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www.marinelink.com MN 35 $104 million. “We and members of the dredging com- munity met with Major General Michael Walsh of the

U.S. Army Corps' Mississippi Valley Division, in early

December,” Bonura said. In that meeting, Walsh explained that given the tighter, federal budget, the

Corps can't assume that supplemental appropriations will be available this year. Walsh also said that it may not be possible for the agency to transfer funds from other projects to dredging and that the agency's projects may have to live within their limited, fiscal 2011 budgets.

The $63 million that the Corps is allocated for lower

Mississippi dredging in fiscal 2011 is, in fact, 10% more than in 2010. The region's actual dredging costs topped $110 million in fiscal 2010, however, according to the

Corps. The agency was able to use Congressional emer- gency supplements and money from other areas in its own budget to make up the difference.

According to the Corps, $85 million in funds are required in an “average river year” to dredge the

Cutterhead Dredge EW Ellefsen works along the Mississippir

River's Southwest Pass.

Photograph courtesy U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District