those efforts, lock failures continue, and the risk of failure persists.While…

12 Oct 2023

Inland Waterways: US Making Progress on Infrastructure

(Photo: Michel Sauret / USACE)

The United States’ vast network of navigable inland rivers is vital to the nation’s economy, serving as an aquatic superhighway for the efficient shipment of critical commodities like agricultural goods, energy products, building materials and industrial chemicals to destinations within the U.S. and to deepwater ports for export. The Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI), which advocates for a modern, efficient and well-maintained inland waterways, often describes the network as “the…

26 Jun 2023

U.S. House Committee Green-Lights Strong Funding - WCI

© W.Scott McGill / Adobe Stock

The House Committee on Appropriations approved by a vote of 34-24 the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Energy and Water Development (E&W) Appropriations Bill. Included in the bill are Community Project Funding (CPF) requests for Inland Waterways Trust Fund (IWTF) construction projects.Overall proposed funding for Corps’ Civil Works is $9.57 billion, an increase of $910 million above FY23’s appropriated level, and $2.16 billion above the President’s FY24 budget request.FY24 funding for construction projects on the inland waterways is $455.97 million…

20 Mar 2023

Getting the Work Right: Coordinating Money, Time and Big Projects

© EJRodriquez / Adobe Stock

I. MoneyNo one ever said it’s easy to understand federal budgets and spending plans. Nevertheless, a general sense of clarity and straightforwardness is critical for any review of public expenditures. This becomes more pressing when tracking revenue and expenditures linked to specific users’ fees, such as the $0.29/gallon fuel tax, paid by inland waterways operators. In 2021, the Inland Waterways Trust Fund (IWTF) held $221.5 million, money earmarked to build, maintain and operate…

16 Mar 2023

WCI: 20 Years of Success and Still More to Come

© Craig A Walker / Adobe Stock

Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI) recently held its annual Washington, D.C. meetings that included a Capitol Hill fly-in. WCI members from across the country participated in 100 meetings with House and Senate members to advocate for the nation’s inland waterways to ensure its reliability by modernizing its infrastructure.Meeting with stalwart champions of the inland waterways as well as newly sworn in members of the 118th Congress to educate them about the system’s importance demonstrates democracy in action…

16 Dec 2022

WRDA 2022 Heads to Biden's Desk for Signature

© Kent / Adobe Stock

The Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2022 on Thursday passed in the Senate by a vote of 83-11. It was included as part of the FY23 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The bill, which passed in the House of Representatives on December 8, now heads to the President for his signature into law.WRDA 2022, which remains on a biennial schedule in Congress, authorizes 33 Chief’s Reports and includes a policy provision that makes permanent the 65% general revenues/35% Inland…

17 Aug 2022

US Inland Waterway Infrastructure: Riding a Good News Wave

© Harold Stiver / Adobe Stock

The inland waterways have enjoyed several positive developments toward modernization of the system, particularly over the last two years.Annual appropriations that fund the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Civil Works mission have been steadily on the rise for the last nine fiscal years, specifically the Construction and Operations & Maintenance (O&M) accounts have been funded at historic levels. The passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) in 2021 provided a…

02 May 2022

Suggestions for Making America’s Marine Highway Program More Effective

© Ed Metz / Adobe Stock

The America’s Marine Highways Program is one of several grant programs administered by the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) to promote more effective use of the nation’s navigable waterways. This particular program was established by Congress in 2007 to provide grants for projects that would promote water-borne alternatives to available landside transportation services, especially for freight carried by trucks.Consistent with this specific goal, the program’s statutory authority…

25 Aug 2021

Dredging Up Federal Funding for Inland Ports and Waterways

(Photo: Jared Eastman / U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

All signals from Washington, D.C., indicate that Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 could be a record-breaking year for inland port and waterway investment. The successful opening of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, a recording-breaking United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) budget request, positive improvements to the Port Infrastructure Development Program, and a possible bipartisan infrastructure deal, could result in billions of dollars in additional federal investment in inland ports and waterways.Opening the Harbor Maintenance Trust FundOn May 28…

20 Jul 2021

USACE Gets 'Strong Funding' for FY22 by House Committee

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Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI) applauded approval by the House Appropriations Committee (by a vote of 33 to 24) of strong funding for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22). The Committee provided overall funding for the Corps’ Civil Works Mission for FY22 at $8.66 billion, an increase of $863 million above FY21’s appropriated level, and $1.9 billion above the President’s FY22 budget request.“WCI is pleased that the House Appropriations Committee has increased funding for the Corps of Engineers’ critical work…

17 Mar 2021

Interview: Jennifer Carpenter, AWO President & CEO

Jennifer Carpenter (Photo: AWO)

Jennifer Carpenter joined The American Waterways Operators (AWO), the national trade association representing the inland and coastal tugboat, towboat and barge industry, in August 1990 and became its president and CEO in January 2020. She weighs in on the unprecedented challenges encountered over the past year and addresses top priorities along the uncertain path ahead.The world has changed drastically in the year since you took the helm at AWO. How have priorities shifted, both…

12 Mar 2021

Maritime Groups Pleased with WRDA 2020

© Michael / Adobe Stock

It was an odd legislative journey, but ultimately one with a happy ending. That’s one way to sum up the rather tortuous process that led to the passage of the Water Resources Development Act of 2020 (WRDA). For the first time WRDA (usually reauthorized every two years) was not enacted as its own legislative bill. This time it was rolled into the massive government 2021 omnibus budget bill, the ‘‘Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021,’’ signed into law on December 27.Still, the WRDA text itself…

13 Jan 2021

WRDA 2020 Winds its Way to Passage

© Christopher Boswell / Adobe Stock

In early October, Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI) reported in its newsletter Capitol Currents that the future of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2020 hung in the balance, with many unknowns for its chances of being signed into law during the Lame Duck session of Congress that just concluded in late December.But despite twists and turns and a roller coaster ride, WRDA was, indeed, passed by Congress on December 21 as part of the FY21 Omnibus Appropriations that included a $900 billion COVID Relief package.

