North Dakota Senator John Hoeven and Missouri Senator Roy Blunt are on a two-day tour of the Missouri River system. They’re looking at flood damage repairs. And they’re meeting with the Corps of Engineers to talk about river management. More from Prairie Public's Dave Thompson.
Hoeven says this is part of an effort by Missouri Basin Senators to work together.
“What Sen. Blunt and I are really trying to do is work to create better coordination and a better relationship between upstream states and the efforts in the upper Missouri River basin and the lower MissouriRiver basin,” said Hoeven after a tour of the Garrison Dam. Hoeven says there have been tugs-and-pulls between upstream states and downstream states. But he and Blunt say all the Basin Senators agree that flood control is the number one priority. And Blunt says a challenge will be to make sure the Corps has the money to make the necessary repairs from the 2011 flood – and to fight subsequent floods.
“You know, we appear to be fortunate this year, not having to deal with water that was well outside the norm," said Blunt. "But that year is coming again, we just don't know when, and we need to do all we can to be ready for that."
Besides touring the Garrison Dam, Hoeven and Blunt are looking at Fort Peck, as well as projects in Missouri.
