HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 19
(By Delegates Beach and Stewart)
Requesting the initiation of a study for the construction of a
canal from the Ohio River to the Monongahela River in West
Virginia for economic and social benefits and for related
studies, including water storage, irrigation, sale and flood
control topics.
Whereas, The waters of West Virginia are its basic renewable
and sustainable resource for transportation, drinking,
recreation, agriculture, aquaculture, fishing and manufacturing;
and
Whereas, The lands of West Virginia have historically been
dependent on nonrenewable fossil fuels that have mostly been
taken with little concern for conservation in production,
consumption or the needs of future generations; and
Whereas, Water, as the basic sustenance of life, is
plentiful in West Virginia, but needs management and an educated,
sensitive public to conserve and preserve its quality, quantity
and ability to produce work for the society; and
Whereas, West Virginia is competing in a global market
place, and needs to maintain for its communities the most
efficient and resilient transportation and utility infrastructure
systems possible as the best attraction for new business capital,diversified economic activities and additional jobs; and
Whereas, The United States has traditionally invested in and
maintained an inland waterways system for the transport of bulk
and nonperishable products, but has neglected the waterways
system for the past several decades in comparison to other modes
of transportation, in contrast to investment patterns of European
countries, Great Britain and Canada; and
Whereas, Modern maritime transportation technology offers
more economic means of containerization of freight with liner or
tramp service, intermodal transportation, passenger and show boat
recreational vessels; and
Whereas, The United States investment in water resources in
the past several decades has tended to encourage movement of
population to western and Gulf Coast states to the detriment of
economics in the older industrial states, therefore contributing,
in part, to the loss of population, particularly young people in
West Virginia, its most precious and valued resource; and
Whereas, Completion of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway has
contributed significantly to the economic growth of rural Alabama
and Mississippi, and provides an alternate route to the Gulf of
Mexico during low flows on the Mississippi River; and
Whereas, The Intermodal Transportation Surface
Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) directs West
Virginia to develop a long-range plan integrating various
transportation modes; and
Whereas, ISTEA encourages the use of transportation systemsto reduce air pollution; and
Whereas, The value of water is rapidly increasing, and
existing management plans need to be revised to account for
navigation, power generation, water conservation, drought
management, fish and wildlife resources, shellfish production,
instream flows and floods, as defined by a series of studies of
the United States Bureau of Reclamation for the twenty-first
century; therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Delegates:
That the United States Congress implement an independent
study for:
(1) The construction of a canal from the Ohio River to the
Monongahela River in West Virginia for the economic and social
benefits of its citizens and the population of the United States;
(2) Compare the natural advantages of water production and
consumption in the United States so the true costs of water sold
in such areas as Southern California for irrigation and
landscaping is reflected in the equity of federal funding for
water projects throughout the country;
(3) Study mechanisms to encourage landowners to store water
for sale for downstream users and fish farming;
(4) The use of the West Virginia canal for flood control
purposes.
This canal would reduce the travel by water to north central
West Virginia by nearly two hundred miles. It would provide the
closest access point of the Philadelphia-Washington-Baltimoremetropolitan areas to the Mississippi waterway system.
Central West Virginia is within three hundred miles of
eighty percent of the population of the United States. Central
West Virginia is the hinterland link between the ports of the
mid-Atlantic and Missouri-Mississippi systems.
The canal would serve a variety of purposes:
(1) A transportation route for business and pleasure craft;
(2) A focal point for comprehensive water management;
(3) A mechanism for low flow augmentation;
(4) A bypass for Tygart River and West Fork flood waters
that would relieve the Pittsburgh-Wheeling and Parkersburg areas
and the current loss of storage capacity in the Grafton dam; and,
be it
Further Resolved, That a copy of this resolution be
forwarded to each Senator and Congressman of the State of West
Virginia.