Missouri River Concerns | Video

Jessica Roose | 9/5/2012

With the devastation of last summer`s flood still fresh in the minds of many North Dakotans, Senator Hoeven and state officials want to make sure it doesn`t happen again. They held a meeting this morning with members of the Army Corps of Engineers. The Missouri River changed after the flood, and some sandbars now block the flow of the water in various areas, which could create problems in the winter.

You can still see the waterline on the trees at Ft. Lincoln, not far from where a discussion about the concerns of more flooding took place.

"We have issues obviously which are going to be very visible when we go over to the river here. The sandbar on the east side which is drain one, the main drain coming out of the city of Bismarck and on this side the mouth of heart river," Hoeven said.

Issues that will become more of a problem as the river starts to freeze and water can`t get through.

Governor Dalrymple says it should be the Army Corps of Engineers responsibility to manage the maintenance of the Missouri, not the states. However he`s going to recommend that they work together to address several areas of concern.

"Before the Corps can proceed according to their bureaucracy they need to have sedimentation studies done. Those studies can not be completed until early next year. That means that we`re stuck at the moment having to decide what we can do until those studies are completed."

For now, the state has submitted a permit to the corp to dredge a channel though one sandbar which is blocking flow to the main part of the river. Another permit is being put together for the heart river sandbar to identify possible dredging that could reduce potential flooding during the winter.

"The channel is not fully adjusted to post flood conditions here and it`s still adjusting and that`s one of our objectives of the study that we`re doing, is to determine whether or not this is a permanent condition or whether it is a transient condition," said John Remus with the Corps of Engineers.

That study will be completed by March of 2013.

The State Water Commission says there are not enough gauges in the river to measure the water level in various areas. They plan to purchase and install more at key points on the river, particularly in south Bismarck.

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