Dusty Johnson: “last Tuesday, September 14, the Senate Appropriations Committee reported out the Fiscal Year 2005 Interior…”

“last Tuesday, September 14, the Senate Appropriations Committee reported out the Fiscal Year 2005 Interior Appropriations bill on a unanimous and bipartisan vote. The bill funds several of the Federal agencies that are responsible for managing millions of acres of land in South Dakota, including the U.S. Forest Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service. Included in that bill was a provision directing the Corps of Engineers to immediately implement the drought conservation measures outlined in the 2004 Missouri River Master Water Control Manual. This is an important provision that will better balance the competing uses of Missouri River water and, more importantly, bring a sense of equity and fair play to a process long-slanted toward a single group of navigation interests. Perhaps no Federal agency has a more direct impact on South Dakotans than the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps of Engineers has a tough job in South Dakota, balancing a host of competing and, it appears from time to time, mutually exclusive interests. However, on the key issue of managing the Missouri, the Corps has consistently come up short as a steward of America's longest river. With a current water storage rate of 35.9 million acre-feet, the main-stem Missouri River reservoirs are at the lowest level in history.”