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U.S. NEWS Monday 27 January 2020
4 Missouri River states unite to try to limit flooding

By GRANT SCHULTE mainstream climate sci-
Associated Press ence.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Ne- Fassett said the states also
braska, Iowa, Kansas and want to identify "pinch
Missouri are joining forces points" on the river that
for a study that will look for could cause a water build-
ways the states can limit up during a flood.
flooding along the Missouri He pointed to a crossing
River and give them infor- at Nebraska Highway 2,
mation about how wetter where the river spilled over
weather patterns could re- its levees and covered In-
quire changes in the way terstate 29 last year. Crews
the U.S. government man- responded by raising and
ages the basins reservoirs. lengthening the bridge to
The states are pooling their let more water flow under-
money to pay for half of a neath.
$400,000 study with the U.S. States that work together
Army Corps of Engineers to tend to carry more sway
measure how much wa- with the federal govern-
ter flows down the Missouri ment because don't make
River. conflicting requests, said
The states hope to present Tim Hall, the hydrology re- In this March 16, 2019 file photo, surveyors with the USGS take measurements of the Missouri River
a united front to federal sources coordinator for the in Omaha, Neb., as the river overflows its banks. Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri are joining
forces for a study that will look for ways the states can limit flooding along the Missouri River and
officials to gain more influ- Iowa Department of Natu- give them information about how wetter weather patterns could require changes to the federal
ence over how the river is ral Resources. government's management of the basin's reservoirs.
managed after devastat- Hall said the partnership is Associated Press
ing floods in 2011 and 2019. similar to a group of upper
"We've got to look at the Mississippi River states that
data, but it's certainly possi- joined forces in 1981 to miti-
ble that we're going to see gate flooding.
more wet years," Republi- "It's a lot easier than one
can Nebraska Gov. Rick- state trying to negotiate
etts said at a recent media with the Corps," Hall said. "It
briefing. "We need to col- can be done, but it's more
lect the data first, and then challenging."
we can address with the The partnership also en-
Corps what they ought to courages states to share
be doing." data and not work against
Officials from the states one another, Hall said.
plan to meet next month to "In the big picture, we all
decide how to proceed. want to accomplish the
A lot of the data the Corps same thing," Hall said.
uses to manage the Mis- The Missouri is the longest
souri River is outdated and river in North America, run-
doesn't account for the ning from western Montana
two historic floods over the through the Dakotas and
last decade, said Jeff Fas- touching Nebraska, Iowa
sett, director of the Nebras- and Kansas before cutting
ka Department of Natural across Missouri and enter-
Resources. The Corps did ing the Mississippi River at
not respond to requests for St. Louis.
an interview. The states it touches once
"We need to be factoring in had a coalition known as
new information as we look Missouri River Association
forward," Fassett said. "No- of States and Tribes, but it
body knows whether this eventually disbanded after
is the new normal. What if Iowa and Nebraska with-
2023 looks like 2019? If this drew amid a dispute with
happens again, we need Montana over how to man-
to be better prepared." age the river.
The effort comes as higher Nebraska and Iowa want-
global temperatures are ed more more water re-
causing glaciers to melt leased from upstream res-
into the oceans and pro- ervoirs earlier in the year to
ducing extreme weather prevent summer flooding,
conditions that are more in- but Montana was con-
tense and destructive than cerned about effects on
ever before. The states are wildlife and recreation dur-
bracing for more frequent ing drought years.
and severe floods, even as The new, four-state coali-
some of their top officials, tion would focus on flood
including Ricketts, question mitigation.q