Page 18: of Marine News Magazine (February 2018)

17 19

COLUMN OP/ED

AIWA:

A National Asset Worth Funding

What does the future hold for infrastructure investment on the

Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway in 2018?

By Brad Pickel

The Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway by $46.5 million and $49 million, respectively. The alloca-

Association (AIWA) is a non-pro? t, tion of these additional dollars was determined by USACE membership organization for one of through development of their annual work plan.

the nation’s longest water infrastructure In the USACE ? nal work plan, the AIWW received a projects stretching over 1,100 miles- substantial increase in the amount of funding available for the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway waterway maintenance as the original amount from the (AIWW). We are grateful to serve as President’s budget more than doubled from $6.911 mil- the one uni? ed Voice of the Waterway lion to over $15.6 million. In addition, the AIWW was and below is our outlook for 2018. eligible for an additional $32+ million for recovery efforts

Pickel

In the President’s Budget for 2017, linked to hurricane impacts in 2016. All these funds are the AIWW began the appropriations being used to conduct maintenance dredging projects in process with only $6.911 million for the entire waterway. EVERY state along our marine highway.

This amount was $7.02 million less than the ? nal amount Additionally, we worked with our partners at the U.S. appropriated for the waterway in 2016. In response to the Army Corps of Engineers to secure an updated assessment

President’s FY17 budget, the AIWA requested that Con- of O&M needs for the AIWW. This planning tool helps gress increase funding for the U.S. Army Corps of Engi- us determine the funding baseline for the AIWW and we neers (USACE) to perform Operations & Maintenance request updated information on the following categories (O&M) of Inland Waterways and Small, Remote and on an annual basis:

Subsistence Navigation, both of which could be used to • The anticipated cost to return the waterway to the fund maintenance dredging projects in the AIWW. We are authorized dimensions through dredging because of pleased to report that Congress increased the amount of backlog maintenance.

federal funding available to these two categories of projects • The annual cost of O&M of the AIWW assuming

Credit: AIWA

February 2018 18 MN