Max Baucus: “I rise to join the minority leader and others who have expressed strong opposition to section 103 of the energy and…”

“I rise to join the minority leader and others who have expressed strong opposition to section 103 of the energy and water appropriations bill, which affects the management of the Missouri River. From the debate that we've had thus far, you might think that this is pretty straightforward. Upstream states against downstream states, in a conventional battle about who gets water, how much they get, and when they get it. I'm not going to kid anybody. That is a big part of the debate. I'm from an upstream state. We believe that we've been getting a bad deal for years. We want more balanced management of the system. That will, among other things, give more weight to the use of the water for recreation upstream, at places like Fort Peck reservoir in Montana. Under the current river operations, there are times when the lake has been drawn down so low that boat ramps are a mile or more from the water's edge. Our project manager at Fort Peck, Roy Snyder, who does a great job at that facility, has talked to me about how much healthier the river would be with a spring rise/split season management. But it's not just a conventional battle over water. There's more to it. A lot more.”