I
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1351
To ensure the primary principle and priority of the Missouri River system
focus on the control of water relative to navigation and flood control,
and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 29, 1995
Ms. DANNER (for herself, Mr. EMERSON, Mr. SKELTON, Mr. TALENT, Mr.
VOLKMER, and Mr. HANCOCK) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
A BILL
To ensure the primary principle and priority of the Missouri
River system focus on the control of water relative to
navigation and flood control, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Missouri River Man-
agement 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 trans-
portation network. As such, it has played a key role
in the economic growth and development of the Mid-
west 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 ef-
fects for our transportation network and for mid-
western 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 Alter-
native 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 sup-
ported by navigation on the Missouri River.
(6) Instituting a spring rise through increased
flows on the Missouri River from the upstream res-
ervoirs 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 con-
tinued 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 struc-
ture;
(3) establish statutory language identifying
recreation as a low level priority relevant to the Mas-
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 Sec-
retary 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, Ne-
braska;
(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 lev-
els 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 res-
ervoirs 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 con-
figurations on the mainstem of the Missouri River to jeop-
ardize 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, work-
ing 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.—Sched-
uled full navigation levels shall be incrementally increased
to coincide with increases in the navigation season under
subsection (a).
SEC. 6. WATER CONTROL POLICIES AFFECTING NAVIGA-
TION 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 EVALUA-
TION.
Whenever a Federal department, agency, or instru-
mentality 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.
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