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States join forces for Missouri River study

Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri are joining forces for a study that will look for ways to limit flooding along the Missouri River.

Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts tells Brownfield it is part of their effort to have more say in how the river is managed.

“Part of what we are doing, working with those other states, is we’re going to work to update the hydrology information and really help better educate ourselves with regard to what some of our options and how we can do a better job with the Amy Corps of Engineers—what we should be asking for and what we should be looking at. For example, do we need to build higher levees,” Ricketts says.

The Corps has been accused of prioritizing fish and wildlife over flood control. Ricketts says that’s a legitimate concern.

“What we’ve seen in recent years is they’ve really moved away from protecting people and property as a priority, and have brought in other things that they claim are priorities as well,” he says, “and, as you know, if you have more than one priority, you don’t have any priorities.”

The states will fund half of a $400,000 study with the Corps to measure Missouri Rivers flows and identify possible solutions to the flooding problem.