News

Parson to meet with Iowa and Nebraska governors over Corps flood policy

Missouri Governor Mike Parson says it’s time for Missouri River basin governors to come together to take a close look at Corps management – or mismanagement – of the river, “Next week I’m meeting with the governor of Iowa and the governor of Nebraska for all of us to kind of get together and figure out, what is the management of the river and what’s changed in here and why are we having these floods?”

And, then, Parson tells Brownfield Ag News, they need to meet with the Corps, “We all want to be environmentally sensitive to wildlife and everything else. But the reality of it is, you can’t put that before human life and property. So we’ve got to figure out what’s going on with these rivers. But right now, I think there needs to be an in-depth conversation with the Corps of Engineers to find out what’s going on here.”

Parson says there WILL be more Missourians in harms way, outside of northwest Missouri, “And the problem that I see with a lot of this is, that the snow and the ice that they’re referring to in the Dakotas, that hasn’t took place yet. That melting hasn’t occurred yet. So, I’m really concerned where we’re going to be in another 30, another 45 days in this state.”

Parson says governors DO have power to affect change because not too many representatives in Washington want governors upset with them.