but Congress won't live up to the mandate that requires the funding. And if NC, SC, Georgia, etc. do get federal funding, it smells to some like pork. It isn't, of course. It's not like some senator is going to get his name on the Alligator River Pungo River canal.
Funding today is based on commercial traffic, so it's a catch 22. If the ICW loses barge traffic because of shoaling, the tonnage goes down and so does the reason to fund it.
In recent years, the states, especially NC, have taken on, to some extent, the federal role of maintaining the ICW. And now NC is looking for the money. Who else are they going to ask?
Its weird. The government spends millions to build a bridge over the ICW so some vacationers don't have to wait while a bargeload of oil passes down the waterway, but won't spend a fraction of that to keep the waterway open for the barge that no longer stops traffic.