Our Beginnings

The Waterway Forward

CARIA was established in 1890 by businessmen seeking to transport goods along the Coosa River between Gadsden, Alabama and Rome, Georgia. Heading the group was second-generation river pilot William Patrick Lay. In 1906, Lay would found what would become the Alabama Power Company. CARIA worked the first half of the 20th century towards a navigable Coosa waterway. It lobbied Congress to authorize funds for dams. Its efforts led to expanding the route to include a 9-foot navigation channel via the Mobile River and the Alabama River to Montgomery. This leg was authorized by Congress in the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1945.

In the 1950s, Congress authorized and funded the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to construct three dams on the Alabama River at Jones Bluff, Millers Ferry, and Claiborne, and a 9×200-foot channel, commercial waterway link between Mobile and Montgomery. The goal of a navigable channel on the Coosa beyond Montgomery has proved more elusive. Congress last seriously considered the project in 1983, but shelved it, citing a low benefit-to-cost ratio and competition from other projects.

Since that time, CARIA has advocated funds to maintain and operate the Alabama River navigation channel and its dams. It has fended off unwarranted environmental regulations that could choke off the waterway’s economic value. CARIA has also promoted the multipurpose uses of waterways and the extension of its geographical view to the Tallapoosa River Basin. There, members are focused on activities such as recreation and water flow management.