U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Archives

Long to file Corps bill again; three kayakers have died in same spot in southwest Missouri in past 17 months

December 30, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

A congressman from the southwest Missouri Ozarks will file a bill again in 2021, aimed at preventing future deaths of kayakers.

U.S. Rep. Billy Long, R-Springfield, at his Capitol office in Washington in July 2019 (file photo courtesy of Congressman Long’s Facebook page)

U.S. Rep. Billy Long, R-Springfield, notes three kayakers have drowned in the same location on Bull Creek in the past 17 months. The drowning deaths happened near Saddlebrooke, between Springfield and Branson.

Congressman Long tells Missourinet that he’ll work closely with another Missouri congressman to get the bill passed next year.

“With all of the emphasis on COVID relief, it (the kayaking bill) was not able to be moved through the legislative process in the 116th Congress. I will introduce it again at the start of the 117th and will work with Rep. Sam Graves to make sure it goes through his T&I committee and gets on the floor for a vote in the House,” Long says.

U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, is the ranking Republican on the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Long’s bill would require the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conduct an in-depth study of the nationwide permitting process.

He says a southwest Missouri landowner received a linear transportation nationwide permit (NWP) from the Corps for a low water crossing. Long says the contractor built a structure 18 feet wider and one foot taller, than approved by the Corps.

“So I went down there to look at it and honest to goodness, I thought that I was looking at a county bridge, where we were going to cross and get over to where this low water crossing was. It was a massive structure,” Long told Missourinet in an October story.

He notes the landowner removed the structure, after the three deaths. Long says high water in that area near Saddlebrooke formed a dangerous vortex.

He says two kayakers died in the first incident.

“The second incident was a man and a wife, and the man could get over to the side and he actually had a hold of his wife, if you can imagine anything so traumatic,” Long said in October. “And he couldn’t hold her. It (the vortex) just sucked her out of his hand, he couldn’t hold her.”

Long’s bill would require the Corps of Engineers to determine how much funding and personnel they need to inspect every structure like this, and to include public safety as a condition of compliance.

Congressman Long says the Corps currently only has enough staff to visit ten to 20 percent of completed structures, adding that there is no requirement for the Corps to inspect completed projects after NWP’s are issued.

Drowning deaths of three kayakers in southwest Missouri getting attention on Capitol Hill (AUDIO)

October 18, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

A southwest Missouri congressman says three kayakers have drowned in the same location on Bull Creek in the past 15 months, prompting him to file legislation aimed at preventing future deaths.

U.S. Rep. Billy Long’s district includes Springfield, Branson and Joplin (2017 file photo courtesy of Congressman Long’s Facebook page)

U.S. Rep. Billy Long, R-Springfield, says the deaths happened near Saddlebrooke, which is between Springfield and Branson. He says a landowner received a linear transportation nationwide permit (NWP) from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a low water crossing. Long says the contractor built a structure 18 feet wider and one foot taller, than approved by the Corps.

He says the landowner has removed the structure, after the three deaths.

Long says high water in that area formed a dangerous vortex. He notes two kayakers died in the first incident.

“The second incident was a man and a wife, and the man could get over to the side and he actually had a hold of his wife, if you can imagine anything so traumatic,” says Long. “And he couldn’t hold her. It (the vortex) just sucked her out of his hand, he couldn’t hold her.”

Congressman Long’s legislation would require the Corps to conduct an in-depth study of the nationwide permitting process. It would also require the Corps to determine how much funding and personnel they need to inspect every structure like this, and to include public safety as a condition of compliance.

“When the water gets up high, it obviously forms some kind of a vortex down there and just sucks these kayaks down into it. And when three people in two different incidents died within a year of each other, I just thought something had to be done,” Long says.

Long tells Missourinet that his role as a congressman isn’t to point fingers, but rather to identify the problem and work to try to fix it. He also says his bill aims to ensure that these structures are built safely, without infringing upon property rights.

Long says the Army Corps of Engineers currently only has enough staff to visit ten to 20 percent of completed structures, adding that there is no requirement for the Corps to inspect completed projects after NWP’s are issued.

He says he hopes to get his provision included in the federal water resources bill, and says he’s working with U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, on it. Congressman Graves is the ranking Republican on the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full five-minute interview with U.S. Rep. Billy Long, R-Springfield, which was recorded on October 16, 2020:

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

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:

Missouri congressman: COVID-19 has been devastating for businesses and American workers (AUDIO)

April 23, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

A southwest Missouri congressman who serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee has been chosen by President Donald Trump to serve on the President’s task force on reopening the economy.

