Governor Jay Nixon has issued a letter to his counterpart in Kansas urging him to reconsider that state’s intention to study diverting water from the Missouri River into Kansas. Nixon tells Governor Sam Brownback the Missouri River is vital to Missouri’s way of life and economy.

A 1982 study of the plan to divert water from the Missouri River into Kansas put the cost at an estimated $3.6-billion dollars.  (photo courtesy; Missouri Department of Natural Resources)

A 1982 study of the plan to divert water from the Missouri River into Kansas put the cost at an estimated $3.6-billion dollars. (photo courtesy; Missouri Department of Natural Resources)

Kansas officials are planning to move forward with a study of constructing an aqueduct to divert 4 million acre-feet of water from the River into Western Kansas to help support agriculture.

Nixon tells Brownback, “Both of our states would benefit from a more global discussion of the future use of the Missouri River,” adding, “neither of our states is well-served by the approach exemplified by this project.

See Nixon’s letter here.