News Releases for September 2006
September 13, 2006
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Hoeven Calls On Corps Official In Washington, D.C. To Reduce Missouri River Flows
BISMARCK, N.D. - Gov. John Hoeven Tuesday met in Washington, D.C. with George Dunlop, principle deputy assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works.
“We made clear for the secretary the damaging impact of current Corps management on municipal water supplies, agriculture, recreation and businesses,” Hoeven said. “Dunlop agreed to work with the Northwest Division in Portland, and the Omaha District to see if flows out of Sakakawea could be reduced.”
Hoeven has been pressing for better water conservation in the entire basin, and better management of low water conditions, including better access, better weed control, and better planning for drought conditions in the future. Last month, he arranged for Larry Cieslik, deputy director of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Northwestern Division, and other Corps officials to come to North Dakota to take a tour and see firsthand the effects of low lake levels. Along with members of Friends of Lake Sakakawea and Voices of Oahe, Hoeven urged the officials to take steps to hold lake levels stable on Lakes Sakakawea and Oahe.
Hoeven and the group called for several specific actions:
- Suspend targeted releases when barges are not moving on the lower Missouri.
- Plan for continued extreme drought conditions, including prevention of municipal water supply interruptions.
- Protect cold water habitat by continuing daily flow cycling and discharging the majority of the water through the modified penstocks. Efforts should commence on a permanent fix to the intake structure to preserve cold water habitat.
- Provide additional funding for lake access. The Omaha staff should work cooperatively with Upper Basin states to secure funding in the Corps’ budget to allow COE assistance for state and local access ramps on the large lakes. The majority of ramps on Lake Sakakawea are currently non-COE owned.
- Inventory access issues this fall on both lakes. Establish a funding plan to be put into the Corps’ budget, which is based on projected access needs for the spring of 2007.
- Control noxious weeds. Increase funding for control of noxious weeds on Corps lands on Lakes Sakakawea and Oahe. Canada Thistle and wormwood are major weeds. Salt Cedar is on the rise on the shoreline and needs to be kept in check. Salt Cedar was first detected in North Dakota on Lake Sakakawea.
- Redirect to the state federal funds for the Fort Stevenson State Park Marina, which are currently delayed because of higher projected costs by the Corps. The State of North Dakota could construct the project for half the Corps’ estimated $11 million cost.
Hoeven is also organizing a letter from Missouri River Basin governors to congressional and Corps leaders urging stronger drought conservation measures throughout the basin to save water for the mutual benefit of all states. It also asks Congress to revisit the 62-year-old Flood Control Act of 1944 to reflect the changed economic and environmental priorities of the basin.
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