Federal water act could pour funds into city’s riverfront at crucial time

Tucked deep inside the $23 billion Water Resources Development Act that Congress yesterday passed by overriding a presidential veto lies an authorization for $10 million to go directly to the Nashville Riverfront Redevelopment project.

Still that amount is just a drop toward the 20-year, $390 million undertaking by Metro to completely transform the downtown land on either side of the Cumberland River.

The money is years away from finding its way to Nashville and it is far from guaranteed. But the passage of the huge federal bill means that projects included in it can now be written directly into Congressional appropriations bills without forcing individual members of Congress to vouch for their legitimacy through the use of “earmarks,” according to the city’s riverfront redevelopment director.

The Water Resources Development Act includes an authorization for a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ study on how to provide riverbank protection and environmental protection while carrying out recreation on the Cumberland River in Nashville, as well as a separate $10 million authorization for the Nashville Riverfront Redevelopment project, said Chris Koster, the Nashville Riverfront Development director.

If that money is later appropriated it could go directly into the project, he said.

“It’s going to be complicated. But it potentially provides less of a burden on the local taxpayers, especially at a time when we may really need it,” Koster said Thursday.

It is possible that Nashville could use the $10 million for the riverfront’s first phase — a five-year, $40-million undertaking aimed at revitalizing the area from the Woodland Street Bridge down to the Korean War Veterans Memorial Bridge on the east bank of the Cumberland and on the west bank from First Avenue North down to the water’s edge, according to the director.

Lawmakers responsible for including the riverfront authorization in the bill — Rep. Jim Cooper and Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker — praised the bill’s passage on override, but focused as much attention on the authorizations for improvements to area bridges and dams as on anything else.

“These projects will receive funding at a crucial moment for Middle Tennessee,” Cooper, D-Nashville, said in a statement. “Wolf Creek Dam continues to need repairs in order to protect areas downstream, including downtown Nashville, from a devastating flood.”

Alexander lauded what he called the bill’s “appropriate funding limits.” (See related story in this edition of The City Paper.)

Cooper said the Water Act improves the quality of life for all Middle Tennesseans “by providing new recreational opportunities, redeveloping our waterfront while protecting the environment, and strengthening the infrastructure” that helps state waterways be more safe and clean.

Phase I of the riverfront redevelopment project here involves restoring 120 acres of environmentally degraded brown fields into 120 acres of new green space and park space, said Koster.

“And that park space will also include a whole menu of public features and amenities, such as a river fountain, a family adventure playground, boardwalks, piers and a wetlands restoration project, riverbank stabilization, erosion and storm water runoff control, and new docking facilities,” he said.

Officials were quick to mention the length of time that may pass before the state sees any funding.

Any federal funding is realistically years away, said Koster. Even if it is included in one of Congress’ appropriations bills for the next fiscal year, the Army Corps environmental study may have to be completed first. That, Koster added, is likely to take a few years.

But he remained upbeat.

“If we’re projecting $40 million [for Phase I], and you add in inflation and other cost that we’ll incur as we get under construction, having an infusion in the next several years of $10 million would come at a perfect time for us, Koster said.”