MRAPS

The Corps of Engineers has been tasked by Congress to complete a study, the Missouri River Authorized Purposes Study(MRAPS). In which the Corps is being asked to update the original 1944 Pick/Sloan Flood Control Act. That act of congress required the Corps to manage the entire Missouri River watershed for the purposes of irrigation, flood control, recreation, hydro power, fish and wildlife management and commercial navigation.
Details of the study and its various topics can be found at www.mraps.org and links to the provisions for public comment can be found on the riverrelief.org website.
Both Missouri Senators, Bond and McCaskill have stated opposition to this study.
I could understand the Senators disagreeing with the results of a study but I fail to comprehend why they are opposed to the study itself. I have written letters to both but to be totally fair they could hardly have received these letters yet let alone have time to answer.
I do promise to relay their comments as soon as I receive them.
The Missouri watershed needs to be managed according to the needs of America in the 21st century, not 1944.
The importance of the study topics requires open discussion, debate and public input, and politics cannot be allowed to overshadow these requirements. As I have stated in other forums, the only thing harder than getting a bureaucracy to do something, is getting it to change course once it is already in motion.
But I am certain the time has come for the priorities of the Corps to be revised. No longer is transportation a major concern on the river but power generation has certainly moved closer to the forefront. The importance of water quality is recognized as gaining importance over its position in previous decades. Habitat diversification is recognized as a prime concern and flood control will always be a top priority. In my own humble opinion recreation will one day generate more commerce and more tax dollars than any other use of the waterway.