By TIM ALEXANDER

Illinois Correspondent

PEORIA, Ill. — When the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2018 was signed into law as part of “America’s Water Infrastructure Act” on Oct. 23, it marked the third consecutive time Congress passed a two-year waterways bill after a seven-year hiatus between the 2007 and 2014 bills.

On Oct. 10, the Senate passed the legislation by a 99-1 vote; the House passed it unanimously on Oct. 13, which sent the bill to President Trump for his approval.

“I am proud of the fact that our committee, the House and the Senate have worked together to send bipartisan WRDA legislation to the president in each of the last three Congresses,” said Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

“These laws are essential federal commitments to improving the harbors, ports, waterways, locks, dams and other water infrastructure that makes our transportation network more efficient, the country competitively stronger and our communities safer from flooding.”

Committee Ranking Member Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) referred to the passage of the 2018 WRDA as a win for the nation’s coastal communities, with many projects expected to address enhanced flood protection. The bill authorizes 12 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers “Chief’s Reports” detailing proposed projects, including river infrastructure improvements in Arkansas and Tennessee.

Though the bill does not specifically address lock and dam repairs on the Illinois and Mississippi rivers, Midwest farm groups were nonetheless supportive of its passage.

“Illinois corn farmers rely on an environmentally friendly and efficient river transportation system to get grain to an international marketplace,” said Aron Carlson, Illinois Corn Growers Assoc. (ICGA) president. “Thus, we are very happy to see that President Trump signed WRDA 2018 into law ... allowing the Army Corps of Engineers to work on locks and dams on our rivers for the coming year.

“Though the bill does not directly impact the Illinois or the Mississippi rivers, it also does no harm to the industry via additional fees, tolls, taxes; for that, we celebrate.”

Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition (STC), was among those praising Congress for its continuity in passing three consecutive two-year WRDA bills, as its lifespan is intended.

“The more time that elapses between the passage of one WRDA bill and another, the more difficult it becomes to get Congress to devote the necessary time and energy to address the needs of the inland waterway system,” he explained. “Many members of Congress do not represent regions adjacent to navigable waterways, so they have a lack of understanding and appreciation for the significant contribution of waterways to the U.S. economy.

“It therefore requires a sizeable education effort to convince Congress to act on these important issues. Getting back into a two-year cycle for passing a WRDA bill allows positive momentum on this issue to continue.”

Since WRDA has been prioritized by Congress and re-established as a two-year bill, Congress has provided a 48 percent increase in funding for the Corps Civil Works portfolio – from $4.72 billion in 2013 to $6.99 billion in 2019.

While praising Shuster and DeFazio for their efforts, Steenhoek cautioned that the needs of the inland waterway system remain significant. “The inland waterway system continues to be undercapitalized, and numerous lock and dam sites continue to degrade. A failure at one or more sites is not outside the realm of possibility,” he noted.

“The soybean industry and agriculture are confronted with some sobering challenges at the moment. It is therefore critical to make sure our supply chain helps facilitate our profitability and is not an obstacle to it.”

“(WRDA passage) is a positive step forward,” added Carlson, “but we still have a lot of work to do to build the new, larger locks and dams that Illinois corn farmers really need.”