The six members of the Arkansas Congressional Delegation who fought for the projects announced today are as follows: Senators Blanche Lincoln (D) and Mark Pryor (D), Representatives Marion Berry (D-1st), Vic Snyder (D-2nd), John Boozman (R-3rd), and Mike Ross (D-4th). 

The legislation provides $5 million for the Delta Regional Authority (DRA), an increase of $3 million over the Bush Administration's original budget proposal. The DRA is a resource for coordinating federal, state and local initiatives for economic development in the Lower Mississippi Delta region. The DRA provides grants to its nine member states to boost development in Delta communities and to encourage private sector investment in the region. 

The legislation provides $150,000 to Lyon College in Batesville for laboratory instruments and equipment to be used for instructional purposes for faculty and student research at the Derby Center for Science and Mathematics. In addition, the legislation authorizes the Corps of Engineers to increase depth from 9 feet to 12 feet in sections of the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System. 

At Senator Blanche Lincoln's request, the House and Senate Conferees have directed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, using previously appropriated funds, to continue construction of the water withdrawal features of the Grand Prairie Irrigation project. This important irrigation project protects groundwater resources within a 1.4 million acre area, which includes nearly 50 percent of all rice production acreage in the nation. 

The annual Energy and Water spending bill includes funding for civil works projects of the Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation, most of the Department of Energy, and a number of independent agencies. The legislation includes funding for key Arkansas water projects at various stages of development, and the following (listed by project type) were increases over the President's budget requests due to efforts by members of the Arkansas Congressional Delegation:
 

Planning & Investigations 

Arkansas River Levees, $200,000. This funding would be used to complete the study of two levees in question and prepare plans and specifications for the Van Buren Levee and Floodwall system. The floodwall and levee was one of those identified in the 1991 Arkansas River Basin, Arkansas and Oklahoma, feasibility report, which determined that rehabilitation of 13 levees in Arkansas would be justified to bring them into compliance with Federal standards;

Red River Navigation, Southwest Arkansas, $150,000. A feasibility study initiated on March 24, 1999 to investigate the potential to extend the navigation from Shreveport/Bossier, LA to Index, AR is scheduled to be completed in September, 2003. This effort would expand the economic opportunities for the region through increased transportation and shipping. FY04 funding would be used to initiate preconstruction, engineering and design. 

Hot Springs Creek Study, $31,000;
White River Comprehensive Study (AR & MO), $1 million;
White River Minimum Flows, $150,000;
White River Navigation to Newport, $150,000;
Southeast Arkansas irrigation project (Boeuf Tensas project), $250,000;
Pine Mountain Lake, $150,000 for water supply planning;
May Branch, Fort Smith, $100,000 for flood control planning;
Dark Hollow, North Little Rock, $200,000;
Arkansas River Navigation Study (AR & OK), $1.2 million;
Bayou Meto, $500,000.

Construction
Montgomery Point Lock and Dam, $23.5 million;
Red River below Denison Dam, (AR, LA, & TX), $750,000;
Red River Emergency Bank Protection, (AR & LA), $1.25 million;
St. Francis Basin (AR & MO), $5 million;
Francis Bland Floodway Ditch (Eight Mile Creek), $2.05 million;
Helena and Vicinity flood control project, $2.18 million;
Mississippi River Levees (AR, IL, KY, LA, MS, MO & TN), $47 million;
Channel Improvements (AR, IL, KY, LA, MS, MO & TN), $41.742 million; 
McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System, $3.3 million;
Ozark-Jeta Taylor Powerhouse, $2 million.

Small Flood Control
The following projects are listed under the Section 205 Small Flood Control account of the bill:
Grubbs, Arkansas - $50,000 to initiate a feasibility study;
Indian Bayou, Arkansas - $500,000 to initiate construction;
Spring Creek, Arkansas - $75,000 to complete the feasibility study and initiate plans and specifications.

The following projects are listed under Section 1135, for modifications for improvement of the Environment: 

Ditch 28, Arkansas - $85,000 to continue the feasibility study;
Horseshoe Lake, Arkansas - $85,000 to complete the feasibility study and initiate plans and specifications;
Millwood, Grassy Lake, Arkansas - $100,000 to initiate the feasibility study.

Operations and Maintenance
Mississippi River Levees (AR, IL, KY, LA, MS, MO & TN), $11 million;
St. Francis Basin (AR & MO), $9 million;
Helena Harbor, $300,000;
Osceola Harbor, $750,000;
Yellow Bend Port, $126,000;
Lake Ouachita, $150,000 to address the hydrilla problem at the lake; 
White River, $800,000;
Greers Ferry Lake, $8.391 million.