Nelson Wants the Corps to Look Ahead

Press Release

Nebraska's Senator Ben Nelson has joined the new Missouri River Working Group and will attend its first meeting today, where he plans to ask U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials several questions about their ongoing response to this year's flooding and their efforts to reduce the hardship caused by future floods.

"Nebraskans and everyone living along the Missouri shouldn't have to suffer another season of hardship like this one if there is any way to prevent it. The Corps should do all it can to take the steps needed so they don't," Senator Nelson said during his weekly conference call with the Nebraska news media.

The Missouri River Working Group was formed by the senators from Missouri and North Dakota to deal with some of the upstream versus downstream issues that arise from the Corps' management of the river. The new group includes senators throughout the Missouri River Basin.

"It's my hope that we can put aside past tensions between upriver and downriver senators and find a way to work together," Nelson said.

Today's meeting will be attended by Major General William Grisoli, who is the Corps' Deputy Commanding General for Civilian and Emergency Operations and is a former Commander of the Corps' Northwestern Division, which oversees the Missouri River. The current Northwestern Division Commander, Brigadier General John McMahon, will join the meeting via phone.

Nelson said a key topic of discussion will be whether flood control should be the top priority of the Army Corps of Engineers.

"With what we're seeing this year: people being forced from their homes, concerns about our nuclear power plants, floodwaters surrounding Eppley Airfield, and thousands of people virtually holding their breath in cities and towns protected by levees we hope will hold up, it sure seems to me that flood management should be Priority Number One," Nelson said.

Nelson said he will ask several questions of the Corps, including:

* The Corps just announced that it is reducing the amount of water in releases from the Gavins Point Dam. Is this a temporary reduction, or can we expect the water flow to continue to reduce?
* How much additional water storage space would the Corps have needed to handle the massive amount of water we've seen this year?
* What is the status of the Corps' emergency funds? The Corps has built more than 30 miles of emergency levees. Does it have enough resources this year? Does it plan to remove temporary levees once the water levels drop?
* And once they do, what does the Corps estimate will be the cost to repair levees and clean up from the flooding?
* Perhaps most importantly, what are the Corps' plans for making repairs this fall so that we'll be ready for next spring's snowmelt and rain?

"As much as Nebraskans and others have suffered during this year's flood, we have to make sure the preparations are made so the next flood does less damage. The public deserves to know what the Corps would do differently next time, and the public deserves to know that the Corps will be ready to rebuild and repair levees from the Dakotas to St. Louis," Nelson said.

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