COLUMBIA - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers presented its plan Friday for handling next spring's rise on the Missouri River, hoping to avoid more conflict between supporters of a higher flow and those who want lower levels on the river.
Last spring's controversy over protecting the pallid sturgeon's breeding grounds showed the Army Corps that resolving disagreements is a vital part of the process.
"The last 15 years, most of the decision-making on the river has been very contentious," Mac admitted. "It's been settled in courts rather than a congenial atmosphere for discussion."
The Corps held an open house Friday so the public could have its say about the operation of the newly-formed Recovery Committee.
"We need to make sure that there is a process where those people are involved in making the decisions," explained Rosemary Hargrave of the Missouri River Corps of Engineers, "making the recommendations about what needs to be done in a way that they can accept."
The Army Corps said the committee will make recommendations, perhaps by December of 2007, to agencies that do recovery work on the Missouri River.
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