Congress approves Columbia River channel deepening funds

Congress approves Columbia River channel deepening funds    The U.S. House-Senate conference committee on the 2006 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill agreed to $15 million in funding for the Columbia River Channel Improvement Project to deepen the lower Columbia River navigation channel from 40 to 43 feet, the Columbia Rover Channel Coalition said Tuesday.
   The committee also agreed to provide $17 million to repair jetties at the mouth of the Columbia River.
   Construction work to deepen the channel began in June using state matching funds and $9 million in 2005 federal appropriations, the coalition said in a statement. The Army Corps of Engineers is on track to deepen up to 27 miles of the channel by the end of 2005 — more than one-fourth of the channel between the mouth and Portland/Vancouver.
   The $17 million in jetty repair funding is also significant because two parts of the south jetty risk imminent failure, the coalition said. A jetty failure could close down the mouth of the river to safe navigation, making the funding critical to keeping $16 billion worth of cargo flowing in and out of our region on the Columbia River each year.
   The bill, approved Monday, will now go back to both the House and Senate for final approval.
   Washington and Oregon have already appropriated the full state matching funds of $55.4 million for the project. When completed, the additional three feet of depth will allow each bulk ship to carry 6,000 additional tons of grain, and each container ship to carry hundreds of additional containers.