The agreement was announced by the MRBA on Aug. 31, 1999. It has been submitted to the Army Corps of Engineers for inclusion in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, which is scheduled to be released in December 1999. The intake to the Fort Yates, North Dakota, water treatment plan nearly became inoperable during the 1980 drought. The problem is that the Corps of Engineers and the Missouri River Basin Association are ignoring these impacts on the Indian Reservation. Although the Mni Sose Coalition belongs to the Missouri River Basin Association, the Coalition did not concur with the MRBA proposal for the Missouri River flows.
Tribal organizations operate on a historical principle of consensus.
The states took a yes or no vote, and proceeded with their alternative over our objection.