Dalrymple Tells U.S. Army Corps To Abandon Water Fee Plan: Proposal to Charge Missouri River Water Fee is Unjustified

Press Release

Gov. Jack Dalrymple on Thursday spoke strongly against a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposal that calls for charging water users a fee based on the amount of water taken from the Missouri River reservoir.

"It seems that Corps policies are now blocking access to the free flow of the Missouri River which is the rightful property of the State of North Dakota," Dalrymple said at a public meeting held by the Corps. "This is an outrage."

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers held the meeting Thursday to collect public comments and recommendations regarding its draft Lake Sakakawea Surplus Water Report and Environmental Assessment. In the report, the Corps recommends requiring surplus water supply agreements and fees for municipal and industrial use.

The Corps is citing its 2008 Corps Real Estate Policy in its proposal to restrict easement rights and, ultimately, to require water users in the upper Missouri River Basin to begin paying a water storage fee. In its report, the Corps says the water fee would be used to pay the construction costs of the Missouri River reservoir dam, and the rate is set based on what it would cost to build the dam today. The proposed fee is set at $20.91 per acre foot of water, with a maximum usage of 100,000 acre feet of water.

"Using U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' easements to block North Dakota's access to its own rightful water supplies is not only an improper use of the intended purpose of these easements, but is also an unconscionable and unjust attempt to achieve monetary gain where none is justified, " Dalrymple said.

North Dakota citizens gave up about 550,000 acres of prime farmland and resources for construction of the reservoir and now the Corps wants to charge a water fee when the State of North Dakota has always maintained its right to the free flow of the Missouri River. To make matters worse, the Corps proposes charging only water users in the upper basin where people have sacrificed the most for this interstate water system, he said.

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