Attorney General's News Release

October 16, 2007

Nixon asks Corps to suspend 2008 spring rise on Missouri River; at least 40 levees remain damaged from 2007 floods

Jefferson City, Mo. — Attorney General Jay Nixon today asked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to suspend plans for a spring rise in 2008 on the Missouri River. At least 40 levees on the river in Missouri still need to be repaired from the flooding last May, Nixon said, and if the Corps follows through on its plan for the spring rise called for by the draft Annual Operating Plan, it could represent a danger to the lives and livelihoods of Missouri citizens.

Joseph Bindbeutel, Nixon’s chief counsel for the Agriculture and Environment Division, sent a letter to Brigadier General Gregg F. Martin of the Corps to spell out Nixon’s concerns.

“Although the Master Manual purports to provide safeguards against a spring rise contributing a flood, this year proved that those safeguards are insufficient,” Bindbeutel wrote. He pointed out that the Corps’ analysis indicated that conditions allowing a spring rise existed on May 4 and May 5, 2007, and that the weather forecast at that time also indicated flows of the river in Missouri would be manageable. The only thing preventing a spring rise on those days was the fact that water was being held in upstream reservoirs because of ongoing drought conditions, Bindbeutel said.

As it turned out, Missouri’s unpredictable spring weather changed quickly, with heavy rains causing a rapid rise on the Missouri River. “On May 9, the levees broke and a number of Missouri farmers and families suffered the consequences,” Bindbeutel wrote. “Had the Corps commenced a spring rise on May 4 or 5, the devastation could have been much worse. At least 40 levees on the river still need to be repaired. It would be reckless to undertake a spring rise under existing conditions.”

Nixon is asking the Corps to amend its Annual Operating Plan to indicate that the Corps will not do a spring rise in 2008 to allow time for a full analysis of what additional flood control restrictions are required to protect Missouri citizens and for all damaged levees to be repaired.

Nixon has been a leader in the fight to protect Missouri’s interests in the management of the Missouri River since becoming Attorney General in 1993.

Read the letter sent to Brigadier General Gregg F. Martin of the Corpsof Engineers from chief counsel Joseph Bindbeutel in pdf format

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