Emergency dredging funds are needed from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Rock Island District to deal with the impact of major flooding in Illinois and Iowa, say U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL) and more than a dozen lawmakers serving hard-hit areas in those states.
The Rock Island District has identified $6.7 million in emergency dredging needs along the upper Mississippi River with an anticipated funding shortfall expected by Aug. 10, according to a July 18 letter signed by Rep. LaHood and members including U.S. Reps. Rodney Davis (R-IL), John Shimkus (R-IL), Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) and Cheri Bustos (D-IL). The Illinois River also faces an immediate shortfall of $5 million in emergency dredging, according to the congressmen’s letter.
The funding would be used to bring the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers back to authorized channel levels, according to the letter sent to Major Gen. Richard Kaiser, commander of the Corps’ Mississippi Valley Division.
“I am proud to join this bipartisan group to urge swift approval of this emergency funding request,” said Rep. LaHood last week.
During the flooding, the movement of goods stopped for months along the upper Mississippi River, subsequently also impacting the movement of goods along the Illinois River, which feeds into the Mississippi River, wrote Rep. LaHood and his colleagues in their letter.
“Communities across the 18th District have felt the impact of historic flooding this spring in the Midwest, which has shut down locks and dams along the Mississippi River and prevented the flow of goods,” Rep. LaHood said. “As folks in Illinois try to make up for lost shipping time, emergency dredging is required to ensure the river remains navigable.”
Rep. LaHood added that the Rock Island District “continues to work tirelessly to mitigate the effects of flooding, especially on our farmers.”
The lawmakers requested the funds from the Corps’ $908 million in disaster funding authorized by Congress under the Additional Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Act of 2019, H.R. 2157, which became law on June 6.