Byron Dorgan

I don't know if there are people in the room who are old enough to have been here, in Bismarck and Mandan, when there was chronic flooding with a rather wild Missouri River.

I'm hoping that the Corps will involve local and State officials in the process of some real formal processes.

Is there a strategy the Corps has inevitably in the spring or the late winter and spring to release water to break up or in order to prevent jams from forming?

I think tomorrow at the hearings and today there's going to be a commonality that we need a little more measurements along the river.

The other question was why is the Corps of Engineers relying on a gauge several miles upstream from the Fox Island area on which to base its response to ice jam flooding?

How do you get from point A to point C without going through point B, if point B is a legal requirement?

You see that the dilemma here is that, I think, there's general understanding in this room that debris is a problem.

I still want to try to get to this understanding.

The issue of dredging is important. I mean, that's not a new issue for any of us.

What mechanisms exist to try to detect the formation of an ice jam?

Is that the first time since the Dam was built that the releases were shut down?

Has the operation of the Garrison Dam in any way contributed to the flooding problems experienced here earlier this year?

We need some type of computerized monitoring of the river system, not only the Missouri, but the Heart River system.

I was on the eastern side of the State when I received reports that the consequences of a significant action with a certain ice jam could have caused massive flooding in a significant part of Bismarck.

One of the problems that we have is things don't move forward unless there is a local sponsor.

Alright. Colonel, if a local sponsor is required to come up with local money for additional studies, I assume what Mr. Royse is referring to is that they would like to see something other than a study.

Just give us a thumbnail of those two. I'm generally familiar with them.

Is it likely that there will be a local sponsor for the following step?

Alright, and that was in addition the ice jams?

Is my understanding correct that there's been a reconnaissance study on that and to move to the next stage would require a local sponsor?

Thank you once again for the opportunity to discuss this spring 2009 flood event in the Bismarck area.

The resources you have provided to us have done a great deal to mitigate the problem.

I look forward to substantial results from that study.

You scratch your head and ask yourself, you know, where's the common sense here?

So we've spent a lot of time thinking about and working on and working with local government officials with respect to flood control on the Red River.