Red River Valley Association To Hold 99th Annual Convention February 21–22

The Red River Valley Association (RRVA), the trade organization representing stakeholders of the Red River, including the river’s navigable reach that stretches from the confluence of the Red, Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers to Shreveport, La., will hold its 99th annual convention February 21-22 at Sam’s Town Hotel & Convention Center in Shreveport.

Registration opens February 21 at 1:30 p.m., with RRVA navigation, nomination and resolution committee meetings held that afternoon. Day one of the convention will also include a U.S. Coast Guard maritime security meeting and a meeting of the Arkansas Red River Commission. An opening cocktail party will begin at 6 p.m., with the RRVA convention dinner to follow.

Day two of the convention will open with a welcome from the mayors of Shreveport and Bossier City, La., and an update from Col. Jeremiah Gipson, deputy commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Mississippi Valley Division. Convention attendees will then hear reports from each Corps district that touches the Red River—Tulsa, Fort Worth, Little Rock and Vicksburg. Julie Ufner, president and CEO of the National Waterways Conference, will then give an update from a national perspective.

Emily Mott, executive director of the Red River Valley Association, said she hopes to treat attendees during lunch to a video greeting from Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.), the first Speaker of the House from the state of Louisiana. Mott said attendees of last year’s RRVA convention will recall that Johnson spoke in person.

“He’s a little tied up right now, but he will send a message to the conference, since he won’t be able to be there in person,” Mott said. “We’re also going to have a video message from Rep. [Julia] Letlow’s office.”

In the afternoon of day two, attendees will hear from representatives from Dow Chemical on water resource projects, followed by an update on navigation studies affecting the Red River Valley. Currently, the Corps is studying the feasibility of deepening the J. Bennett Johnson Waterway, the navigable portion of the Red River, from 9 feet to 12 feet. There are also two other Red River-related feasibility studies in early stages, with one looking at extending navigation from Shreveport to Texarkana, Ark., and the other considering the feasibility of extending navigation all the way to the Dallas-Fort Worth region.

After that, the convention will feature a panel discussion on the Maritime Administration’s M49 marine highway project, an all-water route that connects the Gulf of Mexico to Shreveport via the Atchafalaya and Red rivers. The M49 runs roughly parallel to U.S. Highway 90 and the planned I-49 corridor. That panel discussion will feature Cindy Cutrera from the Port of Morgan City, Bruce Lambert from the Maritime Administration, Chris Collins from the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD), Ben Russo from the Central Louisiana Regional Port and Zazell Dudley, representing the Port of Caddo-Bossier.

“They’re going to talk about the connectivity of shipping and the importance of working together to grow navigation in Louisiana,” Mott said.

Rounding out the conference will be a discussion on Louisiana waterways and flood control by Edward Knight with Louisiana DOTD, along with a presentation from Aimee Andres, executive director of Inland Rivers, Ports & Terminals Inc. (IRPT).

Mott said the convention and the association are both significant because of how so many issues—economic development, flood risk management, fresh water supply and more—are all connected to the Red River.

“All water resources are a huge topic, no matter what industry you’re in,” Mott said. “And the availability of good clean water is a big concern as the population grows. And those are all issues we work with.”

Conference registration details are available on the Red River Valley Association’s website, www.rrva.org.