Boaters Fear 'Lockout' on Allegheny River
Valley News Dispatch
8 December 2010
By Chuck Biedka
With dire warnings for the need to sharply reduce federal deficits --
and an incoming Congress that vows to address the issue -- some
Alle-Kiski Valley boaters say they must band together to prevent the
possibility of that the Allegheny River's locks will close.
The federal government is not threatening lock closures. But some
recreational boaters believe that the government will eventually stop
allocating maintenance dollars for the eight lock-and-dam systems along
the Allegheny River, from Highland Park in Pittsburgh to Rimer,
Armstrong County.
That's because the locks were largely designed for commercial traffic,
but now the river has limited commercial use.
According to federal reports, about 4,551 tons of goods were moved on
the Allegheny River in 1958. That shrunk to 2,488 tons in 2008.
The hours and even months during which half the locks are open for
river traffic have been reduced twice in the past decade. The Army
Corps of Engineers, which operates the locks and dams, cited decreased
river traffic, both commercial and recreational.
But those who boat on the Allegheny want to be able to continue
navigating beyond the limits of each of the river's pools.
Mike Ferris is among the boaters who are holding a public meeting
Thursday in Oakmont to discuss the issue, which has been a hot topic of
numerous blogs by recreational boaters. Ferris lives along the river at
Gilpin and has a slip at the Oakmont Yacht Club.
Ferris hopes the River Navigation Coalition of the early 2000s can be
revived, or perhaps foundation money or recreational boater
contributions can be handled through a nonprofit group. The government
can't solicit money, but local coalitions can work with it to help a
project. That's already happened on rivers with low commercial traffic
in Kentucky, New York and Washington.
All of that will be discussed Thursday with ideas that the Corps of
Engineers has seen work elsewhere.
Any time there is a tight federal budget, there is renewed competition
for corps money.
"This isn't new," Ferris said. "We've seen it many times. Once again
we're concerned, and in the future we're concerned about the extent of
budget cuts."
The current federal budget has money to maintain the locks and dams,
but the picture is murky for the next fiscal year.
"In the short term, there are no plans to shut down the locks," said
Corps Pittsburgh District spokesman Jeff Hawk. "But we are concerned
about some scenarios if we have a decline in the budget for Fiscal Year
2012 that starts in October 2012."
If there is less money, then the corps would "look at the entire
Allegheny River dam and lock system as a system and make funding
priorities," he said.
Hawk agrees that the Army Corps' budget has fluctuated for quite a
while.
If the corps' budget gets clobbered in the next budget year or the one
after that, it will have to curtail money for rivers with relatively
little commercial traffic, Hawk said.
"The use along the Allegheny River is pretty low," Hawk said. "There is
very little commercial traffic, and it is very small compared to locks
on the Ohio, Monongahela and Mississippi."
The corps wants to prepare for cuts rather than simply deal with them
if they happen.
The corps will take part in Thursday's meeting to answer questions,
Hawk said.
Snyder Associated Companies of East Franklin remains interested in
riverborne commerce, even though the firm's gravel operation has been
idle for more than a year.
Spokesman Mark Snyder said the companies are looking for business and
will advocate for dam-and-lock repairs as it has for the past 20 years.
"I'm also a recreational user, and I'm interested for that reason as
well," he said.
Snyder said Asbury Graphic also has a dock along that stretch of river.
A company spokesman didn't return calls for comment.
Chuck Biedka can be reached at cbiedka@tribweb.com.