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Missourinet

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Flood effect: navigation damage threatens barge traffic on Missouri River

October 5, 2020 By Missourinet Contributor

Work is underway to repair damage to the Missouri River’s navigation channel. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Kansas City District Commander, Col. Bill Hannan, says three years of high water as well as widespread flooding have left damage in their wake, threatening barge season on the Missouri River.

St. Joseph Port (Photo courtesy of Brent Martin of KFEQ)

“The flood of 2019 also, along with devastating a lot of levees along the river, created about $200 million in damages to navigation structures,” Hannan tells Missourinet affiliate KFEQ in St. Joseph. “And so, what has happened in the last three weeks is the river levels have returned to normal, they’re not low, they’re just normal service levels that we would see, but because of all that damage to navigation structures, it’s creating shallow spots in the navigation channel on the river.”

While the Corps estimates the damage at $200 million, it has only $20 million in its budget to make repairs.

The Corps says all that water rushing down the Missouri River the last three years, including the widespread flooding of last year, damaged half to three-quarters of the 7,000 river training structures on the lower Missouri River.

Money isn’t the only problem. It takes time to fully scour the Missouri River channel and return it to its authorized nine-foot by 300-foot condition.

Hannan isn’t looking to Congress for more money. He points out Congress has already made its allocation to repair damage done by disasters throughout the country last year, including the devastation Missouri River flooding did to the Midwest last year.

“We are now trying to find every piece of money we can in the Corps of Engineers to see if we can apply some more resources to fix some of these problems on the river,” Hannan says.

He says Corps crews as well as contractor crews are doing their best to guide barges away from the damaged areas of the navigation channel while awaiting repair.

Hannan understands the importance of barge traffic with harvest fast approaching.

“We are doing absolutely everything we can to not let the barge traffic stop, because we know the agricultural community is really dependent to move their goods and the fall harvest here,” Hannan says. “So, we’re going to give 100% effort in the Corps of Engineers to do everything we can to keep that traffic moving.”

By Brent Martin of KFEQ in St. Joseph

Filed Under: Agriculture, Business, News, Transportation, Weather Tagged With: Col. Bill Hannan, Missouri River, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Graves says northwest Missouri is still impacted from record 2019 flooding (AUDIO)

July 24, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

A congressman who represents northern Missouri says it’s been about 500 days since the Flood of 2019 began, and that thousands of acres of the world’s most fertile farmland are still covered under water or silt and sand.

U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, visits with officials and residents in flooded Holt County in March 2019 (file photo courtesy of the congressman’s Facebook page)

U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, says two small farming towns northwest of St. Joseph have been especially impacted.

“Craig, Missouri being one of those,” Graves says. “Corning, Missouri another. Those are just two that are in Holt County.”

Holt County saw record flooding in 2019, which covered heavily-traveled Highway 159. Graves says some residents there have lost their farms and homes, multiple times.

The Missouri Farm Bureau says more than 1.4 million acres of farmland in the state went unplanted in 2019, due to flooding. One of the hardest-hit areas was in Holt County.

Graves, the ranking Republican on the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, is critical of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He says flood control and navigation should be the Corps’ top priority for the Missouri River.

He says 578-million tons of goods are shipped by barges annually.

Congressman Graves and Governor Mike Parson have both criticized the Corps. Parson and the governors of neighboring Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska have met with the Corps at least three times, to discuss what needs to be done differently in the future.

The governors have signed a four-state agreement to cooperate on issues relating to flood control and the Corps.

Graves tells Missourinet that some towns in his district are still behind temporarily-repaired levees.

“In many cases too, they’re building back to the exact same criteria that was there before,” says Graves.

Graves is optimistic that Congress will approve a major water resources bill before the November election. He says the bipartisan bill is aimed at helping communities impacted by repeated flooding.

“I think it will go very easily off the floor of the House. Again, it was unanimous out of committee, and then it will go over to the Senate and then we’ll work it out in conference,” Graves says.

He says the bill gives towns more help in planning and implementing flood control projects that limit the risk of future floods.

Graves, a dean in Missouri’s congressional delegation, represents 36 northern Missouri counties. He’s finishing his tenth term on Capitol Hill. His district includes Craig, St. Joseph, Chillicothe, Bethany, Macon, Kirksville and Hannibal.

