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MO River bill proposed, governors to gather
Lawmakers and governors are getting more involved in the Missouri River flooding issue. Kansas Senator Pat Roberts and Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins have introduced a bill that would require the Army Corps of Engineers to consider all precipitation data from this year to be used in determining all the factors that led to the severe flooding and how the Corps can better prevent such flooding in the future. Nebraska Senator Mike Johanns is co-sponsoring the bill in the Senate.
Meanwhile, Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman, newly elected Chair of the National Governor’s Association, has invited governors from the other seven Missouri River states impacted by the flooding to meet with him in Omaha, August 19th.
Heineman’s office says Governors Branstad of Iowa, Brownback of Kansas, Daugaard of South Dakota and Dalrymple of North Dakota have confirmed. Wyoming Governor Mead is sending a representative and they are awaiting responses from Missouri Governor Nixon and Montana Governor Schweitzer. Officials from the Corps of Engineers have been invited as well.
Hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland have flooded along the Missouri River basin.
Tags: Ag Weather, Flood, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota
It’s a shame that it takes a genuine tragedy nowadays, like the current flooding happening along the MIssouri River, to get bureaucrats to react. It’s also a shame that part of what brought us to this point in the flooding issues surrounding our inland rivers has been brought on by tremendous pressure from environmentalists who do not want to see proactive flood control practices brought to bear.
For those who are ideally inclined as to what the nature of our rivers should represent, they are having their way. For those of us who live and work on the rivers, the challenge is to survive. Apparently survival comes in second in this case.