(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. |