Ozark, Pine Mountain part of federal energy and water ‘priorities’
by July 30, 2009 4:29 pm 55 views
Almost $6 million for operations and maintenance of the Jeta Taylor Lock and Dam in Ozark and more than $40 million for maintenance on the Arkansas River McClellan-Kerr Navigation System are part of “priorities” in the 2010 Energy and Water Development legislation in Congress.
U.S. Sens. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., and Mark Pryor, D-Ark., announced the long list of Arkansas priorities in a joint press release.
The priorities are not guarantees of federal funding, but are items Lincoln and Pryor say they will work to see are included in approved legislation.
According to the list, the McClellan-Kerr Navigation System would get $40.016 million, the Jeta Taylor Lock and Dam would get $5.725 million, and the Pine Mountain Dam project in northern Crawford County and May Branch creek in Fort Smith would each receive $425,000 for “general investigations.”
“As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I’ve focused on allocating dollars where they can be most effective. That’s why I’m pleased with the funds we secured to maintain our rivers, dams and lakes and support forward-looking initiatives to develop alternative energy resources in our state,” Pryor said in the statement.
The annual Energy and Water Development bill includes funding for civil works projects of the Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation, most of the Department of Energy, and a number of independent agencies.