U.S. Rep. Billy Long, R-Springfield, represents southwest Missouri on Capitol Hill (official photo courtesy of Congressman Long’s Washington office)

U.S. Rep. Billy Long, R-Springfield, emphasizes that it’s a bipartisan task force.

“There’s some Democrats on there and it’s really interesting to hear them on our conference calls, bragging on the president, telling him what a good job he’s doing, and then the rest of the year they don’t have such kind things to say about him,” Long says.

Long is confident we can protect our citizens, “without crushing our economy.”

“Folks are ready to get back to work. They want to open up the stores and go out and get a haircut and get their dog groomed and go out to dinner and sit down and have a nice meal,” says Long. “And the people that work in those places are more than ready to get back to work.”

Long says COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on American businesses and workers.

Springfield health officials say there have been 93 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Springfield and Greene County, including eight deaths. 35 are active cases, and 50 have recovered.

Congressman Long tells Missourinet that three weeks ago, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was considering building temporary hospitals for coronavirus, in his district.

“And as of the night before last, there was a total of six COVID patients in hospital beds in the 7th (congressional) District,” Long says.

He says five of those patients are in Springfield, and one is hospitalized in Joplin. Long’s district includes Springfield, Branson, Joplin and Republic.

Long also says Springfield’s Cox Hospital completely converted an empty floor for COVID-19 patients, and that it has not been used. He praises CoxHealth’s preparation.

He also says rural hospitals have been hurting financially, because they haven’t been able to perform elective surgeries.

Long voted for the bipartisan COVID-19 legislation on Capitol Hill on Thursday, which contains $75 billion for personal protective equipment for health care employees and another $25 billion to expand testing.

Instead of flying to the nation’s capitol, he rode in a vehicle with U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Salem, who met Congressman Long on Wednesday morning in Rolla. Smith drove the vehicle, and they arrived in Washington D.C. late Wednesday night.

State health officials say there are now 6,321 confirmed coronavirus cases in Missouri, along with 218 deaths. The state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) announced the latest statistics Thursday afternoon. The number of deaths has increased by ten, from Wednesday’s number of 208 deaths.

Click here to listen to the full five-minute interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and U.S. Rep. Billy Long, R-Springfield, which was recorded on April 22, 2020:

Northern Missouri Congressman Graves focusing on flooding and levees (AUDIO)

February 29, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

A congressman who represents north Missouri on Capitol Hill warns that northwest Missouri is still suffering from flooding, and that there’s a lot of damage to infrastructure.

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, traveled from his Atchison County farm to Jefferson City this week to file for re-election to his 11th term. Graves is the longest-serving Republican in Missouri’s congressional delegation. He’s also a dean in the delegation, along with U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis. Both were elected to Congress in 2000.

Congressman Graves spoke to Missourinet after he filed, reiterating that flooding and transportation are his top two priorities. He says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, and other House Democrats have focused too much attention on impeachment.

“We haven’t worked on flood legislation, we have not worked on prescription drugs, we have not got an infrastructure bill because they’ve been spending all of their time with impeachment, and that’s all they seem to want to do,” Graves says.

Graves, the ranking Republican on the House Transportation Committee, says there are flood-damaged roads and bridges in northwest Missouri that still need to be rebuilt.

He’s critical of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, saying they don’t listen.

“It’s a management situation, that’s what it comes down to is how they manage the Missouri River,” Graves says. “And we’ve got people’s lives on the line, and their livelihoods and the farms and their communities.”

Congressman Graves and Governor Mike Parson (R) have both criticized the Corps. 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 governors have signed a four-state agreement to cooperate on issues relating to flood control and the Corps.

As for Graves, he wants to see changes in Corps plans.

“It’s very frustrating that the Corps doesn’t seem to want to to change,” says Graves. “And it’s like dragging them, kicking and screaming.”

Graves says flood control should be the Corps’ top priority for the Missouri River. He also notes the severe flooding that happened in 2019 in north-central Missouri’s Brunswick, which is in his district.

Severe flooding from the Grand River caused a railroad bridge to wash out in Brunswick, and it also damaged other infrastructure in the town of about 800.