22 Dec 2020

WRDA 2020: A Historic Win for Inland Waterways -WCI

© Kent / Adobe Stock

On December 21, as part of an Omnibus Appropriations and COVID-19 relief funding package, the U.S. House of Representatives passed (359 yeas to 53 nays), and later the U.S. Senate passed (92 to 6) the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2020. Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI) called it a historic win for the inland waterways.The package included WCI’s top priority to adjust the cost-share for construction and major rehabilitation of inland waterways projects from 50% Inland…

18 Dec 2020

US Inland Waterways: Cheer the Year!

© Rick Lohre / Adobe Stock

As we head toward the end of a very chaotic and COVID-filled 2020 and try to reflect on the positives, the inland waterways had a pretty good year overall. Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI), whose members depend on a modern, efficient inland waterways system, offers this look back, with hopes ahead for the passage of a Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) 2020 with our construction cost-share adjustment priority in the lame duck session of Congress.A disappointing FY21 budget requestIn February…

18 Nov 2020

US Inland Waterways: High Waters & Swirling Currents

(Photo: Ingram Barge)

The inland waterway system, flowing through the United States heartland, is a microcosm of all that has been happening in 2020: trade tensions, infrastructure issues, shifting trends in fuel consumption and the pandemic that has gripped us since the winter months. Shortly after the initial coronavirus outbreak here in the U.S., maritime workers were deemed to be “essential”, paving the way for cargo flows to recover from their springtime nadir. As COVID-19 infections turned up on U.S. shores, the boats continued plying the waterways, albeit with reduced volumes in some cases.

13 Aug 2020

Interview: Tracy Zea, President & CEO, Waterways Council Inc.

Tracy Zea is the Waterways Council Inc.’s new President & CEO.

We recently checked in with Tracy Zea, Waterways Council Inc.’s new President & CEO, on what’s in store for the U.S. inland waterways for the remainder of 2020.To start, give us some insight on your background and how you came to lead WCI.I was born and raised in Chandler, Ariz., and attended South Dakota State University, receiving a degree in Political Science. After college, I found my way to Washington, D.C. via an internship with Senator Thune (R-S.D.). After the internship, I was hired by the House of Representatives, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

15 Jul 2020

WRDA 2020: 'A Step in the Right Direction'

File photo: A tow exits the east lock of the Colorado River Lock system near Matagorda, Texas. (Credit Simon DeSoto, Colorado River lockmaster / courtesy U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

The U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure voted the Water Resources Development Act of 2020 (WRDA 2020) favorably out of Committee, Wednesday. The legislation, which provides authority for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to carry out water resources development projects and studies, as well as policy direction to the Corps for implementation of its Civil Works missions, now heads to the House Floor for a vote.Maritime trade groups Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI) and the American Waterways Operators (AWO) applauded the House T&I bill (H.R.

16 Jun 2020

Waterways Council, Inc.’s 2020 Vision

© PeekCC/AdobeStock

Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI) is the national public policy organization that advocates for a modern, efficient inland waterways system. Abiding by our mission has meant success over our 17-year history. In 2020, WCI’s top priority is to conform the cost-share for Inland Waterways Trust Fund (IWTF)-financed construction projects to require 25% of the project cost be derived from the IWTF and the remaining 75% from General Revenues. The policy vehicle for this adjustment is the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA)…

14 Jul 2020

Insights: Jennifer Carpenter, AWO President & CEO

Jennifer Carpenter (Photo: AWO)

Jennifer A. Carpenter serves as President & CEO of The American Waterways Operators (AWO), the national trade association representing the inland and coastal tugboat, towboat and barge industry. Carpenter joined AWO in August 1990 and became President & CEO in January 2020. Before assuming her current position, she worked her way up the hawsepipe from Government Affairs Assistant to Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, holding a series of progressively responsible positions including Manager-Regulatory Issues…

14 Jul 2020

House Appropriations Committee Approves FY21 Funding for USACE

(Photo: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

The House Appropriations Committee on Monday approved FY21 funding for Energy and Water Development (E&WD) that funds the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by a party line vote of 30 to 21.Overall proposed funding for the Corps is $7.63 billion, a decrease of $21 million below FY20’s record-setting appropriated level, but $1.7 billion above the President’s FY21 budget request.The House bill also provides for seven new study starts and seven new construction projects to be selected by the Administration…

19 Feb 2020

2020 Vision

(Photo: Jessica Haas, USACE)

The Congress worked hard and most importantly together at the end of the recently-concluded First Session in December to finalize and pass Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 appropriations that included the Energy & Water Development (E&WD) Appropriations bill that funds the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (Corps) work on the nations’ waterways.By law, 60 days after the President signs the E&WD appropriations bill, the Corps must release a Work Plan that shows specific allocations for funding projects.

18 May 2020

The Unsung Benefits of the Inland Waterways

© Paul D. Lemke / Adobe Stock

With developments in the current health crisis almost entirely consuming nearly all news reporting, one could be forgiven for thinking that the members of Congress are thinking about and working on little else, and that even if they were, the divisive partisanship of recent years would doom the prospects of much else getting done. Happily, that is not the case for the nation’s inland waterways. Both houses of Congress are diligently working on maintaining the momentum of passing a Water Resources and Development Act (WRDA) every two years…