Big Price-Little Benefit

Proposed Locks on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers Are Not Economically Viable

A new report from the Nicollet Island Coalition evaluates seven Upper Mississippi River-Illinois Waterway locks proposed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The report discusses the economics of the proposed locks, including under-funded Mississippi and Illinois River restoration – and how taxpayers could be saddled with a $2.2 billion price tag for unnecessary lock construction.

Download "Big Price - Little Benefit" report (4MG PDF).

Fact Sheets

• Cost Benefits of New Locks Are Unsubstantiated
• Historic Subsidy of Inland Waterways Navigation System
• Inland Navigation Subsidies and Inland Waterways Trust Fund
• Superior Barge Fuel Efficiency Claims are Questionable
• Superior Barge Fuel Efficiency Claims are Questionable (Background)
• Upper Mississippi River Barge Traffic Is Not Increasing

Supporting Materials

• A Critique of 'Final Re-Evaluation of the Recommended Plan: UMR-IWW System Navigation Study: Interim Study' by Donald C Sweeney II, PhD (1MG PDF)
• Condensed Chronology of the Upper Mississippi River–Illinois Waterway System Navigation Study: Early 1990s through 2008 by the Nicollet Island Coalition (PDF)
• Conservation and Policy Groups Call for a Halt on Construction of New Upper Mississippi River Locks (February 23, 2010, Press Release)

The Nicollet Island Coalition is a group of conservation and environmental organizations formed in 1994 to address restoration issues on the Upper Mississippi River and provide coordinated advocacy work on Upper Mississippi River issues. Coalition partners include the Izaak Walton League of America, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Missouri Coalition for the Environment, National Wildlife Federation, Prairie Rivers Network, River Alliance of Wisconsin, Sierra Club, and Taypayers for Common Sense.