Waterways
Owensboro Riverport
Kentucky has 1,590 miles of inland waterways, 1,020 of which are commercially navigable, ranking the Commonwealth 4th in the nation. Waterway and riverport usage are some of the most crucial and efficient ways to reduce congestion amongst other freight modes and support supply chains for energy, chemical, agriculture, food, lumber, and metals and minerals. Kentucky has 10 public riverport authorities with a huge economic impact across the Commonwealth: over 80 counties are considered riverport “hinterlands,” which is an area for which cargo can be potentially draw to and from competitively within a ninety-minute radius from a port.
Designation in the Marine Highway System identifies an opportunity to alleviate freight-related congestion on existing parallel land routes, which leads to reduced emissions, energy conservation, improved safety, and reduced road maintenance costs.
In 2018 The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet prepared an economic development plan to leverage the Ohio River corridor as well as other freight and rail assets to promote growth and retention of businesses throughout the Commonwealth. Through this study, KYTC developed an understanding of both strengths and weaknesses of the current freight network, identified improvements to create efficiencies and strengthen the system, and demonstrated the ability to connect with critical markets and supply chain sectors domestically and abroad.
Sustainable Funding
Kentucky is falling behind many surrounding states in providing additional investment to public riverports. These states that share our waterways are increasing their annual funding to create opportunities for their riverports to modernize and expand into new markets attracting new customers. To support this mode, KBT requests that the Kentucky General Assembly act on the following during the 2024 Legislative Session:
• Allocate $15 million in General Funds to Kentucky’s eligible public riverport authorities to address asset preservation as identified in the KYTC study, without the requirement of a local match.
• Seek increased ongoing annual funding by examining funding sources such as the state portion of the Commercial Watercraft Personal Property Tax revenues.
• Allocate annual funding through the Kentucky Riverport Financial Assistance Trust fund. The trust fund requires a 20% local match and allows funds to carry over, unlike the current funding structure for riverports.
The Marine Highway Corridors may also contribute to increased economic and commercial activity in the region by removing barriers to efficient freight transportation.
Kentucky’s numerous private and public riverports offer connectivity between navigable waterways, rail and major highway corridors; access to equipment to trans-load freight between the transportation modes; and storage facilities.
Click here to view the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s Riverport Annual Report.
Kentucky’s Waterways Create Value
Kentucky’s Waterways Create Value by Enabling the Commonwealth to:
- Trade with the World: In 2018, Kentucky traded over 89 million tons of freight using inland waterways, valued at over $18 billion. About 79% of Kentucky’s waterborne trade (by tonnage) is exchanged with trading partners outside of the Commonwealth.
- Kentucky’s waterborne transportation system overall saves approximately 2.3 billion vehicle-miles of travel (VMT) and over 43 million vehicle-hours of travel (VHT) each year in ground transportation costs.
- Our Waterways Support Kentucky’s Supply Chains: energy, chemical, agriculture/food/lumber, and metals/minerals supply chains are highly dependent on Kentucky’s waterways.