Inland Rivers, Port & Terminals Signs Agreement with Institute of Water Resources

Inland Rivers, Ports & Terminals and the Institute of Water Resources (IWR) of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers signed a Memorandum of Common Purpose in New Orleans, Louisiana, on September 12. The goal of the memorandum is to gain an accurate reporting system and account of commercial vessels that travel the inland waterway system. The hope is to provide a clear picture of the value of rivers for freight transportation and to use that data to acquire long-term funding. The memorandum was signed by Cindy Cutrera, president of the Port of Morgan City and Dr. Joe Manous, Jr., director of IWR.

IWR establishes and maintains a variety of water transportation information systems that include databases and statistics pertaining to waterborne commodity and vessel movements, domestic commercial vessel characteristics, port and waterway facilities, lock facilities, lock operations and navigation dredging projects.

“While we are all different, some of the problems experienced by our members, such as inadequate funding and tonnage reporting, we have common issues throughout the Inland River system,” Cutrera said.