1. Ouachita-Black Rivers Navigation Project, Red River to Camden AR and LA - Primary need is for the project to be funded annually at $11 Mil. Reduced funding levels have led to reduced levels of operational services.

a. The President’s Budget for FY-13 is $7,507,000. These funds will be used to continue operations of four locks and dams and perform some minimal dredging. With reduced dredging the project will likely have less than authorized project depth for much of the year requiring shippers to light load or cease commercial navigation operations. Navigation could be closed, causing private sector workforce layoffs, along with traffic congestion and product price increases. Funding levels were reduced from an average of about $10.6 Mil. from 2006-2010 to $7.5 Mil. in 2011. Funding needs to be at the $11 Mil. level annually to operate the project in an efficient manner (the project requires $7.5 Mil. for operation and maintenance and another $3.5 Mil. for dredging requirements).

b. Since there are reduced funding levels, the Corps has implemented their plan to operate the Locks and Dams at less than 24/7/365, i. e. effective July 29,2012 - operate the Jonesville and Columbia locks two shifts daily (18 hours-5 AM-2PM and 5 PM-2 AM) and the Felsenthal and Thatcher locks two shifts daily (16 hours-5 AM-1-PM and 5 PM- 1AM); continue to operate the four locks at the July 29, 2012 Levels of Service until remote operations of tainter gates at Felsenthal and H. K. Thatcher locks are funded and become operational. That means that the Levels of Service at Jonesville and Columbia will remain at July 29, 2012 levels until 3 year averages of commercial traffic show a need to reassess the Levels of Service. The Corps would transition to IMTS Levels of Service at Felsenthal and H. K. Thatcher locks based on 3 year averages of commercial and recreational data after remote operations of tainter gates are brought on line. This plan has been developed in accordance with a new Corps study effort entitled “Inland Marine Transportation System" (IMTS) designed to standardize lock operations across Corps projects nationwide.

c. We are monitoring shipments to determine the losses incurred by industry due to delays from having to wait to be moved through the locks. During the first 6 months of operation, there were 62 commercial tows delayed out of 463 lockages that occurred from August 1, 2012 to January 31, 2013.

This is about one out of every seven to eight tows that are transiting through the locks or about 13% are being delayed. Average delay time was just over 2 hours. Total delay time was approximately 128 hours. At $300 per/hr. cost of tow operation, this represents a financial loss to the shippers of about $38,400. There are no plans at present to lower the navigation pool levels which would be disastrous from a water resources development standpoint.

d. The Corps conducted public meetings during the April 9-16, 2012 timeframe at Camden, AR, El Dorado, AR, Crossett, AR, West Monroe, LA and Harrisonburg, LA to ascertain public input regarding the proposed plan. The five meetings were attended by 218 people with 54 making statements for the record. All persons making statements opposed the plan to reduce operational services except one individual. The primary objections being the major adverse impact on future economic development of the Ouachita River Basin, increased shipping costs which are ultimately passed on to consumers, and the perception that this action, in combination with reduced funding levels, will ultimately lead to the demise of the Navigation Project. The Corps published their plan in the Federal Register on May 25, 2012 for public comment for 30 days. All those that responded objected to the plan. A special notice was sent to all shippers on July 26, 2012 informing them of the new hours of operational service that  went into effect on July 29, 2012. 

e. ORVA’s position is that the locks should be operated on a full time basis and anything less is unacceptable. ORVA’s position has been presented in the form of a Resolution of Opposition approved by the Board of Directors, a Statement for the Record at the Public Meetings, and a Letter of Oppositionin response to the notice in the Federal Register.

f. The combination of having to operate with delays and having to “light load” from lack of dredging will result in economic losses to the shippers that greatly exceed the $3.1 Mil. needed annually for adequate dredging. Information collected from 7 of the 15 shippers operating on the system in 2010 showed economic losses at $9.9 Mil. if required to operate at reduced levels of service and “light load”.

BOTTOM LINE-the project needs to be funded at $11 Mil. in order to be operated in an efficient manner for which it is designed and to produce the optimum level of benefits.

g. In addition, no funds are included in the budget for stoplog slots at H. K. Thatcher Lock and Dam which are needed in the event major lock chamber repairs are required and for safety purposes. An additional $6.0 Mil. is needed for the stoplog slots. Plans and specifications are prepared and the Vicksburg District is ready to advertise for construction, pending receipt of funds.

