Sec. 2. Findings

343 words·~2 min read·/bill/113/hr/1152/ih/section-2

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

Congress finds that— the Mississippi River is the largest, most famous river in the United States and a vital natural resource; the Mississippi River Basin is the third largest watershed in the world, covering more than 1,000,000 square miles and approximately 40 percent of the continental United States; the rivers, tributaries, and reservoirs that make up the Mississippi River Basin operate naturally as a system and any attempt to operate projects within the Mississippi River Basin by mankind should take this fact into consideration; the Mississippi River is the backbone of the inland waterway system of the United States and a crucial artery for the movement of goods; each year millions of tons of commodities, including grain, coal, petroleum, and chemicals, representing billions of dollars are transported on the Mississippi River by barge; the Mississippi River is home to some of the busiest commercial ports in the United States, including the Port of New Orleans and the Port of St.

Louis; safe and reliable navigation of the Mississippi River is vital to the national economy; extreme weather events pose challenges to navigation and life along the Mississippi River and are likely to become more severe and more frequent in the coming years, as evidenced by the devastating floods along the Mississippi River in 2011 and the near historic low water levels seen on the same stretch of the Mississippi River in the winter of 2012–2013; the American Waterways Operators and the Waterways Council, Incorporated have estimated that a disruption of navigation on the Mississippi River due to low water levels between December 2012 and January 2013 would have negatively impacted 20,000 jobs and $7,000,000,000 in cargo; the Regulating Works Program of the St.

Louis District of the Corps of Engineers is critical to maintaining navigation on the middle Mississippi River during extreme weather events and should receive continued Federal financial assistance and support; and the Federal Government, commercial users, and others have a shared responsibility to take steps to maintain the critical flow of goods on the Mississippi River during extreme weather events.