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Mar 1, 2022by: Larry Dorminy No Comments

AIWA March 2022 Newsletter

Cruisers Net is proud to be a member of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway Association whose lobbying work is crucial to keeping the Waterway navigable and safe. Your membership dollars directly support their vital work. Please join and encourage your boating neighbors to do likewise, regardless of their homeport.

March 2022 AIWA Newsletter

Waterway Spotlight: Florida Intracoastal Waterway and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Jacksonville District

Provided by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Jacksonville District. Please click for larger size.

As mentioned in February’s newsletter, we received very good news in the amount of federal funding for the AIWW and NJIWW in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers work plan for the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act of 2022.

This month we want to highlight the efforts recently completed, and underway in the Florida stretch of the waterway by the Jacksonville District with federal funding and contributed funds from the Florida Inland Navigation District, an AIWA Sponsor and founding member. We were provided the IWW: Jacksonville to Miami storyboard by the Jacksonville District and it summarizes a number of actions they have underway including the current FY22 ongoing projects:

Construction of Dredge Material Management Area (DMMA) 023 in Martin County
IWW Palm Valley North Reach Operations & Maintenance Dredging in St. Johns County
IWW Palm Valley South Reach Operations & Maintenance Dredging in St. Johns County
IWW Jupiter/Crossroads Closeout Activities in Palm Beach and Martin County

We are thrilled to see the strong federal and non-federal support for the 350+-mile segment of the waterway in Florida, and look forward to increased infrastructure investments to maintain Marine Highway 95.

IIJA Work Plan amounts for the AIWW:

FL – AIWW (funding for all five states) – $5 million. This funding is not specifically tied to a FL project but could be used across multiple areas for dredging and surveys.
GA – $0
SC – $12.65 million for upland placement area maintenance
NC – $4.552 million for dredging and surveys
VA – $0
Total – $22.02 million which is roughly equal to one complete appropriations year for the AIWW.

IIJA Work Plan amounts for the NJIWW – $14.35 million. This is a tremendous increase as they typically receive less than $1.5 million; this funding will go to a variety of rehabilitation projects in addition to dredging.

State of the Union Tonight and Federal Funding Updates

Tonight, March 1st, we will be eagerly awaiting President Biden’s first State of the Union address and any early comments he might offer about infrastructure investments.

Why is this important?
President Biden will be releasing the President’s budget by mid-March for Fiscal Year 2023, and we expect he will offer a preview of what might be included in the budget, in addition to updating the nation on previous appropriations in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. For those who are planning to watch tonight’s address, we offer you the Punchbowl News’ Punch List for a little SOTU entertainment (!).

Regarding current FY22 Appropriations, Congress will be very active in the coming days. The current Continuing Resolution funding the federal government expires on March 11th. Congress has three options: pass an additional Continuing Resolution to keep the federal government open at the same funding levels as FY21, pass FY22 Appropriations Bills to fund federal agencies with new funding allocations, or the federal government will close. The table below shows the current FY22 funding allocations in the Senate & House bills and we are hopeful that Congress will pass the new FY22 funding and additional work can then commence on the waterway.

Boating Season is on the Horizon!

As we see signs of early spring along the southeast coastline of the AIWW, we wanted to take the opportunity to highlight our Marina Members! Our Association’s Marina members are critical to the value of the waterway, and we thank each of them for their ongoing support.

Bradley Creek Marina, NC
Cricket Cove Marina, SC
Safe Harbor Charleston Marina, SC
Downtown Marina of Beaufort, SC
Dudley’s Marina, NC
Hinckley Yacht Services, GA
Hogan’s Marina, GA
Isle of Palms Marina, SC
Lake Park Harbor Marina, FL
Leland Oil Company Marina
Marineland Marina, FL
Mobius Marine
Morningstar Marinas/Golden Isles, GA
Osprey Marina, SC
River Forest Marina, NC
Shearwater Marine FL – Ft Pierce & Stuart
TopSide Marinas, TX
Windmill Harbour Marina, SC
Zimmerman Marine (multi-state)
If you are a boater on the waterway, we ask you to support our Marina members as they support the ongoing maintenance of the AIWW. If you are a dock manager and do not see your marina listed, we would love to have you join our efforts!

Coastal News Today. The Coastal News Source.

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The AIWA is a national non-profit organization with the mission of securing funding and support for the maintenance of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. We are the only organization dedicated to ensuring the future of the AIWW and proudly represent all stakeholders of the waterway.

Contact:
5A Market
Beaufort, SC 29906
(843) 379-1151 ️ atlanticintracoastal.org