Kent Conrad: “Mr. President, from its origins in Montana to its end near St. Louis, the mighty Missouri River is managed and…”

“Mr. President, from its origins in Montana to its end near St. Louis, the mighty Missouri River is managed and controlled by the Army Corps of Engineers. Five years ago, the Army Corps of Engineers began a review of its river management plan, commonly called the master manual. This was the first major review of the manual since it was implemented in 1960. The corps started this review in response to our concerns over falling reservoir levels in the Dakotas and Montana. At that time, we were in the middle of the worst drought since the Great Depression, and the corps was draining huge amounts of water from the reservoirs for the sole purpose of keeping a small number of barges on the Missouri River afloat. I can remember very well holding a hearing in the midst of that terrible drought and learning, to my shock and my surprise, that the Army Corps of Engineers was releasing record amounts of water from our reservoirs in the midst of the worst drought in 50 years. I mean, think about it. It is absolutely extraordinary. In the worst drought in 50 years, they were releasing record amounts of water and, as a result, our reservoir levels were dropping like a stone. Mr. President, while the barges continued to float, Lake Sakakawea and other mainstream reservoirs dropped by almost 30 feet.”