News Releases for January 2003
January 17, 2003
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Hoeven Meets With Interior Secretary On Missouri River, NAWS, Dakota Water Resources Act
BISMARCK, N.D. - Gov. John Hoeven Thursday met with Interior Secretary Gale Norton on a range of North Dakota water issues.
Hoeven asked Norton to enlist the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an Interior Department Agency, to press the Army Corps of Engineers to reduce the downstream navigation season by five weeks in light of severe drought conditions in the upper basin. The Corps said Wednesday it would reduce the season by five days, which Hoeven said is inadequate to protect upstream environmental, recreational and economic interests.
“In light of two years of drought, a five-day reduction in the navigation schedule is little more than a gesture,” Hoeven said. “We need substantive relief in the upper basin to protect our cold water fisheries, and the only way to accomplish that is with a significant reduction in the draw-down from Lakes Sakakawea and Oahe to accommodate the barge industry.”
Hoeven told Norton that the state’s cold-water fisheries were in jeopardy if the water level in Sakakawea falls below 1,825 feet. The Fish and Wildlife Service has objected to the Corps’ management practices because they threaten two endangered species, the interior least tern and the piping plover. The Corps is expected to release its annual operating plan by the end of this month.
Hoeven and Norton also discussed a recent suit in U.S. District Court by the Province of Manitoba to halt construction on the Northwest Area Water Supply Project (NAWS). NAWS will provide treated water to Minot, 14 other cities and three rural water systems in northwest North Dakota. The project was approved last year after nearly 20 years of delay.
“Over the course of twenty years, NAWS has passed every water-quality standard required by state and federal agencies, which is why we got approval to move forward last year,” Hoeven said. “In addition, the project has been found to be in compliance with the Boundary Water Treaty Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.”
The Bureau of Reclamation through the Department of Justice is in the process of responding to seek dismissal of the lawsuit.
Hoeven also urged Secretary Norton to accelerate an environmental impact study and analysis of the Red River Valley designed to identify alternatives to best meet the water support needs of Valley residents under the Dakota Water Resources Act. The Bureau of Reclamation and the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District were to have an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) completed by December 2001. The plan has now been delayed to December 2005, which Hoeven said needs to be accelerated.
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