Dredging Great Lakes' waterways will remain the top priority during 2013 for the Lake Carriers’ Association (LCA), which represents U.S. cargo vessel owners.

LCA’s 2012 Annual Report, released Wednesday, said inadequate dredging took a significant toll on Great Lakes shipping in 2012.

“The drought has pushed water levels on Lake Michigan and Huron to record lows,” the Association said. “The water level in the St. Marys River also declined as 2012 wore on; by year’s end ships were loading to less than 26 feet. In 1997, the last period of high water, ships routinely locked through the Soo drafting 28 feet or more. That loss of draft cost some ships more than 10,000 tons of cargo on their final voyages of 2012.”

In a press release, LCA gave credit to the the transportation bill Congress passed last June.

“It is the sense of Congress that the administration should request full use of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund for operating and maintaining the navigation channels of the United States” and that the amounts in the fund should be fully expended to operate and maintain ports and waterways. The fund has a surplus of $7 billion because it typically spends only one of every two tax dollars it collects for dredging on dredging. LCA estimates the 17 million cubic yards of sediment that clog the Great Lakes navigation system could be removed for approximately $200 million, or just 2 percent of the fund's surplus.

Legislation requiring the HMTF to spend what it takes in for dredging on dredging received broad support in the 112th Congress, and most of the legislators who co-sponsored the House and Senate bills have returned to Washington in 2013.

While the dredging crisis is LCA’s top priority, the group is also focused on uniform Federal regulations governing ballast water. LCA said it is concerned that since states can and have added their own provisions to the EPA’s Vessel General Permit, there is a patchwork of differing requirements on the Great Lakes.

Another goal is moving forward with the second Poe-sized lock at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. Congress authorized twinning the Poe Lock in 2007, but a flawed benefit/cost analysis has stalled the project, according to LCA. A new assessment is underway.

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