Corps releases final plan for spring rise on Missouri River
WASHINGTON — The government on Tuesday said it won’t change plans to release more water into the Missouri River this spring, despite concerns the spring rise will put Missouri farms and the barge industry at risk.
The Army Corps of Engineers said it’s final plan calls for release of two “spring pulses” of water from upstream reservoirs in March, and again in May, to help revive an endangered fish, the pallid sturgeon.
But the releases will happen only if a lingering drought leaves enough water in the reservoir system. Current forecasts show enough storage capacity for the releases to occur, said Paul Johnston, a spokesman for the corps’ northwestern division office in Omaha, Neb.
The two-day pulses are supposed to mimic the historic rise of the river with the melting of mountain snow before dams were built.
The final plan announced Tuesday is virtually identical to a proposed plan announced Oct. 24. Since then, the corps considered hundreds of written comments and listened to debate at eight meetings in cities along the river, which runs from Montana to Missouri.
Environmental groups generally support the plan as the best way to protect river wildlife, but Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt has threatened legal action, saying the release could flood thousands of acres of farmland.
The release won’t occur unless at least the water level in the reservoir system is at least 36.5 million acre-feet. If that threshold is not met, the release will be postponed until 2007.
Johnston said runoff forecasts predict 36.6 million acre-feet of water by March 1.
The corps developed the plan under orders from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the pallid sturgeon. Officials have spent months meeting with farmers, navigation interests, environmental groups and state representatives to balance competing interests along the nation’s longest river.
The Army Corps of Engineers said it’s final plan calls for release of two “spring pulses” of water from upstream reservoirs in March, and again in May, to help revive an endangered fish, the pallid sturgeon.
But the releases will happen only if a lingering drought leaves enough water in the reservoir system. Current forecasts show enough storage capacity for the releases to occur, said Paul Johnston, a spokesman for the corps’ northwestern division office in Omaha, Neb.
The two-day pulses are supposed to mimic the historic rise of the river with the melting of mountain snow before dams were built.
The final plan announced Tuesday is virtually identical to a proposed plan announced Oct. 24. Since then, the corps considered hundreds of written comments and listened to debate at eight meetings in cities along the river, which runs from Montana to Missouri.
Environmental groups generally support the plan as the best way to protect river wildlife, but Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt has threatened legal action, saying the release could flood thousands of acres of farmland.
The release won’t occur unless at least the water level in the reservoir system is at least 36.5 million acre-feet. If that threshold is not met, the release will be postponed until 2007.
Johnston said runoff forecasts predict 36.6 million acre-feet of water by March 1.
The corps developed the plan under orders from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the pallid sturgeon. Officials have spent months meeting with farmers, navigation interests, environmental groups and state representatives to balance competing interests along the nation’s longest river.
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