This week, lock and dam modernization projects on the Mississippi and Illinois rivers saw a $120 million allocation thanks to a bipartisan group of Illinois representatives and senators. Congressmen Budzinski, LaHood, and Sorensen and Senators Duckworth and Durbin requested funding for infrastructure upgrades and were able to bring funding back to our state. The lock and dam projects will provide the cleanest, most efficient opportunity for farmers to ship grain, as well as boost our local economies.

 This funding was secured through the Community Project Funding process, which allows members of Congress to designate funding for critical initiatives through the appropriations process. The $120 million secured was included in the FY2024 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies appropriations bill that is now law. 

These upgrades support a decades-long initiative to strengthen infrastructure and restore ecosystems along the entire Upper Mississippi River System, known as the Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program (NESP). 

IL Corn is grateful to our partners in Congress as well as the Mid America Carpenters and the Waterways Council, Inc for their consistent promotion of the need for new locks and dams, as well as the jobs they provide for Illinois citizens.