Revised Missouri River plan stirs all parties

By Judith Graham
Chicago Tribune

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The Army Corps of Engineers yesterday proposed a new plan to manage the Missouri River, sparking howls of protest and immediate threats of lawsuits up and down America's longest waterway.

Despite numerous calls for an overhaul, the long-awaited corps proposal — 15 years in the making — leaves distribution of the river's flows largely unchanged.

Critics charged that politics trumped science in the proposal.

"I am disappointed that the best the corps can come up with is a document that provides little more than the status quo ... (and ) blatantly ignores sound science," said Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D.

Thousands of acres of fresh habitat for three endangered species — the pallid sturgeon, an ancient fish believed to have survived for more than 100 million years, and two birds: least terns and piping plovers — will be created at an estimated cost of more than $1 billion.

But the corps will take no immediate steps to restore the river's natural rise in spring and fall in summer, conditions scientists have said are essential to recovery of these species.

"The corps has been told what needs to be done to restore this natural resource," said Larry Hesse, a river ecologist who served on a 2002 National Academy of Sciences panel that reviewed the Missouri's ecosystem. "Clearly, they've decided to manage the river their own way, in opposition to a consensus in the scientific community."

After a two-week comment period next month, the corps expects to issue a final "record of decision" this spring that permanently will govern the Missouri's operations.

Brig. Gen. William Grisoli, chief engineer for the corps' Northwestern Division, said the agency had tried to strike a balance between conserving water, protecting species and providing the predictability needed by hydroelectric-power plants, barge companies, municipal water suppliers, and recreational companies.

"I'm confident we're providing the basin with a comprehensive plan that does that," he said.
 
But conservation groups said the corps' plan gives too much weight to navigation, especially given that the barge industry between St. Louis and Sioux City, Iowa, is shrinking.

Meanwhile, business groups and politicians criticized provisions that would allow more water to remain behind upstream dams during periods of severe drought.

"So-called drought conservation measures ... reallocate water to the benefit of upstream states at our expense," said Sen. Kit Bond, R.-Mo.

Groups also expressed concern that spring flows could be increased in the future if the agency determined it was necessary.

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