Conference to Look at the Future of the Intracoastal Waterway
November 15 & 16 in Myrtle Beach, SC

Posted Thursday, November 1, 2007

 
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The Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway Association (AIWA) will hold its Annual Meeting on November 15 – 16 in Myrtle Beach, SC. The meeting, at Kingston Plantation, will feature reports on the waterway’s status from the individual states it passes through to new strategies to “Keep the Waterway Working,” this year’s conference theme.

Stretching over 1,200 miles from Norfolk, VA, to Miami, FL, the waterway has been called “the boater’s Route 66,” but it is also a vital commercial transportation route.

Two challenges face the waterway today, according to AIWA: minimal Congressional appropriations for maintenance and an awkward federal budgeting process that fails to recognize the waterway’s importance as a integral transportation system for waterborne commerce and recreational vessel traffic along the Eastern Seaboard.

“We’re making steady progress at the federal level on both issues,” reports Ryck Lydecker, AIWA vice chairman and BoatUS assistant vice president for Government Affairs. “But we are also working successfully with the state governments which are now realizing the critical need to find new funding solutions. The waterway is an economic engine for coastal communities and their small businesses, from marinas and hotels to boat repair yards, cargo terminals and visitor attractions. State officials now appreciate that fact.”

The conference begins on Thursday, Nov. 15 with reports from the US Army Corps of Engineers, which is charged by Congress with maintaining the waterway. Panel discussions on the waterway’s economic importance follow, and strategy sessions for continued maintenance funding round out the program. A highlight of the conference will be a breakfast address on Friday, November 16 by Intracoastal Waterway historian and author William Crawford.

More information, plus on-line conference registration, is available at http://www.atlintracoastal.org or by phone at: 877-914-5397.