“But after about thirty years of operation, as the environmentalist movement gained strength throughout the seventies and eighties, the Corps received a great deal of pressure to include some specific environmental concerns into their MWCM (Master Water Control Manual, the “bible” for the operation of the dam system). Preservation of habitat for at-risk bird and fish populations soon became a hot issue among the burgeoning environmental lobby. The pressure to satisfy the demands of these groups grew exponentially as politicians eagerly traded their common sense for “green” political support.
Things turned absurd from there. An idea to restore the nation’s rivers to a natural (pre-dam) state swept through the environmental movement and their allies. Adherents enlisted the aid of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), asking for an updated “Biological Opinion” from the FWS that would make ecosystem restoration an “authorized purpose” of the dam system. The Clinton administration threw its support behind the change, officially shifting the priorities of the Missouri River dam system from flood control, facilitation of commercial traffic, and recreation to habitat restoration, wetlands preservation, and culturally sensitive and sustainable biodiversity.”
http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/06/the_purposeful_flooding_of_americas_heartland.html
By 22 Feb 2011, the Corps of Engineers had stopped dam runoff release. The Corps’ decision, from what I have read, was subsurvient to environmental/EPA demands.
Koster’s suit.
http://ago.mo.gov/newsreleases/2009/Koster_attempts_to_stop_Missouri_River_diversion/
Search NEPA.
And here’s a piece of the puzzle, from the Corps: http://www.nwk.usace.army.mil/Flood/rehab2007/Brunswick-EA.pdf
Great links, thanks.
I am making use of them :)