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. Here is the latest AIWA report on Funding Priorities for Fiscal 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.

It pays to ignore the accountants and uninitiated who say boating makes no sense.

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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.

AIWA May 2023 Newsletter Appropriations Hearings for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Budget Begins in Congress On April 26th, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee for Energy & Water Development held a hearing on the FY24 Budget request for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and Bureau of Reclamation. The budget request included funding for every state along the waterway, and for our partners in New Jersey. The totals in the budget are $28.277M and $2.852M for the AIWW, and NJIWW as shown in the table below. At the hearing, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Mike Connor, USACE Chief of Engineers General Scott Spellmon, and Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton were invited by the committee to testify on the budget request. If interested, you can view a recording of the hearing by clicking here. One item we are tracking closely is the allocation of funding provided by Congress in previous appropriations bills and and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). When asked about their workforce capacity, General Spellmon discussed the USACE workforce issues as both a challenge and an opportunity. USACE has hired 5,000 new engineers, however they have lost an estimated 4,000 to retirements or transfers to other federal agencies. This workforce gap is requiring the Corps to increase their workload with outside firms while changing their internal culture to meet demands of the historic levels of funding for USACE.  Looking forward, the great unknown is how the debt limit discussions will impact the development of the final FY24 appropriations bills but we should learn much more this month with the upcoming meetings between President Biden and House and Senate leadership. The first round of in-person meetings is scheduled for May 9. We remain cautiously optimistic that the debt limit will be raised in the upcoming weeks which will allow for the appropriations process to continue during the summer.  Currently, we have projects under contract and moving forward in every state along the waterway and do not have any major concerns that they will be stalled at this time. AIWA “On the Road” Stakeholder Visits April and May, 2023 AIWA Visits American Cruise Lines ️ Photos CW: Brad Pickel with Scott Bauby and Capt. Tim O’Connor of American Cruise Lines; View of lounge and upper deck on the American Star docked in Savannah, GA on May 2, 2023. On May 2, AIWA Executive Director Brad Pickel was invited to meet with Scott Bauby, Vice President of Marine Operations for American Cruise Lines (ACL), and Captain Tim O’Connor aboard the American Star docked in Savannah, Georgia. The ACL is a proud member of the AIWA  and represents a unique and growing segment of AIWA stakeholders through their cruising operations.  Brad was invited to tour the vessel to better understand the value of ACL’s operations to the national and local economies. ACL’s cruisers are typically seasoned cruisers who are choosing between spending their money on U.S. or European river cruises, enjoy supporting local economies through on-site excursions, generally more affluent and willing to pay for a 5-star experience, and often repeat customers.  Local communities welcome the ACL vessels and some locations truly roll out the red carpet. We are excited to work with the ACL team to further our understanding of their operations, where their customers come from, and the economic benefits they provide to our nation. They are committed to being an active partner of AIWA. If you are interested in learning more, we invite you to visit the American Cruise Lines website and view the presentation by Kristin Meira, Director of Government Affairs, from the 2022 AIWA Annual meeting in Norfolk, VA. Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway Inspection Tour   In April, the AIWA was invited to participate in the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway Inspection Tour in Florida. The tour included over 20 presentations as participants made their way from Stuart to Fernandina Beach, Florida. After a three-year hiatus, we had the pleasure to once again join our Florida colleagues in viewing ongoing projects and discussing opportunities and challenges in maintaining this section of the waterway.  During a presentation pictured above, AIWA Executive Director Brad Pickel was asked to share on the role of the AIWA on the waterway. In addition to providing general information about the organization, Brad highlighted our efforts on securing federal funding for the waterway, and tracking the execution of the funding for waterway maintenance. In his comments, he updated the participants on recent funding success in FY23 and the BIL, and the current status of the FY24 appropriations process. This trip is an invaluable opportunity to spend extended time with the community of waterway managers on the local, state and federal levels, and we are grateful for the opportunity to participate. Click here to join the AIWA Copyright © 2023. Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway Association. All rights reserved. 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