Senate Panel Holds River Hearing

July 15, 2002

A hearing was held last week by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power to examine federal plans to manage the Missouri River. Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) chaired the hearing, focusing on the ongoing debate between the upper and lower basin states and the informal consultation process between the Army Corps of Engineers and Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).

FWS told the corps recently not to move the nests and chicks of the threatened piping plover and the endangered least tern. While eggs of the birds usually survive a move, newborn chicks frequently perish.

The river channel is usually maintained by the Corps at a depth of 8.5 feet; the depth stood roughly at 7.5 feet this week and was dropping without releases from Gavins Point, a corps official said.

Sens. Tom Daschle (D-SD), Tim Johnson (D-SD), Kit Bond (R-MO) and Jean Carnahan (D-MO) testified on the first of three panels during the hearing. Daschle and Johnson were highly critical of the Corps and the Bush administration for "squandering management of the river and violating the public trust."

Daschle characterized federal management of the river as benefiting a tiny barge industry at the expense of South Dakotans and turning one of the greatest rivers in the world into a "drainage ditch."

Ron McNeall, a corn grower from Keytesville, MO, and member of the NCGA Production and Stewardship Action Team, said the move by FWS is, "a political ploy to wreak havoc and it's working. Right now, the dry spell we're seeing is causing river levels to go even lower and it's really hampering barge traffic," he said. "If we had a little rain, we might be able to get through this, but the drought is definitely hurting river traffic and that's what the FWS wants."

Bond defended management of the river and criticized the power wielded by "unelected bureaucrats." Bond was particularly critical regarding the decision by FWS not allowing the Corps to move bird nests to accommodate additional water releases from Gavins Point Dam.

The subcommittee also heard from administration officials representing the Corps of Engineers, Fish and Wildlife Service, USDA and the Bureau of Reclamation (BoR). Bill Hawks, undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs, spoke on behalf of USDA and vigorously defended the inland waterway system. In doing so, he cited the importance of barge traffic to domestic agriculture and the integral role it plays moving bulk commodities to export markets.

"Navigation on the Missouri River is vital to corn growers providing a competitive alternative to rail rates saving nearly $200 million in transportation costs a year," said National Corn Growers Association Director of Production and Marketing Paul Bertels. "Furthermore, in drought years, the Mississippi River receives almost two-thirds of its water from the Missouri. Lower flows would severely impact navigation on the both the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, shutting down an important mode of transportation for agriculture producers."