Byron Dorgan: “thirteen years ago the Corps of Engineers was given 6 months to revise the Missouri River Master Manual. The Master…”

“thirteen years ago the Corps of Engineers was given 6 months to revise the Missouri River Master Manual. The Master Manual provides a framework for managing the flows on the Missouri River. But here we are, thirteen years later, and nothing has happened. So today I am introducing legislation to take management away from the Corps of Engineers and give it to the Bureau of Reclamation. In my judgment, the Corps has failed miserably in its efforts to revise the Master Manual. In the interim, the Corps has managed the River in a way that benefits the downstream States at the expense of the upstream States, despite the fact that the upstream States generate ten times more economic activity from recreational use than the downstream states generate from barge traffic. And this mismanagement has cost North Dakota a lot. Enough is enough. It's time to take this responsibility away from the Corps and give it to the Bureau of Reclamation. The Bureau manages other rivers, like the Colorado River, so let's give them a chance to manage the Missouri and to revise the Master Manual. Perhaps this will give the upstream States a chance to be treated fairly for a change.”