Obama Applauds Committee Passage of Plan to Modernize Illinois Locks and Dams
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
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Contact: Robert Gibbs or Tommy Vietor, (202) 228-5511
Illinois Contact: Julian Green, (312) 886-3506
Date: April 13, 2005
Obama Applauds Committee Passage of Plan to Modernize Illinois Locks and Dams
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today applauded the passage of a plan to modernize Illinois' lock and dam system by the Committee on Environment and Public Works. The Water Resources Development Act of 2005 (WRDA) would authorize $1.8 billion for new locks and dams along the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers and $1.6 billion in federal funds for environmental ecosystem restoration projects along the same rivers.
"These locks and dams are 70 years old, and must be modernized now to make it easier for Illinois corn and soybean farmers to export their crops," Obama said. "This bill represents a critical investment in our state's future that will launch a new era in Illinois agriculture by helping farmers move goods down the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers to the Port of New Orleans, restoring the environment along the rivers, and creating 6,000 jobs over 15 years."
The bill authorizes $1.8 billion for new 1,200-foot locks along the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers. Five new locks would be built along the Mississippi River with two each in Adams and Calhoun County and one in Pike County. Two new locks would be constructed along the Illinois River in Peoria and Brown County.
Obama noted that Illinois farmers export more than 50 percent of their corn and soybeans, most of which travel down the two rivers.
The bill also provides an unprecedented $1.6 billion in federal funds for environmental ecosystem restoration projects along the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers, and it would allow the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago to move forward on Thornton Reservoir construction. This construction would protect 556,000 people from potential flooding in 15 communities, prevent $31 million in flood damages each year, and reduce flood insurance premiums for local homeowners.
Illinois' locks and dams were built many years ago to help barges travel the rivers. Barges enter the lock chambers where water levels are either raised or lowered depending on the direction the boat is traveling.
The rivers' more modern locks are roughly the same length as today's barges, 1,200 feet long. The barges take only minutes to pass through the lock system. Unfortunately, the older locks and dams are just half that length. For barges to travel through these sections of the rivers, crews must separate the barges into pieces, often taking two hours to complete.
Obama also expressed his view that meaningful Corps reform is an important complement to the critical locks and dam and mitigation funding, and pledged to work with the chairman and other interested senators to seek consensus on Corps reform language that could be included in the bill before it leaves the Senate.
"It seems to me that Corps reform language included in the Water Resources Development Act reported by this Committee in the last Congress would be a good place to start this discussion," Obama said. "It is my hope that when the Senate passes this needed legislation to upgrade our locks and dams, it will include language that updates Corps guidelines to reflect modern practices, objective science, and more appropriate cost/benefit analysis, provides greater transparency in the Corps' project review process, and holds the Corps to the same mitigation standard required of private entities."
Senator Obama is a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee.
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