EL DORADO — Due to the efforts of the Louisiana and Arkansas congressional delegations, state and local groups, business and industry interests and the Ouachita River Valley Association, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will allocate an additional $2 million in fiscal year 2017 appropriations funding to dredge the Ouachita-Black Rivers Navigation Project in Arkansas and Louisiana, according to Randy Denmon, president of ORVA.
The new funding for the Ouachita-Black Rivers Waterway is outlined in the Army Corps Fiscal Year 2017 Work Plan, according to a news release submitted by Mike Dumas, former president of ORVA. He said the additional funding will allow dredging in the Arkansas portion of the waterway that has not been dredged in recent years.
The Work Plan directs funding toward dredging the Ouachita-Black Rivers Navigation Project that will be added to the existing available dredge funding for this fiscal year. The Ouachita-Black Rivers Navigation Project provides dependable year-round commercial navigation from the mouth of the Black River to Camden, a distance of approximately 337 river miles.
Dredging is the removal of sediment and debris from the bottom of lakes, rivers, harbors and other water bodies. It is a routine necessity in waterways because sedimentation – the natural process of sand and silt washing downstream – gradually fills channels and harbors. Dredging is critical to allow barge traffic up and down the river.
The initial investment in the Ouachita-Black Rivers Navigation Project, Louisiana and Arkansas, of $240,612,000 in the 1970’s and 1980’s resulted in the construction of four locks and dams, two in Arkansas – the H.K. Thatcher Lock and Dam (completed in 1984) and the Felsenthal Lock and Dam (completed in 1976) and two locks in Louisiana at Columbia (1970) and Jonesville (1972).
Each has a lock chamber 84 feet wide and 600 feet in length. The navigation channel is maintained to a nine-foot depth and 100 foot width to accommodate barge traffic. “The additional $2 million for maintenance dredging will ensure this federal and local investment project will continue to mature and return benefits to the region and nation,” Denmon said.
“The additional $2 million was the Ouachita River Valley Association’s number one financial priority,” Denmon said. “This additional funding will ensure the waterway is fully maintained for commercial navigation and should signal to businesses and industries this region is open for business.”
Fourth District Congressman Bruce Westerman has strongly supported the Ouachita River and said, “I am pleased to see additional funding will go toward dredging the Ouachita River. The flow of commerce up and down our rivers is vital to economic development and opportunity for the citizens of Arkansas. I look forward to seeing an increase in tonnage along the Ouachita as a result of this investment,” he said.
The Ouachita-Black Rivers Navigation Project serves as a vital component for current and future economic activities. This project provides multiple direct and indirect benefits beyond navigation by providing both public and commercial water supply and discharge benefits, recreational benefits, fish and wildlife conservation benefits, and flood damage reduction benefits that all together enhance and improve the quality of life of the people in the Ouachita River Basin in Arkansas and Louisiana.
The locks and dams were first designed to be operated on a 24-hour-a-day, seven-days-a-week, 365 days a year basis. The two lower locks in Louisiana were returned to 24/7, 365 days on Nov. 15, 2015, after being operated at two shifts per days since July 2012. The level of service at Thatcher and Felsenthal is from 5 a.m. until 3 p.m. – only on weekdays – with no weekend service.
In May 2015, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was scheduled to begin dredging at 22 critical sites along the river – 20 in Arkansas and two in Louisiana – but due to heavy rains in this area at that time, dredging was delayed.
During the delay, Corps officials discovered structural problems with the tainter gates at Felsenthal and Thatcher. To make the repairs, Corps officials took $1 million from money allocated for dredging to fix the gates and the number of sites scheduled to be dredged was reduced by about one-third.
In August 2016, Bill Hobgood, retired executive director of ORVA, said members were hopeful that the Corps would be able to dredge the remaining sites in Arkansas that were not dredged in 2015 “which would restore the authorized channel depth/width and provide local industrial development agencies the opportunity to recruit water-based industry to the area.”