Arkansas Delegation Announces Approval for State Energy and Water Priorities

October 16, 2009 -- Washington – U.S. Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor and U.S. Representatives Marion Berry (AR-01), Vic Snyder (AR-02), and Mike Ross (AR-04) today announced that the Senate and House have approved the Fiscal Year 2010 Energy and Water Development legislation, which contains funding for Arkansas priorities.

“These investments significantly contribute to the economic development and business growth of communities throughout Arkansas,” said Lincoln. “I am pleased that this legislation will enhance navigation, flood control and water quality in our state, as well as provide support for the innovative alternative energy research being conducted at our universities.”

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“Strong water systems are a bridge to economic growth and an improved standard of living throughout Arkansas. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I worked hard to ensure this bill would strengthen our state’s waterways, support our growing renewable energy industry, and provide economic development opportunities for our communities,” said Pryor.

“This bill provides millions of dollars in funding for valuable projects like water irrigation, flood control, and conservation and construction throughout our state,” said Berry. “These investments in rural water infrastructure and energy research will support additional economic development opportunities for Arkansas.”

“I’m pleased that Arkansas received funding for much needed projects like water infrastructure upgrades and renewable energy technology development,” Snyder said. “Arkansas’s economy and quality of life depend upon energy production and water quality. I’m proud to support these kinds of projects because these investments will pay us back for generations.”

“Our state’s important infrastructure and waterways, beautiful lakes and groundbreaking research centers all play a key role in economic development here at home and across this nation,” said Ross. “I am proud to have helped secure many of these investments which I believe will help boost tourism and local economies throughout our great state.”

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.

The following is a list of Arkansas’s energy and water priorities included in the legislation:

$13 million for the Delta Regional Authority (DRA) The DRA provides long-term coordination among federal, state, and local entities committed to economic development in the Lower Mississippi Delta region.

$1 million for the MidSouth/Southeast BioEnergy Consortium The University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, Arkansas State University, and the University of Georgia will use these funds to develop economic and environmentally viable systems to produce, harvest, and process relevant feedstocks for biodiesel and ethanol operations.

$500,000 for the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) The UALR Nanotechnology Center will use these funds to continue to develop new approaches to improve the efficiency of solar energy devices at lower costs.

$500,000 for the National Center for Reliable Electric Power Transmission at the University of Arkansas These funds will be used to develop improvements to overall power transmission reliability and efficiency.

$500,000 for Arkansas State University These funds will be used to research the production of enzymes in a plant system that will significantly lower the cost of ethanol production.

The Energy and Water Development appropriations bill includes funding for the following key Arkansas water projects at various stages of development:

Corps of Engineers

General Investigations
• Southeast Arkansas (Boeuf Tensas project): $290,000
• Pine Mountain Dam: $381,000
• White River Basin Comprehensive Investigations: $103,000
• White River Navigation to Batesville, AR: $359,000
• Lower Mississippi River Resource Assessment (AR, IL, KY, IA, MS, MO and TN): $112,000
• May Branch, Fort Smith, AR: $179,000
• Southwest Arkansas, AR: $170,000

Construction
• Grand Prairie, AR: $9.661 million
• Mississippi River Levees (AR, IL, KY, LA, MS, MO and TN): $44.702 million
• St. Francis Basin, AR and MO: $3.574 million
• Channel Improvements (AR, IL, KY, LA, MS, MO and TN): $46.102 million
• Red River Emergency Bank Protection (AR and LA): $1.986 million
• Red River Below Denison Dam (AR, LA, OK and TX): $2.035 million
• Bayou Meto, AR: $100,000

Operations & Maintenance
• Channel Improvement (AR, IL, KY, LA, MS, MO and TN): $65.065 million
• Helena Harbor (Phillips County): $211,000
• Inspection of Completed Works: $411,000
• Lower Arkansas River, North Bank: $215,000
• Lower Arkansas River, South Bank: $169,000
• White River Backwater: $1.176 million
• Mississippi River Levees (AR, IL, KY, LA, MS, MO and TN): $11.311 million
• Osceola Harbor: $800,000
• Yellow Bend: $100,000
• Helena Harbor : $40,000
• Beaver Lake: $8.424 million
• Blakely Mt. Dam, Lake Ouachita: $6.743 million
• Blue Mountain Lake: $1.819 million
• Bull Shoals Lake: $13.644 million
• Dardanelle Lock and Dam: $9.270 million
• DeGray Lake: $6.743 million
• DeQueen Lake: $1.665 million
• Dierks Lake: $1.292 million
• Gillham Lake: $1.298 million
• Greers Ferry Lake: $7.374 million
• Inspection of Completed Works: $640,000
• McClellan-Kerr Navigation System: $39.027 million
• Millwood Lake: $4.868 million
• Narrows Dam, Lake Greeson: $4.816 million
• Nimrod Lake: $2.175 million
• Norfork Lake: $5.433 million
• Ouachita and Black Rivers (AR and LA): $9.128 million
• Ozark - Jeta Taylor Lock and Dam: $5.441 million
• White River: $40,000
• St. Francis Basin, AR & MO: $9.509 million
• Tensas Basin, Boeuf and Tensas Rivers, AR & LA: $2.401 million
• White River Backwater: $1.176 million

The Senate Appropriations Committee also included language in the bill encouraging the Corps of Engineers to consider funding for:

Sec. 205 Small Flood Control Projects
Wynne, AR
Indian Bayou, AR

Sec. 1135 Project Modifications for the Improvement of the Environment
Millwood Lake, Grassy Lake, AR
Lower Cache Restoration, AR

The bill also includes a provision authorizing Southwestern Power Administration and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to move forward with the White River Minimum Flows Projects at Bull Shoals Lake.

Source: Senator Blanche Lincoln