News Releases for February 2003
February 26, 2003
For further information, please Contact the Governor's Office
Hoeven Meets In D.C. With U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton
Governor And Secretary Discuss Missouri River Management
BISMARCK, N.D. - Governor John Hoeven Tuesday met with U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton in Washington, D.C. to press for her support in getting the Army Corps of Engineers to reduce the barge season on the Missouri River this year and to implement a flow plan for the river called flow-to-target that conserves water.
As he did last month in Washington, Hoeven again urged the Secretary to lend the support of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an agency of the Interior Department, to assist in changing management of the river.
“We asked the Secretary to immediately begin the consultation process between Fish and Wildlife and the Corps to try to retain water in Lakes Sakakawea and Oahe this summer, specifically to shorten the navigation season this year by five weeks and implement flow-to-target management,” Hoeven said.
The flow-to-target method of river management targets releases of water downstream at times and in quantities necessary for immediate downstream need. The moves would reduce the threat to North Dakota’s multimillion-dollar fisheries industry and wildlife dependent on the river.
Norton agreed to initiate a formal consultation process on this year’s Annual Operating Plan (AOP), the document that governs the short-term management of the river. Formal consultation is a federal procedure required by the Endangered Species Act. It requires the Corps to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to ensure compliance. Fish and Wildlife has challenged the Corps on management practices that endanger the least tern and the piping plover that nest on the shores of the Missouri River.
Hoeven has met with Norton several times, in both Bismarck and Washington, over the past year to press for her cooperation on water issues vital to North Dakota.
E-mail comments to the Governor
