money for Ky. river may flow again

Gov. Steve Beshear's proposed budget includes $17.5 million for Kentucky River locks and dams -- money that then-Gov. Ernie Fletcher vetoed two years ago.

Some of the work lawmakers envisioned when they put that appropriation in the 2006 budget already has begun, with the river's water customers, not the state's general fund, footing the bill.

But Stephen Reeder, the executive director of the Kentucky River Authority, said there always is a need for more money to shore up an old navigation system that now serves chiefly to hold water supplies for Lexington and other Central Kentucky cities. Read more