Flood waters are down, but leaving a mess behind. At the same time as some Missouri farmers are breathing a sigh of relief.

The Army Corps of Engineers started "pulsing" water into the Missouri River to stimulate fish spawning Tuesday night.

Thursday, the Corps plugged the leak in Gavin's Point Dam in South Dakota. The federal agency said it heard Missourians are worried about flooding, after last week's high waters.

The state petitioned the President and the Corps to stop the flow.

With 70 counties declared as federal disaster areas due to flooding, Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder says the spring rise should wait.

"We made a very emphatic case to the Army Corps of Engineers and to the White House, when the core of engineers was determined to go ahead with this spring rise to stop it, because we've already been through a flood disaster."

The Corps says the water already released should provide a pulse of higher water that will help stimulate spawning of the endangered pallid sturgeon. They say the fish life will still benefit but the waters will tamper off before hitting flood-weary missouri.