ARA Sends Letter of Support for WRDA to Congress
Jul 21 2026
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and Senate Environment and Public Works Committee each unanimously advanced their versions of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2026 this month, continuing Congress's biennial effort to modernize the nation's ports, locks, dams, and inland waterways. The House bill (H.R. 9497) authorizes 133 new feasibility studies and 14 construction projects, including a new office to speed up chronically delayed lock and dam modernization. The Senate bill (S. 4949) authorizes 61 studies and 15 projects, gives shippers a more direct voice in navigation priorities, and also reauthorizes EPA's water infrastructure State Revolving Funds.
ARA supports both bills, which are critical to moving fertilizer, crop protection products, and grain exports that sustain farm income. ARA sent letters to both committees urging continued prioritization of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio River systems in the Midwest and the Tennessee River and Gulf Coast waterways in the Southeast, which together form the backbone of the ag input and export corridor for much of the country, and swift floor action so a conferenced bill can be signed into law this year.