Call To Action - Missouri Project Purposes Meeting Planned

This is a reminder that the Missouri River Authorized Purposes Study (MRAPS) scoping meetings will begin this month and continue throughout the basin until August. The N.D. Water Users Association encourages you to participate in the three upcoming MRAPS public scoping meetings that will be held in the state in mid-June.

During the scoping process, you can provide formal comments, suggestions, and recommendations to the Corps regarding the scope of the study. The scoping process will include open-house style meetings for the public, and 11 tribal focused meetings. Public meetings will include:

Information materials about the Missouri River Authorized Purposes Study;

One-on-one opportunities to ask questions, discuss the study and describe what is important to you with Corps representatives; and

Comment cards for your written comments. A court reporter will be at the meetings for those who wish to make formal verbal comments.

It is very important that the citizens of our state are weighing in throughout this process on the current and/or potential authorized purposes of the Missouri River. The eight purposes authorized under the Flood Control Act of 1944 are (alphabetically):Fish and wildlife habitat,Flood risk management, Irrigation, Navigation, Power generation, Recreation, Water quality, Water supply.

All of the public scoping meetings will run from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., and the North Dakota meetings will be held on:

Wednesday, June 16: Williston, Williston Event Center, 3712 4th Ave W
Thursday, June 17: Bismarck, Best Western Doublewood Inn, 1400 E. Interchange Ave
Friday, June 18: Fargo, Holiday Inn of Fargo, 3803 13th Ave South

Washington, D.C. - Today, Congressman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) and both of Missouri’s U.S. Senators, Christopher "Kit" Bond (R-Mo.) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), urged the top appropriators in both the U.S. House and Senate to refuse funding for the needless Missouri River Authorized Purposes Study. The letter was addressed to Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Senator Daniel K. Inouye (D-HI) and House Appropriations Committee Chairman Congressman David R. Obey (D-WI).

"In 2004, a 15-year-long, $35 million Missouri River study was completed that, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has provided necessary management guidance for the Missouri River. It just doesn’t make sense – especially in light of the large federal budget deficit – for the American people to continue to pay for a new study so soon after the last one was completed. Simply put, more federal appropriations for the Missouri River Authorized Purposes Study would be wasteful and counterproductive," said Skelton.

"The future of the river downstream, where the large majority of users live, remains in energy production, water supply, and energy and cost efficient transportation that is clean," said Bond. "There is no need to waste millions of tax payer dollars for the Corps of Engineers to come to the same conclusion. This duplicative study isn’t fair to the tax payer and just makes no sense."

And Senator McCaskill added: "This study is duplicative of a study done six years ago and is not the way we should be spending taxpayer dollars. My colleagues from Missouri and I will keep fighting to convince the rest of the House and Senate that this is a waste, especially considering our record deficits this year."