By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Repairs of Missouri River levees damaged by the 2019 flood continue, though floating ice on the Missouri in February halted work for a while.
Northern Missouri Congressman Sam Graves says the Army Corps of Engineers has moved faster than he thought it could.
“I think they did a phenomenal job of getting many of the repairs done,” Graves tells St. Joseph Post.
Still, Graves remains critical of how the Corps plans to manage the Missouri River.
“They’re talking about restoration of the southern part of the Missouri River by December of 2022, but they’re not going to get the northern portion back to full capacity until 2025,” Graves says. “We have to do better.”
Graves says navigation on the Missouri depends on the weather, but also on the priorities the Corps has for the Missouri. Graves says the Corps needs to return to considering flood control and navigation the top priorities guiding how it manages the Missouri River.
Graves says the extent of the damage done by the 2019 flood will force changes to the levee system along the Missouri.
“In some cases, we had holes that we just simply can’t fill,” according to Graves. “They are scour holes and many of them 70 to 100 feet deep and you just can’t fill holes like that. So, we’re looking to realign the river and that’s in process and moving forward.”
The Army Corps of Engineers adds that the deep freeze in February created ice on the river, forcing workers to quit until the recent thaw.
Graves says the Corps could ease the risk of flooding through its control of the six Missouri River upstream reservoirs. Releases from those reservoirs at the Gavins Point Dam along the Nebraska-South Dakota border determine the level of the Missouri River downstream. Graves has been pushing the Corps to make flood control and navigation the top priorities guiding management of the Missouri.