Millions of dollars in additional federal funding flow into Green Country to help shore up waterways.
It's coming from $17 billion in supplemental funding for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to tackle disaster recovery projects. There will be a $3 million study of the crumbling levee system along the Arkansas River in Tulsa.
Tulsa Levee Commissioner Todd Kilpatrick talked in 2016 about what that study will accomplish.
"It’ll give you options for fixes as far as what material you’d use and everything as far as the next steps, as far as the rectification work," Kilpatrick said.
Sen. Jim Inhofe made the announcement yesterday of the funding for a feasibility study.
Officials say the levee system protects more than 10,000 people and $2 billion of infrastructure. There are concerns about a failure in a major flood event, especially from Keystone Dam into downtown Tulsa, because the levee no longer meets federal standards.
Inhofe also announced just over $3 million from the Corps' supplemental funding will go toward the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System.
Tulsa Port of Catoosa Director David Yarbrough said they face a $150 million maintenance backlog where any one piece has a 50-50 chance of failing within five years.
"So, anytime that there is additional funding appropriated for the Corps to take care of the waterway, we’re delighted. And it’s always welcomed, but it’s usually not enough," Yarbrough said.
An unanticipated lock or dam failure means at least a monthlong shutdown.
"Those commodities that don’t have big margins — like sand and gravel, and grain, and steel — they make up the savings in that transportation cost. So, if our shippers have to start paying more to ship those goods by truck or rail, then they’re going to pass those on and it’s going to ripple through the industry," Yarbrough said.
Shutdowns also affect recreation, flood control ability and hydropower sites.
