Officials with the Army Corps of Engineers say they won’t implement a Spring rise into the management of the Missouri River next Spring, but Missouri’s junior senator is upset there might even have been talk about the idea. Corps spokesman Paul Johnston says there’s no immediate plan to flood the river. But, Johnston does admit Corps lawyers did meet with the Fish and Wildlife Service on September 18th and proposed a flow increase of at least 50 percent in the Spring, the so-called Spring rise, and some summer flows below the normal lowest operating summer navigation levels. Johnston says those proposals won’t be put in this Spring because much of the river basin is still in a drought situation. And, Senator Carnahan believes that meeting might constitute the Corps trying to get around the master manual. Carnahan has sent a letter to the President and the Corps of Engineers expressing her disappointment over the proposal.
