HAMBURG – Leo Ettleman of Responsible River Management is working to encourage flood control as the top priority for management of the Missouri River corridor.
Ettleman said the group has been continuously active trying to prevent re-occuring flooding.
They have tried to forge working relationships with the US Army Corps of Engineers, US Fish and Wildlife Service and numerous other stakeholders. He said they have also worked with the Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee, which has representatives of all seven states, as well as tribes and federal agencies.
Ettlemen: “One thing we have accomplished is we’ve hired an independent science advisory panel to oversee what the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Corps are doing. That’s been a big help.
Another thing we are doing, we’ve established a “human considerations” work group. There has never been any human considerations taken prior to this, so those were some big wins for us prior to the last three years.”
Ettleman: “Priority number one, flood control has got to be the dominate function of the Missouri River. All other authorized purposes should be below that. The Corps of Engineers needs to look at the forecast better. At this point, they do not county precipitation until it hits the ground. They are reactive, instead of proactive.”
