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Abstract
This report quantifies some of the contributions of the U.S. inland waterways by measuring the economic impact of the inland waterway transportation services industry, as well as the agricultural industries utilizing these waterways to bring goods to export. This report serves as an update and enhancement of the previous Importance of Inland Waterways to U.S. Agriculture report, published in 2019. This report considers several of the same agricultural commodities included in the 2019 study (namely corn and soybeans) but adds analyses of wheat, rice, and sorghum grain. Furthermore, States not previously considered in the 2019 study have been added to this analysis: Alabama, Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Washington. Similar to the 2019 report, the report used updated data to model economic impacts from investment scenarios under varying levels of funding as well as State-level economic impacts for 19 States. New to the 2026 report, this report incorporates stakeholder feedback to help identify the economic impact of U.S. inland waterways as well as opportunities for improvement. Waterways included in this study: Upper Mississippi River, Illinois River, Lower Mississippi River, McClellen-Kerr Arkansas River (MKARNS), Ohio River, Columbia River, Snake River, and the Tennessee River.