Here is a brief but excellent set of talking points you could put in your own words as you let the Army Corps of Engineers know you want
A HEALTHIER MISSOURI RIVER.
Please take a few minutes before Monday.
Jim Redmond, Sierra representative on the Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee.
________________________________________
From: Missouri River Working Group [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jonathan Bry [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Friday, September 17, 2010 10:02 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: September 20th, 2010 is the deadline for submitting comments for the Missouri River Authorized Purpose Study
Hello:
September 20th, 2010 is the deadline for submitting comments for the Missouri River Authorized Purpose Study, a $25 million dollar study initiated by Senator Byron Dorgan.
This is very important because the US Army Corps of Engineers has been managing the Missouri River for downstream interests such as barge navigation since the six mainstem dams were build over 50 years ago.
The web site to submit comments is http://www.mraps.org/ .
Now is time for change. Please comment on each of the authorized purposes which include:
Flood Control
(Flood control is an acceptable purpose as long as it does not cater just to those who have built structures too close to the Missouri River. We do not like to see houses flooded. However, the health of the river should not be compromised due to poor planning practices.)
September 20th, 2010 is the deadline for submitting comments for the Missouri River Authorized Purpose Study
(It is fine to supply water for municipal uses. However, we should NOT have any out of basin transfers of Missouri River water. The water must stay within the Missouri River Basin. We must also insure high water quality so that the gulf can hopefully recover after the BP oil spill this past summer.)
Navigation
(Navigation is a dying industry and it has never fulfilled its purpose. Navigation in downstream states has contributed to the decline of the overall health of the Missouri River.)
Water Quality
(Maintaining high water quality is essential to both the health of the river and the health of those who rely on water for municipal use. The river is contaminated with lead and mercury from coal fired power plants and herbicides and pesticides from agricultural business.)
September 20th, 2010 is the deadline for submitting comments for the Missouri River Authorized Purpose Study
(Irrigation is important to growing crops but measures must enacted to insure that irrigation does not adversely impact water levels and water quality.)
Recreation
(Recreation is very important to the quality of life for those living both in and out of the basin. It is also a great economic benefit to local communities. Recreation on the Missouri River generates more than 10 times the revenue of the barge industry.
Hydropower
(Hydropower is clean. However, the resulting impacts of dams have segmented the Missouri River and therefore the migration of fish species including the endangered pallid sturgeon.)
Fish and Wildlife
(Fish and wildlife concerns should be our main priority over all other uses. The river is not healthy as long as the piping plover, the interior least tern and the pallid sturgeon are in jeopardy of becoming extinct. There are other species that may soon join this list if changes are not made in the Missouri River Authorized Purposes.)
There is also a place on the web site for other concerns. Here are just a couple:
We must address sedimentation. The Missouri River sediments are being locked up in the headwaters of the reservoirs. They need to continue downstream into the Mississippi River and into the gulf delta. We are loosing the delta and the delta is the main barrier between the wetlands and mainland of the gulf states and the gulf itself. We have all learned how this loss of protection can increase the devistation caused by hurricane strikes in these areas. Also, oil spills in the gulf drastically threaten the wetlands since this natural level of protection has been compromised.
We need to protect cultural and historic areas along the Missouri River. This is not really considered in the current authorized purposed.
Please add any comments that you are personally concerned about.
The web site is http://www.mraps.org/.
Thank you!
Jonathan Bry
North Dakota
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