Midwest Governors Unhappy with Corps’ Management of the Missouri River

Their states coping with massive flooding that is expected to continue through the summer, some Midwest governors are taking issue with the management of the Missouri River system by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers. Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has questioned whether flood control is a high enough priority for the Corps and Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad has urged governors in three nearby states to consider pulling out of a Missouri River association because of the Corps’ management of the river and what he believes is a tendency to favor upstream states.

Branstad is urging the governors of Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska to discuss forming a new group of downstream states. The four states now are members of the Missouri River Association of States and Tribes, which was formed in 2006 to advise federal agencies and which also includes Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming, as well as American Indian tribes in the river basin.

Brownback called for the creation of a special commission to examine Corps oversight of the system and its reservoirs. His comments were prompted by concerns among downstream states about the ongoing potential for flooding.

Public officials and residents have criticized the corps for its management of a series of Missouri River reservoirs in North Dakota and South Dakota that became swollen by spring rains and an enormous Rocky Mountain snowpack, but a Branstad aide noted that he sent a letter to other governors in April. That was more than a month before the Corps opted to begin massive releases of water that raised the Missouri to historic levels and forced residents along the river to erect temporary barriers and in some cases, to abandon their homes.

Branstad believes Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas have a shared interest in river management and could join to seek common goals from the federal government.

Topics Kansas Missouri