Click here to listen to the full eight-minute interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, which was recorded on July 17, 2020:

https://cdn.missourinet.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/bh-congressmangravesJuly2020.mp3

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

Filed Under: Agriculture, Business, News, Politics / Govt, Transportation, Weather Tagged With: Corning, Craig, Flood of 2019, governor mike parson, Hannibal, Highway 159, Holt County, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri Farm Bureau, Missouri River, Nebraska, St. Joseph, Tarkio, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, U.S. Rep. Sam Graves

Group wants feds to consider innovative anti-flooding projects, including in Missouri

June 10, 2020 By Missourinet Contributor

A report from a special commission recommends Missouri work with neighboring states and the Army Corps of Engineers to change how flood recovery and prevention are approached. The commission also wants the federal government to be more receptive to innovative ideas.

2019 flooding in Craig (Photo courtesy of Brent Martin of KFEQ in St. Joseph)

Gov. Mike Parson created the Flood Recovery Advisory Working Group in an effort to break the cycle of Missouri River flooding which caused widespread, catastrophic damage in 1993, 2011, and 2019. The group also reviewed problem areas along the Mississippi River.

Missouri Department of Natural Resources Deputy Director Dru Buntin says current practice forces farmers and others to work toward restoring levees as quickly as possible.

“For crop insurance reasons, for just basic protection reasons, and so there’s a finite window of opportunity to be able to go in and look at doing something different,” Buntin tells Missourinet affiliate KFEQ in St. Joseph.

He says Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa want that changed. They want something different. He says Missouri is working with its neighbors and the Corps of Engineers to take a longer look at the problem areas along the Missouri River which repeatedly flood and recommend changes which could prevent or lessen future flooding.

A proposed Missouri River levee project in extreme northwest Missouri could become a prototype to prevent the recurring flooding along the river – if it can clear federal regulatory hurdles. Atchison County Levee District #1 proposes a setback levee which would add as much as 200 acres of wetlands and, county officials hope, prevent the repeated flooding in that area. Buntin says federal officials have raised concerns, because the approach is so different.

“Trying to wade through many of the funding sources that would help the levee district, help Atchison County accomplish that project don’t envision this type of project,” according to Buntin.

Buntin says that’s the problem. Federal regulations often lock landowners in to repairing the same system which continues to fail during flood years. Buntin says federal requirements which must be met for wetlands easements actually stand in the way of the Atchison County project, even though the project would greatly increase wetlands in the area. Buntin remains optimistic the project will be approved, eventually.

Buntin says the commission is determined that its report does not simply sit on a shelf. He says Missouri already is working with officials in Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa. He says they want to speak with one voice when expressing concerns to the Army Corps of Engineers and when pushing for change.

“And I’m always reluctant to say we’re going to study this, because that’s really not what the intent of this whole arrangement is. It’s to look at where the most problematic areas (are) and what are some changes that we could make that would reduce damages in the future,” Buntin says.

The report also recommends the federal government pay the entire cost of levee restoration, whether the levees are federal or non-federal levees. It proposes Atchison County be moved out of the Omaha district of the Army Corps of Engineers and into the Kansas City district, with the rest of the northwest Missouri counties bordering the Missouri River.

By Brent Martin of Missourinet affiliate KFEQ in St. Joseph

Filed Under: Agriculture, Legislature, News, Outdoors, Politics / Govt, Transportation, Weather Tagged With: Dru Buntin, governor mike parson, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Missouri River, U.S. Army Corp of Engineers

Missouri River likely to enter minor flood stage this week

April 1, 2020 By Missourinet Contributor

Levels on the Missouri River could move into minor flood stage from Nebraska City to northwest Missouri’s St. Joseph this week. Chairman Tom Waters with the Missouri Levee and Drainage District Association says the area isn’t prepared for a high-than-normal runoff predicted.

