Judy Baker Meets with Lower Salt River Basin Association to Talk Clarence Cannon Dam Issues

Press Release

Judy Baker Meets with Lower Salt River Basin Association to talk Clarence Cannon Dam Issues

Judy Baker, candidate for Congress in Missouri's Ninth Congressional District, held a town hall meeting at the Frankford Farm Supply store on Saturday to listen to farmers affected by water release from the Clarence Cannon Dam.

"Farmers in the Lower Salt River Basin and throughout Missouri need a voice to listen to their concerns and fix their problems," Baker said. "Some of these farmers lost more than 80 percent of their crop because the federal government has failed to come up with a comprehensive strategy that includes Iowa and Illinois. This is unacceptable."

Baker spent an afternoon speaking with farmers to understand the issues facing them along the Salt River and below Mark Twain Lake. When Mark Twain Lake receives excess rainwater, the Army Corps of Engineers are instructed by federal policy to release water by opening the Clarence Cannon Dam.

The water release causes flooding throughout the Lower Salt River Basin area and damages crops severely. Farmers told Baker the water level problems have been rising dramatically in recent years and flow from Iowa and Northern Illinois must be slowed to lessen the damage on farmers in the Salt River Basin.

Baker promised to go to Congress and, as a member of the House Committee on Agriculture, develop a comprehensive strategy to allow water release without damaging the family farms that have existed for more than four generations. She also said she would push for greater flood relief for farmers affected by the water release until permanent prevention methods could be put into place.

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