Missouri River Management and Water Control Act of 1995

Summary: Missouri River Management and Water Control Act of 1995 - Requires the Secretary of the Army to maintain permanent pool levels in the Missouri River system of above 18 million acre feet unless a lower level is required for emergency or commercial purposes.  Increases the length of each navigation season by 15 days until the navigation season has increased by one month.  Prohibits the Secretary from taking any action which would:  (1)  result in a reduction of a total of ten days or more a year in the number of days during which vessels are able to navigate channels; or (2)  increase flood damages to land adjacent to navigation channels.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Missouri River Management and Water 
Control Act of 1995''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The Missouri River system is an integral part of a 
        broad, national, and international transportation network. As 
        such, it has played a key role in the economic growth and 
        development of the Midwest by providing a critical link both 
        into and out of America's heartland.
            (2) The Missouri River is the largest tributary of the 
        Mississippi River, accounting for nearly half of the water 
        flowing in the Mississippi River at St. Louis, Missouri. 
        Interruptions to this delicate river system could have billions 
        of dollars in adverse effects for our transportation network 
        and for midwestern agriculture.
            (3) An estimated 7,000,000 short tons of cargo, worth an 
        estimated $1,600,000,000, were held up by river closings which 
        resulted from the floods of 1993. More than 1,000 barges were 
        stranded on the Missouri, Upper Mississippi, and Illinois 
        Rivers, with costs to the towing industry alone estimated at 
        $700,000 per day (excluding the barges which were massed near 
        Cairo, Illinois, awaiting the resumption of navigation).
            (4) Shifting transportation modes from barges to truck and 
        rail will have an estimated increase in costs to industry and 
        producers who rely on the barge industry to balance our 
        delicate transportation system.
            (5) Nothing contained in the Preferred Alternative to the 
        Master Water Control Manual for the Missouri River compiled by 
        the Corps of Engineers indicates supporting data that suggests 
        the Corps of Engineers ever attempted to evaluate gross 
        revenues for navigation or any of the various industries 
        supported by navigation on the Missouri River.
            (6) Instituting a spring rise through increased flows on 
        the Missouri River from the upstream reservoirs would not only 
        interrupt and consequently shift crop planting, production, and 
        harvesting dates along the river but would also increase 
        chances of flooding thereby jeopardizing the health, safety, 
        and livelihood of millions of Americans.

SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are to--
            (1) preserve the free flow of commerce and continued 
        success of commercial navigation, and flood control on the 
        Missouri River system;
            (2) identify the Missouri River and our Nation's entire 
        river system network as a vital component of our Nation's food 
        supply and transportation structure;
            (3) establish statutory language identifying recreation as 
        a low level priority relevant to the Master Water Control 
        Manual and its stated priorities of flood control, navigation, 
        hydropower, and water supply along the Missouri River system;
            (4) combine navigation and flood control in legislation 
        aimed at treating the entire Inland Waterway System as one 
        system;
            (5) oppose changes to the Master Water Control Manual which 
        would alter or deviate from the management practices or 
        endanger public health or safety relative to the stated 
        purposes of this Act;
            (6) require the Secretary of the Army, acting with the 
        Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior, to 
        apply cost benefit analysis to any study dedicated to reviewing 
        any portion of the Inland Waterway System; and
            (7) provide safeguards which would allow the Secretary of 
        the Army flexibility to permit lower or higher pool levels in 
        order to provide emergency flood control to protect human 
        health, safety, or property, or to provide adequate water 
        supply levels.

SEC. 4. PERMANENT POOL LEVELS.

    (a) Missouri River System.--The Secretary of the Army shall not 
permit the permanent pool levels in the Missouri River system to fall 
below 18,000,000 acre feet at any time unless the Secretary makes a 
finding that a lower level is required to provide necessary--
            (1) emergency flood control to protect human health, 
        safety, and property;
            (2) commercial navigation in the lower basin of the 
        Missouri River;
            (3) commercial navigation on the Mississippi River;
            (4) hydropower; or
            (5) water supply to communities which rely on the Missouri 
        River for water supply.
    (b) Navigation Service Levels.--To assure the permanent pool level 
referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Army shall maintain 
the following full service navigation levels on the Missouri River from 
April through November:
            (1) 36,000 cubic feet per second at Sioux City, Iowa;
            (2) 36,000 cubic feet per second at Omaha, Nebraska;
            (3) 42,000 cubic feet per second at Nebraska City, 
        Nebraska; and
            (4) 46,000 cubic feet per second at Kansas City, Missouri;
throughout any period that such permanent pool level is more than 
41,000,000 acre feet.
    (c) Conservation Service Levels.--To assure the permanent pool 
level referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Army shall 
implement such conservation measures as may be necessary to maintain 
navigation levels on the Missouri River--
            (1) of 33,000 cubic feet per second at Sioux City, Iowa;
            (2) of 33,000 cubic feet per second at Omaha, Nebraska;
            (3) of 35,000 cubic feet per second at Nebraska City, 
        Nebraska; and
            (4) of 39,000 cubic feet per second at Kansas City, 
        Missouri;
throughout any period that such permanent pool level is less than 
41,000,000 acre feet.
    (d) Discretionary Management.--Levels of reservoirs on the mainstem 
of the Missouri shall be at the discretion and management of the 
Secretary of the Army, but at no time shall the Secretary allow the 
reservoir configurations on the mainstem of the Missouri River to 
jeopardize the discharge level of the Gavins Point Reservoir, Nebraska 
and South Dakota, required to maintain the navigation levels set forth 
in subsections (b) and (c).

SEC. 5. NAVIGATION SEASON EXTENSION.

    (a) Increases.--The Secretary of the Army, working with the 
Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior, shall 
incrementally increase the length of each navigation season for the 
Missouri River by 15 days from the length of the previous navigation 
season and those seasons thereafter, until such time as the navigation 
season for the Missouri River is increased by 1 month from the length 
of the navigation season on April 1, 1995.
    (b) Application of Increases.--Increases in the length of the 
navigation season under subsection (a) shall be applied in calendar 
year 1996 so that the navigation season in such calendar year for the 
Missouri River begins on March 15, 1996, and ends on December 15, 1996.
    (c) Adjustment of Navigation Levels.--Scheduled full navigation 
levels shall be incrementally increased to coincide with increases in 
the navigation season under subsection (a).

SEC. 6. WATER CONTROL POLICIES AFFECTING NAVIGATION CHANNELS.

    The Secretary of the Army may not take any action which is 
inconsistent with a water control policy of the Corps of Engineers in 
effect on January 1, 1995, if such action would result in--
            (1) a reduction of 10 days or more in the total number of 
        days in a year during which vessels are able to use navigation 
        channels; or
            (2) a substantial increase in flood damage to lands 
        adjacent to a navigation channel, unless such action is 
        specifically authorized by a law enacted after the date of 
        enactment of this Act.

SEC. 7. ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT EVALUATION.

    Whenever a Federal department, agency, or instrumentality conducts 
an environmental impact statement with respect to management of the 
Missouri River system, the head of such department, agency, or 
instrumentality shall also conduct a cost benefit analysis on any 
changes proposed in the management of the Missouri River.