Abstract : In the summer of 2011, the US debt reached $14.2 trillion, forcing the President of the United States and Congress to call for major cuts in discretionary spending. Cutting discretionary spending for all federal programs impacts the nation s inland waterway infrastructure which is maintained by the US Army Corps of Engineers through local districts like Huntington, West Virginia, via the annual federal discretionary appropriation for operations and maintenance. Reducing the Operations and Maintenance funding to one of USACE s major inland waterway systems, the Ohio River Basin, negatively impacts the Ohio River Basins economic strength. Severe impacts in the economic strength of the Ohio River Basin translate into severe economic impacts for the economy of the United States, affecting the country s global economic superiority.