President Obama has signed legislation into law that could help generate money for lock and dam improvements across the nation.
The Water Resources Reform and Development Act creates a pilot program allowing public-private partnerships between the Army Corps of Engineers and private entities for planning, designing and financing projects. This could help speed up repairs and upgrades to aging locks and dams on the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers.
The bill also authorizes spending $12.3 billion dollars on infrastructure upgrades along the nation’s waterways. 34 projects will be funded over 10 years.
It’s been seven years since Congress has approved spending money on water transportation projects.