River and Water Issues

The 12th Congressional District occupies a truly unique geographic location. Three of the great rivers of the U.S. (the Mississippi, the Ohio and the Missouri) – indeed, the world – flow into or form the border around the district, while other important regional rivers and lakes are essential to the environmental, recreational and economic life of our area.

My commitment to water issues includes serving as a co-chair of the Upper Mississippi River Congressional Task Force as well as past President of the Lower Mississippi Valley Flood Control Association. In addition, I am a senior member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and served as the Ranking Member of the Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee in the 108th Congress and continue to serve on that subcommittee today.

As flood protection along the Mississippi is a major priority for eight of the 11 counties in the district, I have fought for flood control dollars on projects such as Wood River, Evansville, Grand Tower, Olive Branch, Prairie du Rocher and Columbia, and I am leading the effort to improve the Metro East levee system in preparation for new FEMA flood maps (see section on Metro East Levees). I have also secured appropriations to maintain operations of the Kaskaskia Navigation System and to build the Olmsted Locks and Dam.

In 2007, the Congress passed and the President signed the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), which authorizes water projects overseen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. While WRDA is supposed to be considered and passed every two years, it had been seven years since the last WRDA bill was enacted. The legislation included $3.6 billion for construction of seven new locks and environmental restoration work on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers as well as numerous important projects for the 12th Congressional District. As Ranking Democrat on the Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee in 2003, I authored Corps reform provisions in WRDA that remain in the present bill.

The 1,200 foot locks will improve transportation times on the river, getting crops to market faster and more efficiently.  The environmental restoration work will be the second largest such project in the nation.  During consideration of the bill, I led the effort to defeat an amendment that would have slowed the lock and dam modernization.  The amendment was defeated by a vote of 105-315.

Related Links

In 2011, several areas of our Congressional District were hit with severe storms, including tornadoes and some areas experienced significant flooding. Please go to my Disaster Assistance page for more information on disaster assistance, how to help and disaster preparedness.

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