Watson Coleman: “the Mississippi River is a national treasure and this legislation authorizes programs that will help restore water…”

“the Mississippi River is a national treasure and this legislation authorizes programs that will help restore water quality and rehabilitate wildlife and wildlife habitat on the river. The annual operation of the Upper Mississippi River Basin needs to take into consideration opportunities for ecosystem restoration. The Upper Mississippi River ecosystem consists of hundreds of thousands of acres of bottomland forests, islands, backwaters, side channels and wetlands. The Upper Mississippi River system includes 284,688 acres of National Wildlife Refuge land that is managed as habitat for migratory birds, fish, threatened and endangered species and a diverse assortment of other species and related habitats. I am very pleased that this bill gives ecosystem restoration the attention that it deserves. The Department of Transportation projects that water transportation will play an increasing role in moving freight due to congestion on roads and railways. More efficient use of river transportation will help the environment reducing traffic congestion and emissions on our Nation's highways. For example, a 15 barge tow can carry as much as 870 semi-tractor trailer trucks. Fuel efficiency for barge transportation is 2.5 times that of rail transport and nearly 10 times that of truck transport. Improving navigation efficiency on the upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers has been a high priority issue for Midwest farmers for years.”