By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Gov. Mike Parson says Missouri is battling Mother Nature as the state fights flooding from border to border.
Parson, in St. Joseph late Wednesday evening to tour flood damage, says there is virtually no part of the state which hasn’t been affected by flooding.
“You know, it’s just unfortunate right now. It just seems like we can’t get a break with the rain no matter where we’re at and it’s just a problem,” Parson tells St. Joseph Post. “Right now, we’re just trying to hold our own here in Missouri. We’re just fighting every day to try to make sure these levees stay in place and trying to sand bag all over the state right now.”
Missouri is battling the decisions of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as well.
Parson says he and fellow governors from Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa met Wednesday with Army Corps of Engineers officials about the current situation. He says all four expressed their concerns about the additional releases from Gavins Point Dam, but also are calling for greater input from the states on how the Corps manages the river.
The Corps this week increased releases from Gavins Point into the Missouri River to 70,000 cubic feet per second and plans to increase it to 75,000 on Saturday. Corps officials say the normal release at this time of year is 30,000 cfs.
Parson says he joined his fellow governors to call on the Corps to listen to the states when devising their Missouri River management plans.
“You know, the thing that I’ve said all along and I stressed again today, that the states need to have a seat at the table,” Parson says. “This is ridiculous when we’re not there when you’re talking about managing for all the states that were there, whether its Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri. For one entity to be managing the river and for the states to not have any input in that or any say in it, I mean a significant say in it, is something that needs to change. We need to be at the table.”
Parson says he reiterated his call for all four states to speak with one voice when discussing their concerns with the Corps of Engineers.
“We had that conversation today up there and I said it again, but here’s what I think, I think we need to develop a system on the Missouri River,” Parson says. “I think we need to recognize it as a system, as a federal system and I think that will help us long-term. Congress can do that and we’re going to be reaching out to our representatives, Congressmen and Senators, to try to see if they would do that. And I think there’s an opportunity maybe to try to get that done.”
After his meeting in Council Bluffs, Parson flew to St. Joseph to tour flood damage throughout the city as well as Buchanan County with state, county, and city officials. Parson says nearly all of Missouri is battling floodwaters.