North Versus South On Missouri River

Management of the Missouri River has become a North versus South issue. North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan is complaining Senate Republicans, Missouri Senator Christopher Bond in particular, have put political pressure on the Army Corps of Engineers in the management of the Missouri River. In a written statement, Dorgan calls the Corps’ plan to eliminate a spring rise as a preferred alternative a surprise influenced by “heavy handed politics.” But Bond says the change should not be too much of a surprise, since it was part of what Dorgan and the rest of the Senate voted for in an ammendment to an appropriations bill.