2. Ouachita-Black Rivers Navigation Project, Red River to Camden, AR and LA - There is a critical need to authorize bank stabilization as an integral component of the Navigation Project. Bank stabilization was not authorized as a project purpose when the project was authorized for construction in 1950. Major bank erosion/caving occur along the Ouachita and Black Rivers hindering navigation and threatening catastrophic flooding. The recent floods of late 2009 and early 2010 caused major damage to banks and levees along the Ouachita River. Several emergency sites have been repaired by the Tensas Basin Levee District and the Corps of Engineers. ORVA has developed suggested language to be placed in the next Water Resources Development Act which would authorize bank stabilization as a project feature of the Navigation Project and thus a Federal responsibility for repair of eroded sites.

3. Ouachita River Watershed, AR and LA-There is need to conduct a basin wide comprehensive study to develop a plan for the development and conservation of water and land resources in Arkansas and Louisiana. It has been over 40 years since a basin wide assessment of needs was investigated. A reconnaissance study would serve as a basis for both the Corps of Engineers and other agencies to examine current and future problems and needs in the Ouachita River Basin related to flood damage reduction, navigation, water supply, bank stabilization, ecosystem restoration, and recreation in order to assess the extent of these problems and the Federal interest in measurers to address them. Again, ORVA has developed suggested language to be placed in the next Water Resources Development Act that would initiate such a study. Simply put, there will be no further development of water resources in the Ouachita River Basin w/o feasibility studies being conducted.

4. Ouachita River Basin Corps of Engineers Lakes (Lakes Ouachita, De Gray, and Greeson) - FY-13 funding for these lakes is slightly increased from FY-12 levels. These funds will be used to maintain the same level of service and campground availability as in FY-12. Nearly 9.5 million visitors participate in various recreational activities at these lakes. An additional $.5 Mil. - $1.2 Mil. at each lake could be used to achieve acceptable levels of service in public use areas. Items such as cleaning, mowing, ranger patrols, campsite reservations, user fee collection and facility upkeep aren’t being done to the level that is required to provide satisfactory service to the public.

5. Red-Ouachita Basin Levees, AR and LA.

The Ouachita River Levee system runs up the east bank of the Ouachita River from Sandy Bayou to Bastrop, LA providing flood protection for Monroe on the east and ring levees on the west bank of the Ouachita River at the towns of Columbia, Bawcomville, West Monroe and Calion, AR. Critical erosion problems occur along the Ouachita and Black Rivers threaten to cause catastrophic flooding and hindrance to navigation. The amount of erosion of banks and subsequently levees far exceed the capability of local interests to maintain the Project to acceptable standards.

b. ORVA and the Tensas Basin Levee District have been working for years to have the Ouachita River Levees Project restored as part of the Mississippi River and Tributaries Project (MR&T), thus making maintenance of the system a Federal responsibility. The Water Resources Development Act of 2007 included language restoring a portion of the Ouachita River Levees (approximately 43 miles of the upper east bank levees, 1.9 miles of floodwall in Monroe, and 7.2 miles of levee on the west bank) as part of the MR&T Project, however it did not reinstate the lower 63 miles of the east bank from Monroe, LA, south which is where the majority of the bank caving problems occur. Suggested language has been developed for the next Water Resource Development Act to amend WRDA 2007 to include all of the Ouachita River Levees Project as a component of the MR&T Project.

c. The major flooding of late 2009 and early 2010 caused extensive damage along the Ouachita River Levees. Several of the more critical sites have been or are in the process of being repaired by the Tensas Basin Levee District and the Corps of Engineers under emergency authority. The Corps of Engineers has notified FEMA that the Ouachita River Levees are not certifiable under the nationwide levee certification program and the levee deaccrediation process has begun. This process will take approximately three years. Therefore, it is critical that the remainder of this major levee system be placed under the MR&T Project so that adequate resources can be applied to prevent potential catastrophic loss of life and property.

6. Ouachita-Black Rivers Navigation Project, Red River to Camden, AR and Louisiana. A major problem area has developed in the lower 14,000 feet of Little River where it flows into the Black River at mile 41.5 near Jonesville, LA. Sediment from the Ouachita-Black Rivers during high river stages is blocking navigation on this segment of Little River thus preventing fuel from being transported by barge to the major distribution center at Archie, LA. Approximately 90 million gallons of fuel are barged annually to the distribution center. Little River was closed down to river transportation for about eight months during 2010 resulting in major disruption and increased fuel prices for consumers in a 15 parish and county wide distribution area in central LA and western MS . The owner of the fuel terminal incurred dredging and other associated costs of approximately $850,000 to have the channel constructed back to navigable depths.

b. ORVA recommends that action be taken that would authorize the Corps of Engineers to dredge the first 14,000 feet of Little River. The most logical means to do this is to add this portion of Little River as a project feature of the Ouachita-Black Rivers Navigation Project. Language has been developed to be included in the next WRDA that would achieve this.