Upper Monongahela River Association
Menu
GrantsDemonstration Project Proposal - Contributed Funds Operation of IMTS Level 6 Locks on Upper Allegheny and Upper Monongahela Rivers
The text of our release may be found here.
Contributed Funds Operation of Locks on Upper Monongahela River
On 26 March 2014 the Monongalia County Commission offered to be the conduit for contributed funds toward the part-time operation of the Upper Monongahela River Locks for recreational lock service.
You can read their letter here.
PROPOSED UPPER MONONGAHELA RIVER SERVICE REDUCTION
If enacted, the Plan will include severe restrictions/reductions to recreational boat lockages at the Hildebrand and Opekiska locks, and reductions in Morgantown lock operations. Impacts on commercial passages will also be affected.
The PowerPoint presentation by COL William Graham, District Engineer, and MAJ C.J. Scott, Project Manager may be viewed here. (1.75 MB .PDF file)
The Monongahela is not being singled out for service reductions. Page 2 of this presentation indicates that 63 locks across the country will be likely to suffer service reductions. The Inland Marine Transportation System (IMTS) Board of Directors (an assembly of Corps officers) has decided that an IMTS wide approach will be developed for evaluating the Levels of Operating Service for inland navigation due to constrained funding in the face of an aging infrastructure and the increased cost of operations.
The projection is that we should expect the service to be reduced to commercial lockages only, and those only by appointment.
Additional background may be found in the Guideline for Range of Lock Operation Data presented to the Inland Waterways Users Board by Richard C. Lockwood, Chief, Operations & Regulatory Division HQUSACE on 6 June 2012.
See http://www.waterwaysusers.us/Lockwood_2012%20IWUB%20LOS%20OVERVIEW%20-%206%20JUNE%202012%20-%20REV%201.pdf
Nationwide List of Locks Expected to be Affected
Could Upper Mon Locks be operated by A State or Local Group?
On September 26, 2012, UMRA Technical Coordinator Wally Venable gave a presentation to the Ohio River Basin Alliance outlining ideas for a federal-state (or federal-local) partnership to operate locks on the Upper Mon. A .PDF file of his "powerpoint" can be found here.Community Responses
On 1 August 2012 the Marion County Commission signed a resolution Wednesday to show their support to keep the Hildebrand and Opekiska locks open.Click here to read the Resolution as a text file.
On 7 August 2012 the Morgantown City Council passed a resolution encouraging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the federal government to keep the Monongahela River locks open to recreational boaters. Barry Pallay, vice president of the Upper Monongahela River Association, presented the resolution to council Tuesday, 31 August 2012 during its Committee of the Whole meeting.
On 9 August 2012 the Monongalia County Development Authority, West Virginia, passed a resolution urging the locks be kept open.
On 14 August 2012 the City of Fairmont, West Virginia, passed a resolution urging the locks be kept open.
On 14 August 2012 the Town of Granville, West Virginia, passed a resolution urging the locks be kept open.
On 15 August 2012 the City of Pleasant Valley, West Virginia, passed a resolution urging the locks be kept open.
On 5 September 2012 the Monongalia County Commission, West Virginia, passed a resolution urging the locks be kept open.
On 19 September 2012 the Region VI Planning & Development Council, West Virginia, passed a resolution urging the locks be kept open.
On 10 October 2012 the MEPCO – Fort Martin/Granville/Maidsville Community Advisory Panel passed a resolution urging the locks be kept open.
There is an online petition to keep the lock and dams open. The URL for the online petition is
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/465/902/530/keep-the-hildebrand-and-opoekiska-locks-and-dams-open/?cid=FB_Share
Congressional Responses
Senator Joe Manchin III wrote to Jo Ellen Darcy, Assistant Secretary for Civil Works U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on 18 July 2012, requesting additional information about the proposal to reduce lock operations on the Upper Monongahela River in West Virginia.Secretary Darcy replied to Senator Manchin on 6 September 2012.
Click here to read her Enclosures 1 to 3 as a 1 MB .PDF file
Note: This contains general information on Corps "Levels of Service" planning as of April 2012.
Click here to read her Enclosure 4 as a 154 kB .PPT file
Click here to read her Enclosure 5 as a 212 kB .PDF file
Note: This contains requested information on cost savings for Upper Mon
A more detailed description of the enclosures may be found here.
Congressman David B. McKinley, PE wrote to Jo Ellen Darcy, Assistant Secretary for Civil Works U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on 10 August 2012, requesting additional information about the proposal to reduce lock operations on the Upper Monongahela River in West Virginia.
News Stories about the Proposed Upper Mon Lock Closures
Economic Issue - Fairmont Times West Virginian - 15 August 2012 [Granville,
WV] Locks Resolution OK’d - Morgantown Dominion
Post - 15 August 2012
Boaters
Take Advantage of Mon River Locks in U.S. Travel
- WBOY - 13 August 2012
Group:
Locks Vital to River - Morgantown Dominion Post
- 11 August 2012
Resolution
on Locks Approved - Morgantown Dominion Post -
8 August 2012
Keep
Locks on River Open - Morgantown Dominion
Post - 5 August 2012
Some
63 Locks Face Reductions in Service - Capitol
Currents - 3 August 2012
Commissioners
Sign Resolution for Upper Mon River Locks -
Fairmont Times West Virginian - 1 August 2012
Marion
County Commission Signs Resolution In Support Of Locks
Remaining Open - WBOY TV - 1 August 2012
Help
Keep Locks Open, City Urged - Morgantown Dominion
Post - 1 August 2012
Fairmont
Concerned About Opekiska, Hildebrand Lock Closures
- The State Journal - 31 July 2012
UMRA
Fighting To Keep Locks Open - WBOY TV - 31 July
2012
Local
Groups Fighting to Protect Hildebrand and Opekiska
Locks and Dam System - WBOY TV - 27 July 2012
Marion
County Supports Efforts To Keep Locks Open -
WBOY TV - 27 July 2012
Resident
Fights to Keep Upper Mon River Locks Open -
Fairmont Times West Virginian - 26 July 2012
Army
Corps Seeks Solution to Lock Closure -
Morgantown Dominion
Post - 18 July 2012
You may find additional information on our UMRA In The News page.
Some History
The basic issue, serious underfunding of the US Inland Navigation System, is not a new one. UMRA has been helping to promote a wider understanding of the issues for over a decade. Some our earlier efforts are described on
http://www.uppermon.org/current/cp.htm
http://www.uppermon.org/conjunction/toward.htm
Actions
to Reduce Service in Other Corps Projects
Corps of Engineers to host public meeting on
proposal to reduce operating hours at
Minneapolis locks in 2013
http://www.mvp.usace.army.mil/pressroom/default.asp?pageid=2126
Ouachita/Black River System Level of Service
Reduction Message
http://www.mvk.usace.army.mil/docs/2012/InfoPaperORLPublicMeetings.pdf
Ouachita River Association's Response
http://www.orva.org/orvaresponse.pdf
Corps to reduce services at Allegheny River
locks
http://www.lrp.usace.army.mil/pao/nr11/NR11-045State%20ofAllegheny.pdf