Murkowski Praises Alaska Provisions in Water Resource Development Act
Washington, DC – This week, Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) supported S.4367, the Thomas R. Carper Water Resource Development of 2024, which overwhelmingly passed the U.S. Senate in a bipartisan vote of 97-1. The legislation authorizes projects to construct and improve new ports, harbors, and waterways across the country, while also installing a series of policy changes at the Army Corps of Engineers aimed at accelerating the agency’s work and expanding tribal partnerships. The U.S. House of Representatives approved the conference bill last week, and the legislation will now go the President’s desk for his signature.
“Communities across Alaska are facing increasingly intense flooding and erosion that must be addressed with urgency,” said Senator Murkowski. “The delegation’s tireless advocacy made it possible for us to secure a number of critical victories that will make our communities increasingly resilient, and ensure that federal money is put into the right hands to orchestrate strategic projects across the state.”
The Alaska Delegation worked to incorporate several Alaska-specific provisions that were included in the final version of the Water Resource Development Act (WRDA), which include:
- Increases the Denali Commission’s authorization of federal funds from $15 to $35 million and authorizes the establishment of a new Denali Commission Housing Fund to address housing shortages in rural Alaska.
- Extends the Lowell Creek operations and maintenance cost for another five years at 100% federal cost share, while the Corps continues to work on a new project to augment the existing flood diversion system in Seward. The project would also protect the tunnel inlet from landslides.
- Authorizes Akutan’s Akun Harbor project under the Corps’ Tribal Partnership Program. The project would construct an access harbor on Akun, protected by a 400-foot-long rubble mound breakwater to facilitate access to the airport.
- Clarifies the North Slope Borough’s National Flood Insurance Program enrollment to ensure that the Barrow Coastal Erosion project can proceed in a timely fashion.
- Amends the storm damage prevention and reduction, coastal erosion, and ice and glacial damage provisions from WRDA 2022 to include “riverine erosion” for Alaskan projects. Currently, this allows the Barrow Coastal Erosion Project, Port of Nome Project, and the Kenai Bluffs Project to qualify for 90/10 federal/local cost shares instead of the historical 65/35 split.