The Missouri River spread out into St. Joseph in 2019/Photo by Brent Martin

“The big issue for us is soil moisture,” Waters tells Missourinet affiliate KFEQ in St. Joseph. “Normally, North and South Dakota, Montana through the summer and fall, it dries out and you go into winter dry, the soil moisture is dry and then it snows, you have your spring rains, but when the soil thaws it’s hungry and it soaks up a lot of that water. There’s not any of that water that is going to be soaked up this year. So, any snow, any rainfall we have we know today that that is going to run into the river and cause river levels to be higher.”

That makes members of the Missouri Levee and Drainage District Association nervous, according to Waters.

“Membership’s very anxious about what’s going on here,” Waters says. “We’ve seen people that had their 2018 crop in a bin that was flooded and lost, weren’t able to plant a 2019 crop and now going into 2020. If they don’t get this crop in, they may be out of business.”

Waters says the only good that could come out of the widespread damage from last year’s floods is that it could finally change attitudes about how best to manage the Missouri River.

Waters perceives a shift in attitudes after the 2019 floods which wasn’t the case after either the 1993 or the 2011 floods.

“Everybody realizes we have to do something different,” according to Waters. “We went through this in 2011. We went through it in 1993 and we didn’t do a lot different. I think we’re seeing some signs and hints it’s going to be different this time so that maybe five or ten years down the road we won’t have such a problem.”

Another wrinkle has been added. The US Army Corps of Engineers is on standby to help in whatever way it can in the battle against the coronavirus. At present, the Corps doesn’t believe that will hamper continuing efforts to rebuild the levees damaged by last year’s floods. Levees in the Omaha District of the Corps of Engineers have mostly been repaired. Several levees in the Kansas City District remain damaged, making vast areas of northwest Missouri and northeast Kansas vulnerable to flooding.

By Brent Martin of Missourinet affiliate KFEQ in St. Joseph

Filed Under: Agriculture, Business, Legislature, Military, News, Outdoors, Politics / Govt, Transportation, Weather Tagged With: Missouri Levee and Drainage District Association, Missouri River, Tom Waters, U.S. Army Corp of Engineers

Blunt proposes to revamp lower Missouri River management

March 6, 2020 By Missourinet Contributor

Missouri U.S. Senators Roy Blunt and Josh Hawley, along with Senators from Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas, want to overhaul the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers’ management of the lower Missouri River. Blunt, a Republican, says their bill introduced this week is designed to reduce flood risk and improve flood protection along the lower river basin. He says last year’s flooding from March through August made for an unbelievable year.

Missouri U.S. Senator Roy Blunt

“We think the Corps can plan better,” he tells Brownfield Ag News. “But we think the Corps needs some direction and some flexibility to be able to plan better and that’s what this legislation would do.”

Blunt says the bill requires the Corps to come up with a project feasibility study and gives it flexibility for any project where the federal share is less than $75 million to be able to move forward more quickly.

Blunt says it lets the Corps look at the southern Missouri River basin as a unique waterway.

“We’re not trying to get into opening the entire plan or needlessly involve our friends north of us on the Missouri River when they don’t need to be involved. Certainly would welcome input from them,” he says.

Blunt says the Corps will have to look at how navigation and flood control can be a bigger priority.

“All of our input from farm families, farm organizations, businesses and communities along the river has been very positive so far and we hope we can continue to move forward in a unified way to get this done,” says Blunt.

Missouri Farm Bureau President Blake Hurst applauds the bill and says it is a huge step forward.

By Julie Harker of Brownfield Ag News

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

Filed Under: Agriculture, News, Politics / Govt, Weather Tagged With: Missouri Farm Bureau President Blake Hurst, Missouri River, Missouri U.S. Senator Josh Hawley, Missouri U.S. Senator Roy Blunt, U.S. Army Corp of Engineers

Missouri lawmaker: a casino would do well along the Osage River, if it’s done right

February 24, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

A proposed constitutional amendment that would authorize a riverboat casino near the Lake of the Ozarks could be heading to the Missouri House floor soon, after being approved by two committees.

State Rep. Rocky Miller, R-Lake Ozark, speaks on the Missouri House floor in Jefferson City on May 17, 2019 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

The proposal from State Rep. Rocky Miller, R-Lake Ozark, would authorize a boat on the Osage River, between the Bagnell Dam and the Missouri River.

