On Monday, January 17, 2022, U. S. Representatives Cheri Bustos and Ashley Hinson, along with U. S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin and U. S. Senators Tammy Duckworth, Roy Blunt, and Chuck Grassley shared significant information about funding.They announced that the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has allocated $829.1 million in funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), for the Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program (NESP) on the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS).
Specifically, the funding will be used to complete the modernization of Lock & Dam 25, including the construction of a new 1200 foot lock, as well as an environmental restoration project at Lock & Dam 22, and other small-scale ecosystem and navigation projects in the region.
The announcement comes one month after the Lawmakers sent a bicameral, bipartisan letter to the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers. They had urged them to prioritize funding for construction of the Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program, on the Upper Mississippi River System, with the $2.5 billion for inland waterways provided in the Investment and Jobs Act.
“Today’s announcement is a huge win for our economy, jobs, American farmers, trade, and the environment,” said Congresswoman Bustos. “This years-long effort to modernize the locks and dams of the Mississippi will help our agricultural producers bring tons of goods to market faster, increase trade by speeding up the transport of American products, spur job creation, alleviate supply chain stress, help reduce transportation emissions. With this funding, we are bringing taxpayer dollars home and revolutionizing how efficiently we utilize our waterways.”
Senator Durbin noted, “I’m encouraged that President Biden shares my urgency to improve our waterways by providing more than $800 million in Federal funding for the Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program. This funding will restore our environment, modernize our locks, help Illinois agriculture better compete around the globe, and create thousands of jobs. I’m looking forward to this Federal investment’s positive economic impact, on Illinois and communities up and down the Mississippi River for years to come.”
“Protecting and strengthening our inland waterways, especially the Mississippi River, is critical to growing our local economies and protecting the health and safety of our communities,” Senator Duckworth said
Originally authorized in the Water Resources Development Act of 2007, NESP will modernize and expand seven outdated locks at the most congested lock locations along the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, as well as fund nearly $2 billion in ecosystem restoration.
The UMRS transports more than 60 percent of America’s corn and soybeans; is home to 25 percent of North America’s fish species; is a globally-important flyway for 40 percent of North America’s migratory waterfowl and shorebirds. Enhancing the reliability and capacity of the seven highest-use and most-delayed locks on the UMRS through NESP ensures that the most environmentally-conscious and safe method of transporting bulk commodities will continue for the next generation.
NESP will create almost 50 million person-hours of living wage construction jobs. A 2019 study released by the U. S. Department of Agriculture showed that rebuilding NESP locks would inject $72 billion additional dollars into the Nation’s GDP.
In the Fiscal Year 2022 Energy & Water appropriations bill, Durbin secured $45.1 million for the Army Corps to fund the first NESP construction, on Lock and Dam 25, and to fund environmental restoration projects.