FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
February 25, 2004
Contact:  Adrienne Elrod
(202) 225-3772
 

Congressmen Plan Fight To Restore Funding For Ouachita/Black Rivers
Alexander & Ross Marshall Forces To See What Can Be Done
 
(Washington, DC) Members of the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana and Arkansas Wednesday met and talked with local officials to plan the best course of action to ensure adequate funding for the continued operation and maintenance of the Ouachita/Black river system.

Currently the US Corps of Engineers maintains four Lock and Dams on the waterway and maintains a navigation channel to a nine foot depth and one-hundred foot width from the Red River in Louisiana north to Camden, Arkansas.  

Due to severe funding shortages in the President’s budget the Corps, which budgeted over $10 million this year to oversee the operation and maintenance of the Ouachita/Black system, has only allocated $1.974 million for the rivers next year. That reduction, a cut of over 80%, essentially ‘mothballs’ the river system, leaving inadequate funds for the Corps to operate or maintain the locks and dams that allow navigation.   

“We’re looking at everything we can do to try and increase the level of funding for the Ouachita/Black,” said Congressman Rodney Alexander (D-La) who represents the 5th District of Louisiana; an area that would be hard hit by the decision to mothball the river. “This is not just about keeping a river open; it’s about JOBS for our entire region! We’re going to take our case all the way to the top to make sure that northeast Louisiana and southern Arkansas can continue to reap the benefits of the Ouachita and Black rivers.” 

Congressman Mike Ross (D-Ark) who represents the 4th District of Arkansas agrees. “I believe there are misplaced priorities in the FY'05 budget. At a time when 9 million Americans are out of work, this budget proposes cutting 81% of the funding that allows the Ouachita/Black river to remain navigable thereby destroying hundreds of jobs in Arkansas and Louisiana that are dependent on waterway transportation. I will continue to fight to ensure that this funding is reinstated as we move through the budget and appropriations process.” 

Representatives of the Ouachita River Valley Authority (ORVA) – a non-profit organization that has, in one form or another, engaged in the promotion of ‘economically sound, socially justified’ projects in the Ouachita Basin since 1892 – were in Washington today to meet with members, like Ross and Alexander who are directly effected by the Corps decision, as well as House Appropriators from Louisiana and Arkansas like Congressmen David Vitter (R-La) and Marion Berry (D-Ark) who will be able to help fight for increased funding.

Without more funding the Ouachita/Black system will eventually become all but inoperable, directly effecting much of the regions industry, including agriculture, the paper & pulp industries,  oil and gas refineries, fuel & chemical distribution and power generation plants in Monroe, LA and El Dorado, AR. 


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