Navigation and Environmental Sustainability Program (NESP)
Location/Description
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The 14-year Upper Mississippi River-Illinois Waterway System Navigation Study was completed in September 2004. This intensive study evaluated the system's navigation improvement and ecological restoration needs through the year 2050. The system is a vital part of our national economy and a valuable ecological resource.
The 1,200 miles of 9-foot navigation channel created by the 37 locks and dams provides an integral regional, national and international transportation network that carries valuable commodities and key exports. The Upper Mississippi River ecosystem consists of 2.7 million acres of bottomland forest, islands, backwaters, side channels and wetlands - all of which support more than 600 species of birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles, fish and mussels. The study recommended a program of incremental implementation and comprehensive adaptive management to ensure a sustainable natural ecosystem and navigation system.
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Status
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The Water Resources Development Act of 2007 authorizes seven new 1,200-foot-long locks ($1,948,000,000), small scale and nonstructural navigation efficiency measures ($256,000,000), environmental mitigation ($202,000,000) and ecosystem restoration projects ($1,717,000).
No construction funding was provided for NESP in fiscal year 2008. Preconstruction engineering and design work continues on small-scale navigation improvements, two new 1,200-foot-long locks at Locks and Dams 22 and 25, environmental mitigation studies, two fish passage projects (Locks and Dams 22 and 26), dam point control at Lock and Dam 25 and several habitat restoration and floodplain restoration projects.
Several small-scale navigation and ecosystem restoration projects have been readied for construction starts once construction funding is provided. These projects have been a priority for preconstruction engineering and design work in fiscal year 2008.
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Authority
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The Water Resources Development Act of 2007, TITLE VIII Upper Mississippi River and Illinois Waterway System, authorized the project.
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Fiscal
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| PED | Construction |
Est. federal cost | $61,313,000 | $3,412,620,000 |
Est. non-federal cost | 0 | $152,588,000 |
Total est. cost | $61,313,000 | $3,553,040,000a |
Allocation thru fiscal year 2007 | $37,313,000 | 0
| FY08 Allocation |
$8,856,000 | 0 |
Balance to complete | $15,144,100 | $3,357,595,000 |
a - ENR cost indexed "first costs" estimates for the first increment of the recommended plan identified in the feasibility report and environmental impact statement (September 2004).
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