Here’s a simple enough riddle of economics: If $85 million is needed annually to keep the Mississippi River deep enough for ships to navigate from the Gulf of Mexico to Baton Rouge, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers only receives about $53 million for dredging operations, what is the end result? Shipping restrictions, which are currently plaguing the lower Mississippi. The formula becomes even more skewed when you consider that dredging the Baton Rouge to Gulf of Mexico corridor sometimes costs as much as $100 million. Although Congress has authorized a 45-foot draft, the Associated Branch Pilots is presently restricting ships to 44 feet. A reduction of one foot of draft is equivalent to roughly 1,500 tons, which shippers equate with hundreds of thousands of dollars. Restricted shipping hours are also now in place. “If these restrictions continue it will ultimately become much more difficult for Louisiana and the agricultural and industrial producers of our country to compete in the global market,” says Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain.
One solution could be the Realize America’s Maritime Promise Act, or RAMP, which was introduced by U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany, R-Lafayette, in January. With this bill, Boustany is targeting the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, which is maintained by taxes paid on cargo for the purpose of channel maintenance. Currently, the fund is not going toward those purposes, Boustany says. The Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund currently has a balance of approximately $5.1 billion, yet historically only about half of the money generated by this tax is spent on dredging and related activities. “For too long, Congress used the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to disguise the federal deficit, limiting the fund’s ability to address real problems along many of the waterways important to trade, commerce and jobs,” Boustany says. “These waterways create thousands of jobs throughout the Gulf Coast region, but chronically underfunded dredging imperils those jobs and commerce each year.”
Last week, Strain successfully authored a resolution that was endorsed by the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, urging the United States Army Corps of Engineers to maintain the lower Mississippi River deep-draft navigation channel at a 45-foot depth. The group also voted unanimously to support “action to fully utilize all funds in the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund for the purposes of dredging our nation’s ports, rivers and waterways to fully meet navigation channel maintenance requirements.” Strain adds that U.S. Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-Quitman, and the rest of Louisiana’s congressional delegation are enlisting support on Capitol Hill to fund the portion of the Corps’ budget that would maintain the river’s shipping channel to its necessary depth. Alexander recently included such wording in a budget bill. “The Mississippi River is the lifeline for transportation of agricultural products in our nation,” Strain says. “We must collectively do everything we can to secure the necessary funding to dredge its channels.”
