U.S. Water News Online
ST. LOUIS -- President Bill Clinton has been asked to get involved in a dispute between Missouri and the federal government over the summertime flow of the Missouri River.
Gov. Mel Carnahan wrote to Clinton asking him to direct the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to ``re-evaluate its plan'' -- not yet made public -- aimed at helping three endangered species.
The Fish and Wildlife Service is recommending that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers seek to increase the flow of water out of dams on the Missouri River in the spring and decreasing it in the summer months.
Missouri officials feel they have been left out of the scientific debate over the plan. The state Department of Natural Resources said the science on which the plan is based is fundamentally flawed.
The wildlife service wants to change the river's flow to help protect two birds -- the least tern and the piping plover -- and a large fish called the pallid sturgeon.
The least tern and sturgeon are listed as endangered species and the plover is listed as threatened.
Changing the river's flow, Carnahan fears, would increase the risk of flooding in river communities, and damage river transportation and farm industries.
``Mr. President, it is vitally important to the residents of the state of Missouri as well as the entire Midwest that the service's plan be re-evaluated,'' he wrote.
State official have also argued against the change with the Corps of Engineers, which controls the dams on the river that would be used to change its flow.
A spokesman for American Rivers, an environmental group that is backing the plan, said he thinks Missouri officials are trying to derail the process.
``The state of Missouri hopes that George W. Bush beats Al Gore, and they hope they can persuade George W. Bush to ignore the needs of endangered species,'' said Scott Faber, director of policy for American Rivers. ``Basically, Governor Carnahan's plan is a plan designed to cause the extinction of three endangered species.''
Jerry Nachtigal, the governor's spokesman, dismissed that allegation, saying Carnahan supports Vice President Gore for president.
``The governor does not want to cause the extinction of any endangered animals. What he wants is a fair and equitable system of managing the Missouri River,'' Nachtigal said.
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