AIWA’s Funding Priorities for 2024
The Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (AIWW) extends over 1,100 miles from Norfolk, Virginia to Miami, Florida. Some lengths consist of natural inlets, saltwater rivers, bays, and sounds while others are man-made canals. Congress authorized the creation of the AIWW in 1919 with construction of the entire waterway completed in 1940. Current estimates are that unmet maintenance needs of the waterway are approximately $65.5 million with an annual maintenance need of approximately $61.5 million.
• The USACE is authorized to maintain the waterway at a depth of 12 feet for most of its length, but inadequate funding has prevented this level of maintenance. Shoaling has created hazardous conditions for waterway users with several sections having reduced depths ranging less than five feet and have increased due to the impacts from hurricanes in 2017 and 2018. Shallow depths create a dangerous health and safety issue as smaller boats are forced to use the Atlantic Ocean and encounter rough seas. They often require Coast Guard assistance.
• The AIWW is a U.S. DOT-designated Marine Highway that parallels Interstate 95. In a U.S. DOT report titled “Beyond Traffic 2045,” they estimated that freight movement throughout the nation will increase by 45% by 2040. Increased maintenance of the inland waterway system needs to be funded to support its portion of this increased freight movement.
• Waterway maintenance projects lead directly to more American jobs since all dredging is done by our U.S.-flagged fleet. In addition, shipping products via the waterway is more cost effective than transporting products by other modes. Greater waterway depths increase the opportunities for more waterway shipping and job creation as the nation taps into increased economic development opportunities. Also, some items are so large that they can only be shipped along the AIWW.
• The AIWW has a good deal of ongoing commercial activity. Products shipped include fuel oil, gasoline, asphalt, fertilizers, chemicals, wood chips, wood, limestone, sand, gravel, iron, steel, slag, lime, fabricated metal products, soybeans, vegetables, produce, and electrical machinery. We have examples of shipping routes reopening after maintenance dredging occurred in the AIWW.
• As post-Panamax ports are deepened, the need to ship materials between ports along the AIWW will increase and new, water-
dependent industries will likely be developed on the waterway. Investing in our waterways now will ensure future economicdevelopment opportunities for our rapidly growing coastal communities.
• In Florida alone, the intracoastal waterway transports tons of commercial cargo and is utilized by over 190,000 recreational vessels, and estimated to provide $17 billion in economic impact, which includes over 258,000 jobs and over $4.4 billion in tax revenue.
• Shipping on the Nation’s Intracoastal Highway leaves a lower carbon footprint than transporting by truck or train. In comparing fuel usage between shipping and trucking, shipping has an almost 400% increase in hauling capability. Also, the standard cargo capacity of a truck peaks at approximately 25 tons while the capacity of a barge hauling cargo can exceed 1,700 tons.
• In addition to roadway congestion, the American Trucking Association reported a driver shortage of approximately 78,000 drivers with the potential to rise to more than 160,000 by 2030 (ATA Truck Driver Shortage Analysis, 2022).
In Fiscal Year 2024, the AIWA requests Congress continue the practice of establishing individual allocations for operations and maintenance of navigation projects. The AIWA requests that Congress allocate $75 million each for Additional Dredging Needs for Inland Waterways; Small, Remote, or Subsistence Navigation; and Navigation within the Corps’ Operations and Maintenance Budget. In addition, we support all efforts to increase funding via Congressionally Directed Spending Requests.
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