“All (the bill) it really does is put out to a vote of the people adding the Osage River to the possibility of getting a license, if one becomes available in the future,” Miller says.

Currently, riverboat gambling in Missouri is only allowed along the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. The Missouri Gaming Commission regulates casino gambling.

Missouri’s 13 riverboat casino licenses are all currently taken. It’s capped at 13 as a result of Proposition A, which was approved by voters in 2008. Proposition A also repealed loss limits and increased the casino gambling tax from 20 to 21 percent.

Miller has filed House Joint Resolution 87, which is a proposed constitutional amendment. He tells Missourinet that a casino would do well along the Osage River, if it’s done right.

“It has to be where it’s a benefit to the community and to the state,” says Miller. “And the way to ensure that is to make sure it goes through the legislative process, and that’s what we’re doing here today,” he said during a recent Statehouse interview.

Miller’s proposal was approved by the House Special Committee on Government Oversight on a 3-2 vote. It was approved by the Rules Committee on a 6-1 vote.

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

Filed Under: Business, Entertainment, Legislature, News Tagged With: Lake Ozark, Mississippi River, Missouri Gaming Commission, Missouri River, Osage River, Riverboat gambling, State Rep. Rocky Miller

Missouri’s Luetkemeyer and Parson warn about possible spring flooding (AUDIO)

February 20, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

A Missouri congressman whose district includes the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers is worried about possible flooding again this spring.

U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-St. Elizabeth, spoke in Jefferson City on February 17, 2020 (photo from Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth)

U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-St. Elizabeth, expressed his concerns during an interview with Missourinet this week in Jefferson City. Luetkemeyer’s district includes Jefferson City, Hermann, Washington and St. Charles.

“I know they didn’t get as much water out of the reservoirs up north as they wanted, so that’s a bad combination,” Luetkemeyer says. “Too much water already is in storage.”

Luetkemeyer, who serves on the Mississippi River Flood Valley Association, says it’s time for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to come up with a plan for the Missouri River. He says a plan is needed, noting the state saw record flooding in 2019.

“And you start from St. Louis and go all the way back to Gavins Point, and working with the Corps to have them sit down and do the analysis of what it would take,” says Luetkemeyer.

He says a plan has been in place for 80 years involving the Mississippi River, between St. Louis and New Orleans. Luetkemeyer emphasizes that the plan works.

Congressman Luetkemeyer has met with Missouri Governor Mike Parson (R) and members of the state’s congressional delegation to discuss the flooding issue. Luetkemeyer says it’s a bipartisan issue.

As for the governor, he says President Donald Trump shares his concerns about possible flooding again this spring along the Missouri River. Parson tells Missourinet that he spoke to the president about the issue a few weeks ago.

“He seemed to be engaged on that, he said that he would try to help with that, so that was very encouraging for him to be talking about that,” Parson says.

Parson and the governors of neighboring Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska have met with the Corps of Engineers three times to discuss what needs to be done differently in the future.

The governor’s proposed budget sets aside $4 million in disaster recovery funds.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-St. Elizabeth, which was recorded on February 17, 2020 at Jefferson City’s Capitol Plaza Hotel:

https://cdn.missourinet.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/bh-luetkemeyerFebruary2020.mp3

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

Filed Under: Agriculture, News, Politics / Govt, Weather Tagged With: Gavins Point, governor mike parson, Hermann, Jefferson City, Mississippi River, Missouri River, President Donald Trump, St. Charles, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, Washington

Missouri sues federal agencies, others in effort to halt proposed North Dakota water project

February 6, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

The Missouri Attorney General’s Office and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation, and several other officials in an attempt to stop the construction of a water diversion project in North Dakota.

Missouri sues federal agencies, others in effort to halt proposed North Dakota water project

The lawsuit alleges that North Dakota and the Bureau of Reclamation failed to conduct significant analysis on the impact of the Central North Dakota Project, and falsely stated that the project would pose insignificant impacts on “existing water needs and uses.”

The Central North Dakota Project is a proposed water service contract between the North Dakota Garrison Diversion Conservancy District (Garrison Diversion) and the Bureau of Reclamation. That contract is reliant upon the construction of a six mile pipeline that would deliver water from the McClusky Canal to the Red River Valley Water Supply Project. Waters that run through the McClusky Canal originate from Lake Audubon, which is connected to and comprised of Missouri River water.

