Alabama officials express concern over major waterway lock failures in letter to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

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November 15, 2024

U.S. Senator Katie Britt led the full Alabama delegation in a recent letter addressed to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, Micheal Connor, and the Commanding General and Chief of Engineers for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Lieutenant General William Graham.

In the letter, elected officials communicated their growing concern regarding major lock failures on vital waterways in Alabama including the Demopolis Lock, Holt Lock, and Wilson Lock.

Britt (R-Montgomery) and the group particularly drew attention to the impact of the failures on how the Corps allocates Operations and Maintenance (O&M) funding.

“The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sets O&M budget guidance based on a five-year tonnage average for river systems,” the members wrote. “We are deeply concerned that the significantly reduced annual tonnage on the Tennessee-Tombigbee and Black Warrior River Systems in calendar year 2024 due to the closures of the Demopolis and Holt Locks will cause the Corps to underinvest critically needed O&M funds in these river systems.”

The lawmakers suggested a solution to the critical issue affecting supply chains and businesses directly dependent on Alabama’s inland waterway system.

“As such, we urge the Corps to adjust the budget guidance for the Tennessee-Tombigbee and Black Warrior River systems by excluding the tonnage data from the calendar year 2024. These vital waterways and their associated industries should not face further hardship, beyond the impacts already resulting from the outages, by an inadequate O&M budget allocations in future fiscal years.”

U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) and U.S. Reps. Jerry Carl (R-Mobile), Barry Moore (R-Enterprise), Mike Rogers (R-Sake), Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville), Dale Strong (R-Monrovia), Gary Palmer (R-Hoover), and Terri Sewell (D-Birmingham) joined Senator Britt in sending the letter.

Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @ShipleyAusten