Missouri officials might have an unlikely ally in the fight against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over how the Missouri River will be managed next Spring – officials from South Dakota. The Corps wants to produce a Spring rise, a manmade flood to help endangered fish. Missouri officials are worried it will flood farmland in this state. South Dakota officials are worried it will come when their reservoir levels are low, as they currently are. But Garland Erbele with the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources says the Corps wanted to make the release at the lower level because drought has been going on for several years and the pallid sturgeon have to get this Spring rise soon to spawn before they die. Erbele says his state has received assurances that this is just a one-time deal, and future Spring rises would only come if there are higher levels in the upstream reservoirs. He does not expect his state will fight the proposed plan as much as Missouri officials plan to.