The Missouri Farm Bureau says more than 1.4 million acres of farmland in the state went unplanted in 2019, due to flooding.

The state Department of Agriculture (MDA), the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Farm Bureau, the Missouri Levee and Drainage District Association and the Coalition to Protect the Missouri River will hold round table discussions Monday and Tuesday about flooding.

The meetings are designed to answer questions from farmers about 2019 flooding and to help them prepare for potential flooding this spring.

There will be two meetings on Monday in northwest Missouri: at 10 a.m. at the Atchison County Extension Building in Rock Port and at 2:30 p.m. at the East Hills Library in St. Joseph. Tuesday’s meetings will take place at 9 a.m. at the Knight and Rucker Banquet Hall in Brunswick and at 2:30 at the Corner restaurant in east-central Missouri’s Rhineland.

Graves was re-elected to his tenth term in 2018, defeating Democrat Henry Robert Martin with about 65 percent of the vote.

Four Democrats have already filed to challenge Graves. They are Kansas City’s Martin, Kansas City’s Ramona Farris, Canton’s Charles West and Platte City resident Gena Ross.

The sprawling sixth congressional district covers 36 northern Missouri counties, from the Missouri to the Mississippi River. It covers more square miles than nine U.S. states.

The district includes St. Joseph, Chillicothe, Bethany, Macon, Kirksville and Hannibal.

Click here to listen to the full three-minute interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, which was recorded on February 25, 2020 at the Kirkpatrick Building in Jefferson City:

Task force gets some positive news on Missouri spring flooding potential

February 24, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

The National Weather Service says Missouri faces above-average flood risk this spring because soil is still saturated from last spring’s flooding. About 1.2 million acres of Missouri farmland was damaged by flooding in 2019.

Missouri Agriculture Director Chris Chinn (Photo courtesy of Brownfield Ag News)

But, Missouri Agriculture Director Chris Chinn says the Governor’s Flood Advisory Task Force has received a glimmer of good news from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about the potential for spring flooding.

“The reservoirs up north right now have more storage capacity than they did last year at this time. So that’s a positive piece of information that we were really glad to hear,” says Chinn.

Chinn is a member of that task force. She farms in northeast Missouri’s Clarence.

“Last year at this time, we had a really deep freeze in the ground. Right now, we don’t have that,” she says. “So, we’re not going into the spring in the exact same situations that we were last year.”

Chinn says a lot of farm ground is unprotected.

“We do have a lot of levees right now that have not been able to be repaired because the water simply did not recede,” she says.

The Missouri Department of Agriculture, Missouri Farm Bureau, Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the Coalition to Protect the Missouri River are hosting meetings in northwest Missouri March 2nd and 3rd for farmers to meet with state and federal emergency management officials and the USDA’s RMA, FSA and NRCS agencies to ask questions and share their concerns.

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:

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.

Blunt pleased with USDA’s Kansas City relocation decision (AUDIO)

August 16, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

SEDALIA, Mo.- The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) decision to relocate two major facilities to the greater Kansas City area is being praised by Missouri’s senior senator.

U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R) flips steaks at the Missouri Beef House at the State Fair in Sedalia on August 15, 2019 (photo courtesy of Missouri Cattlemen’s Association Twitter page)

U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R) spoke to Missourinet at the governor’s ham breakfast Thursday in west-central Missouri’s Sedalia.

“I think that’s one of the great things about the USDA deciding to move those ag research jobs from Washington D.C. to the Kansas City area with access to all our great land grant institutions in the middle of the country,” Blunt says.

USDA plans to relocate its Economic Research Service and the National Institute of Food and Agricultural Policy. U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Kansas City, says the decision will draw more than 550 jobs to the Kansas City region, with average wages between $80,000 and $100,000.

Meantime, Senator Blunt is hopeful that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will manage the Missouri River differently.

“Since the 2004 (Corps) management plan, we’ve had moderate to high flooding every year but two, with the same rainfall we had in many years before that that didn’t produce that flooding,” says Blunt.

Blunt, Governor Parson and members of the state’s congressional delegation held a press conference on the flooding issue at Thursday’s fair. They were joined by Missouri Farm Bureau President Blake Hurst.

Parson says more than 80 Missouri levees have overtopped or breached in 2019.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full four-minute interview with U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R), which was recorded at the State Fair in Sedalia on August 15, 2019: