Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) recently joined a group of legislators to request that funds allocated to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the federal spending bill be used to maintain Great Lakes ports and waterways.
The Army Corps of Engineers was granted $200 million more than the Obama administration requested for civil works and maintenance projects to conduct draft-deep harbor and channel maintenance, subsistence maintenance and navigational maintenance projects.
Reps. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) and Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) joined Upton in a letter requesting that at least $30 million of the additional funds be used to fund Great Lakes port and waterway projects.
“Our Great Lakes support some 130,000 U.S. jobs and billions of dollars of economic activity each year,” Upton said. “Ensuring our waterway system is navigable and operational to commercial shippers and recreational traffic must remain a national priority.”
The legislators asked that approximately 15 percent of the $200 million in additional funds be allocated to navigational locks, harbor channels and connecting navigational channels within the Great Lakes Navigational System.
“Despite the benefits the GLNS provides, inadequate funding and maintenance has resulted in a tremendous backlog of dredging projects that have forced vessels to light load, grounded vessels, impeded safe navigation and closed harbors and threatened other harbors with closure,” the legislators said. “To further exacerbate the problem, the water levels of a number of the Great Lakes have reached record lows in the last few years. The impacts of the lack of dredging and other required maintenance, including lock improvements, breakwater repairs, and construction of dredged material disposal facilities, have economic consequences that hinder economic growth.”
Each year, approximately 145 million tons of commodities are transported through the GLNS, which supports manufacturing, industrial, building and agricultural economies.