Legislators visit region to discuss water bill passage

U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson and Sen. Kit Bond made an appearance at the Southeast Missouri Port Authority to talk to local government and water transportation officials about the passage of the 2007 Water Resources Development Act over a presidential veto.

But they warned those officials that a battle is still ahead in getting the appropriations passed soon to carry out the projects in the bill.

The act, known as WRDA, authorizes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' flood control, environmental restoration and navigation projects, including Mississippi River projects that will affect local shipping.

The bill passed both houses earlier this month in a bipartisan override of President Bush's veto. While projects have been authorized, both Bond and Emerson cautioned that finding funding isn't yet guaranteed and said the process of getting those appropriations is being halted by leadership in both houses.

"It would be a joke if it were not so serious," Bond said.

The biggest effect of WRDA in Southeast Missouri comes from its ramifications for river shipping. The bill authorizes improvements to the Mississippi River lock system above St. Louis.

Much of the agricultural commodities grown in Southeast Missouri are shipped by barge. SEMO Port executive director Dan Overbey estimated that about 70 percent of the roughly 1 million tons of goods shipped through the port annually are agriculture related.

One 24-barge river tow can carry the same amount of corn as 563 railcars or 2,592 trucks, according to numbers provided by the SEMO Port.

Bond and Emerson said river shipping is the cheapest, most efficient and most environmentally friendly means of transporting these goods, making it vital that the region's large rivers -- the Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio -- are capable to carry large volumes of commercial traffic.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182