ANKENY, Iowa – The U.S. House of Representatives advanced the 2026 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA; H.R. 9497) on Sept. 15 by a bipartisan vote of 415-9. The vote, held one day before the House’s early exit from Capitol Hill, came on the heels of unanimous approval by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted to pass its version of the bill in July, meaning the bill will likely be voted on by the full Senate after their return on Nov. 9.

This is the hope of waterways infrastructure proponents including Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition (STC) of Ankeny, who expects the Senate to pass their version of WRDA soon after readjournment. “The conference report will need to be passed by both bodies and then onto the president for signature,” Steenhoek told Farm World.

“I must say that amidst all the acrimony and animosity in Washington, D.C., the WRDA is one remnant of bipartisanship in Congress. That is encouraging to see, because this is an important piece of legislation for agriculture. I am happy to see it make progress.”

The WRDA is a bipartisan biennial legislative package that authorizes U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) civil works projects, studies, and policy reforms for the nation’s water resources infrastructure. Key provisions and authorizations reported within the House WRDA include over 130 new feasibility studies for locally proposed water projects and 14 construction-ready USACE projects, with an authorized budget of $10.7 billion.

Among its provisions, H.R. 9497 creates the Office of Inland Navigation Construction Management by establishing an office within the USACE focused specifically on inland waterways construction programs. The office will be responsible for developing and managing inland waterways construction plans, overseeing construction and major rehabilitation projects and providing updates to the Waterways Users Board.

“Establishing an Inland Navigation Construction Office will help bring greater accountability to the construction and major rehabilitation of our locks and dams. This will hopefully prevent projects on the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers being passed over due to political interests,” stated Mark Bunselmeyer, president of the Illinois Corn Growers Association, in a news release. “Passage of WRDA 2026 in the House is an important step forward for the future of our inland waterways and the farmers and communities that depend on them. We appreciate the House recognizing the importance of this infrastructure and hope the Senate will pass this legislation to see WRDA 2026 become law.”

Steenhoek said the committee is being formed to address what he calls the biggest problem with transportation on the inland waterways system: dramatic cost increases and project delays associated with lock and dam construction and rehabilitation projects. “You will see a project with an original price tag of $700 million now costing $1.5 or $2 billion. You’re seeing 100, 200, even 300 percent cost overruns. Building locks and dams in rivers is always going to be an expensive endeavor, and people expect that, but what we should not tolerate are these massive cost overruns and project delays,” he said.

The proposed USACE Inland Navigation Construction Office could be an effective resource for ensuring cost and delivery uniformity throughout the construction process for waterway infrastructure, according to Steenhoek.

“Our perspective is anything to try and bring some kind of discipline and stewardship of taxpayer dollars to this process, we are fully in support of. We will never have enough money to maintain and improve the locks and dams in this country if we consistently have these cost overruns; it is simply not sustainable,” he said.

With the national per gallon average for diesel fuel at $6.52 on Sept. 23, 2026, Steenhoek noted that the urgency of maintaining and facilitating river transportation for commercial goods such as soybeans is greater than ever before. “All transportation modes are being negatively impacted, but not all modes have the same fuel efficiency,” he explained.

“With semi trucks, you can move one ton of freight using one gallon of diesel fuel 155 miles. For rail, one ton of freight on one gallon of fuel will get you about 450 miles, for inland waterways via barge you get about 600-plus miles. You can move high-volume, heavy freight like soybeans or grains long distances in an economical manner by the waterways. When you have high diesel fuel (prices) this can be very critical.”

Senate officials have not announced when they plan to act on WRDA 2026. Following Senate approval, the House and Senate versions will proceed to reconciliation by a dual-chamber committee. A final version of WRDA must be approved quickly as the December deadline to pass the bill approaches, according to Illinois Corn.

“(Lawmakers) are really going to have a busy schedule when they come back after the election for the lame duck session, but I anticipate this is something they are actually going to get accomplished,” Steenhoek said.