Noted in the lawsuit is the fact that the Missouri River is already depleted by an average of 5.05 million acre-feet per year by the Garrison Dam, located just downstream of the proposed Central ND Project.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court, Western District of Missouri, Central Division. View the lawsuit here.

Filed Under: Agriculture, Business, Crime / Courts, Health / Medicine, News, Politics / Govt, Weather Tagged With: Central North Dakota Project, Lake Audubon, McClusky Canal, Missouri Attorney General’s Office, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Missouri River, North Dakota Garrison Diversion Conservancy District, Red River Valley Water Supply Project, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. District Court, Western District of Missouri

Congressman Graves: Corps’ priorities for Missouri River are backwards (AUDIO)

August 10, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

A congressman who represents flood-damaged northern Missouri is blasting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, saying it’s “long past time” that flood control is the top priority for the Missouri River.

U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, tours the MFA Rail facility near northwest Missouri’s Hamilton on October 8, 2018 (file photo courtesy of Congressman Graves’ office)

U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, the ranking Republican on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, visited flood-impacted Brunswick on Friday. Brunswick, a Chariton County town of about 800, sustained severe flooding from the Grand River this summer.

Graves met with Brunswick officials to discuss flood recovery efforts. He tells Missourinet he’s losing his patience.

“This is so frustrating, it’s getting old, it’s getting tiresome, it’s affecting people’s lives, it’s affecting communities,” Graves says.

He says flooding has caused devastation across north Missouri, including Brunswick. Graves describes the Corps’ management priorities on the Missouri River as “backwards.”

“And it’s so frustrating, you just literally want to pull your hair out,” says Graves. “And we continue to pound on the Corps and push the Corps and we can’t seem to get anywhere with them.”

Graves agrees with Governor Mike Parson’s call for the Corps to manage the Missouri River differently.

Parson notes that he and fellow governors from Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska have met with the Corps, urging them to give states a seat at the table. Parson says states must have a significant say in Missouri River management.

Graves represents 36 counties across north Missouri. His sprawling district, which has more square miles than nine states, spans from the Missouri to the Mississippi rivers.

Graves’ district includes Brunswick, St. Joseph and Hannibal.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, which was recorded on August 7, 2019:

https://cdn.missourinet.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/bh-congressmangravesAugust2019.mp3

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Filed Under: Agriculture, Business, News, Politics / Govt, Transportation, Weather Tagged With: Brunswick, Grand River, Missouri River, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Rep. Sam Graves

Thunderstorms, hail and flash flooding possible Tuesday evening in parts of Missouri (AUDIO)

June 4, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

Strong to severe thunderstorms are possible across much of Missouri late Tuesday afternoon and evening.

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Pleasant Hill says 65 mph wind gusts, hail and an isolated tornado or two are possible across parts of Missouri on June 4, 2019 (map courtesy of NWS Pleasant Hill Twitter page)

National Weather Service (NWS) Pleasant Hill meteorologist Hal Pietrycha says the storms should start near Kansas City.

“Right now we’re watching just on the state line with Kansas and Missouri that general quadrant basically right now, south of the Missouri River, or put another way, south of I-70 at the state line,” Pietrycha says.

He says damaging winds and large hail will be the main threat. He says wind gusts up to 65 miles per hour are possible.

“Biggest threats today right now appear to be large hail, by that golf ball-sized perhaps,” says Pietrycha.

He says flash flooding is also possible.

The NWS says impacted towns could include St. Joseph, Chillicothe, Columbia, Jefferson City, Sedalia, Hannibal and Rolla.

Mr. Pietrycha also tells Missourinet an isolated tornado or two are possible today.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with NWS Pleasant Hill meteorologist Hal Pietrycha, which was recorded on June 4, 2019:

https://cdn.missourinet.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/bh-nwskansascityJune2019.mp3

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Filed Under: Agriculture, News, Politics / Govt, Transportation, Weather Tagged With: Columbia, Hannibal, Jefferson City, Missouri River, Sedalia, St. Joseph

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