News Releases for May 2002
May 13, 2002
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Hoeven, Janklow Plan Cooperative Strategy For Missouri River Management
Letter to President George W. Bush : September 18, 2001 
(258kb pdf)
Missouri River Comments By Governor Hoeven : October 23, 2001 (420kb pdf)
BISMARCK, N.D. - Governor John Hoeven and Governor Bill Janklow of South Dakota today pledged to take strong action to protect their respective states' vital water interests. The governors agreed to work together, and with the governors of other northern Missouri River basin states, to secure an equitable revision of the Army Corps of Engineers Master Manual, which governs the management of the river.
"Governor Janklow and I have been forced to take legal action against the Corps to protect our smelt hatches in the short term and to secure a fair management plan in the long term," Hoeven said.
Hoeven and the governors of five other Missouri River basin states appealed to President Bush last September for a change in the Missouri River Master Manual that would provide for the economic and environmental interests of the northern Plains states. In a second action, Hoeven initiated the formation of a working group with the governors and attorneys general of four neighboring states to advocate a revision of the Army Corps of Engineers' Missouri River Master Manual.
"The Master Manual must be changed and the time for that change is long overdue," Hoeven said in formal comments to the Corps in October of 2001. "The time for equitable distribution of the benefits of the Missouri River and equitable sharing of water shortages is now."
Historically, the Corps has managed the river largely to accommodate downstream navigation, an issue of concern because of prevailing drought conditions in the upper basin. "Recent court actions to maintain upper basin water levels by South Dakota, Nebraska and most recently, North Dakota, are chapters in a larger, regional story," Hoeven said.
"These actions to maintain our water levels are symptomatic of the Corps' long-standing preferential treatment of downstream states at the expense of our sports fishing and tourism industries," Hoeven said. "Governor Janklow and I - as well as the governors of Montana, Nebraska, Kansas and Wyoming - are determined to obtain a fair management plan."
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