ALABAMA STATE PORT AUTHORITY AND THE WATERWAY ASSOCIATIONS FORM COALITION TO PROMOTE ALABAMA'S INLAND WATERWAY

The Alabama State Port Authority and five Waterway Associations representing the commercially navigable river systems in Alabama have formed the Coalition of Alabama Waterway Associations (the “Coalition”) to promote port and waterways projects and programs to benefit the State’s river basins, industries, carriers and other users of the ports and waterways.

The Coalition members today signed an Agreement of Cooperation and Support during the Alabama Water Resources Association’s annual Symposium at Orange Beach, Alabama.  Coalition membership is comprised of the Alabama State Port Authority, Mobile, Alabama; Coosa-Alabama River Improvement Association, Inc., Montgomery, Alabama; Tennessee River Valley Association, Inc., Decatur, Alabama; Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Development Council, Columbus, Mississippi; Tri-Rivers Waterway Development Association, Inc., Dothan, Alabama; and Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway Association, Mobile, Alabama.

Each of the five associations is a non-profit membership organization having goals and objectives vital to their individual river basins.  The Alabama State Port Authority is responsible for the development and operation of Alabama’s public deepwater terminals at the Port of Mobile and several associated inland port facilities.  The Coalition will provide a mechanism to engender a united effort on matters affecting the missions of the port authority and the five associations, enabling them to leverage their collective activities to improve the marine related infrastructure of the State.  With cargo shipment growth projected during the next 15 years, one of the Coalition’s primary goals is to more effectively utilize the excess transport capacity of the State’s navigable waterways, including container-on-barge shipments, to help relieve congestion pressures on highway traffic. 

The Coalition will work closely with the Alabama Department of Transportation, the ports, and other public and private interests to promote a more efficient and environmentally friendly transportation system for the State, including intermodalism.  Another high priority will be to work with the Federal government and Members of Congress to secure adequate federal funding for the operation and maintenance of the state’s ports and waterways and other related projects administered by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers.  The Coalition will also promote the multiple-use benefits of the State’s inland waterways, including hydropower production, recreation, and flood control.

The State of Alabama has over 1,500 miles of navigable waterways which provide cost effective and energy efficient transportation for raw material producers, manufacturers, farmers, businesses, suppliers, and other shippers located throughout the State and the Southeast.  In 2002, Alabama ranked 16^th in waterborne commerce out of the 44 states served by water transportation.  Some 67 million tons were shipped that year, about two-thirds of which were domestic shipments.