Missouri River change stirs opposition

Aug. 22--For about a decade, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has wanted to call its responsibilities for flood control something different. However, some people aren't happy about the change.

The agency now refers to "flood risk management" as part of its improved system of adaptive management. That irks some people who think the main emphasis should be "flood control" rather than "flood risk management."

"Why has the Corps been changing the definition and wording of one of the eight authorized purposes from the Pick Sloan Act of 1944?" asked Ken Reeder, who is a voting member of the Corps' Missouri River committee and a St. Joseph resident living along the Missouri River. "The Corps claims it makes it easier for the taxpayer and the general public, whom are not capable and can't understand."

Reeder said folks understand perfectly and don't want the change.

"'Flood control' shouldn't be changed to the softer, nondescriptive 'flood risk management,'" Reeder said.

Another farmer also thinks the Corps has to stay focused on flood control.

"The goal must be flood control," said Tom Waters, a farmer and president of the Missouri River Levee and Drainage Districts Association. "The Corps says it's just a change in terminology, but it's a lot more than that. It means reducing risks for the federal government and not the farmers. They still haven't done enough to keep the Missouri River within its banks."

The Corps agrees that flood control is the priority of the 1944 Pick Sloan Act, said David Kolarik, a spokesman for the Corps Kansas City office.

But in reality, the word change and all it implies may have happened in the Corps' administration of the Missouri River.

"For all intents and purposes, I'm afraid the name change is a done deal, even though my constituents don't like it," said David Sieck, an Iowa farmer, state legislator and voting member of the Corps' Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee.

Flood control is the current priority in the $72 million repairs planned for the three levees on both sides of St. Joseph.

The repaired levees, when completed, would meet the needs to hold the river if a 100-year flood event were to occur, said John Grothaus, the Corps Chief of Plan Formulation at their Kansas City office.

Congressman Sam Graves agreed with Reeder and Waters, saying the terminology of flood risk management still isn't acceptable.

"Flood control must be the No. 1 priority on the Missouri River, not flood risk management," Graves said. "And navigation should be the No. 2 priority."

What the Corps is really trying to do is get in lock step with the Federal Emergency Management Agency so the government can take everyone's flood plain property, Reeder said.

So far, the agency has bought about 70,000 acres of land along the Missouri River bottoms from willing sellers, Waters said. But when you have flooding about eight out of 10 years, it seems like farmers are being forced to become willing sellers, he said.

Some of those farmers haven't become willing sellers. Instead, some landowners are suing the Corps for the illegal taking of their land.

The national law firm of Polsinelli, through its St. Joseph office, filed a lawsuit against the Corps claiming a violation of the U.S. Constitution's Fifth Amendment. Lawyers cited a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2012, which said, "government-induced flooding temporary in duration gains no automatic exemption from Takings Clause exception."

The lawsuit focuses on the Corps' decades-old policy of flood control, which encouraged businesses, farms and people to locate in flood plains with greatly reduced risks of flooding. This lawsuit claims the repeat flooding along the Missouri River is due to the evolving management policies of the Corps and is an unjust taking of private property.

An estimate of damages in excess of $250 million has been mentioned in the Missouri River lawsuit.

The local case against the Corps has a hearing with Federal Judge Nancy Firestone in Kansas City tentatively scheduled for the end of September. A trial may start in January 2017. Once the case is settled, the decisions may have an impact for years to come on how the Missouri River is handled.

The Corps is unable to comment due to the pending litigation, Kolarik said.

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