The modernization and extension of the locks and dams on the Upper Mississippi River are an integral part of this strategy. Spring rise, split navigation fulfill 'narrow agenda' A controversial proposal to allow the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to implement a controlled flood on the Missouri River could have severe implications for millions of acres of farmland in Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas. At issue is how much water should come down the Missouri River and when a decision Midwestern farmers are nervous leaving in the hands of a federal government agency. The corps is currently working on revising its Missouri River Master Manual, a guidebook used to set dam operations. In addition, the FWS is recommending that the spring rise be combined with a split navigation season on the river.
Farmers worry about the risk of flooding.
And the river navigation industry has said that the plan's call for low midsummer waters would shut down traffic from barges carrying steel, fertilizer, construction materials and other cargo during critical summer months. It would be impossible for farmers to plant their crops. Split navigation also is not economically viable in the barge industry, Kruse said. The Missouri River provides more than half of the Mississippi River's water where the two rivers join. The split navigation plan could shut down the Mississippi River to barge traffic during critical shipping times.