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State, tribes battle feds over Sakakawea water rights

By   /  October 10, 2012  /  News, State Politics, Top Stories  /  No Comments

This image shows the reservoirs and open-river sections of the Missouri River.

The fight over water rights in North Dakota may be headed to court as state and tribal leaders battle the federal government for control of surplus water in the Missouri River and Lake Sakakawea. It’s an age-old conflict, but the stakes have risen considerably since the oil boom began. Gone is the era when availability […]

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Flood plan needs more storage, wider channels

By   /  April 11, 2012  /  Flood, Guest Op-Eds, Opinion  /  No Comments

Michael Melius

Since the flood of 2011 on the Missouri River, flood control has come to dominate the public discourse in the river basin, eclipsing the long-running debate about drought, about storing and releasing river water during prolonged dry periods. The ideas put forth for flood control, in terms of dam management, include increasing the flood storage […]

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Independent panel too timid to blame Corps for mistakes

By   /  January 5, 2012  /  Matt Bunk's Column, Opinion  /  No Comments

Matt Bunk

Rarely does a government audit or a review from an independent panel say blatantly that wrongdoing was committed by an agency under scrutiny, and the recent report on the Corps of Engineers’ response to the 2011 Missouri River flood was no exception. But a close study of the 99-page analysis by a group of “independent” […]

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Panel: Corps followed protocol, but changes needed

By   /  December 21, 2011  /  Bismarck News, Flood, News, Top Stories  /  1 Comment

(Photo by Matt Bunk) Brig. Gen. John McMahon, Col. Robert Ruch and Missouri River water chief Jody Farhat visited Bismarck last month for a public meeting to discuss the Corps of Engineers' flood-control plans for next spring.

The Corps of Engineers followed protocol during this spring’s flooding on the Missouri River, but the manual that guides the Corps’ decisions may require changes to ensure people and property are protected if similar weather patterns occur in the future. That was the conclusion of an independent panel of experts that was tasked to determine […]

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Gov. Dalrymple: State is stepping up to challenges in oil patch

By   /  December 17, 2011  /  InFocus, News, State Politics, Top Stories  /  1 Comment

(Photo by Melanie Kuntz, Melanie Sioux Photography) Gov. Jack Dalrymple discussed some of North Dakota's most pressing issues in an exclusive interview with the Great Plains Examiner.

Gov. Jack Dalrymple has led the state during a time of unprecedented economic growth. But that era also has been characterized by some of the biggest challenges in state history. This year, in particular, has been difficult for many North Dakotans. The oil boom in the western part of the state has caused a population […]

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Corps refuses additional flood protection; ND residents infuriated

By   /  November 2, 2011  /  Bismarck News, Flood, Mandan News, News, Top Stories  /  5 Comments

(Photo by Matt Bunk) Brig. Gen. John McMahon and Col. Robert Ruch, two top officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, told North Dakotans that the Missouri River management plan will not change next year, despite massive flooding this spring. The announcement came during the Corps' annual operating plan meeting Nov. 1 at the Ramkota Hotel in Bismarck.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers made it clear Tuesday night that they don’t plan to make any changes to the way they’ve been managing the Missouri River despite the flooding that caused billions of dollars in damage along the river corridor this year. North Dakota residents didn’t take the news very well. “I never […]

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Better soil management needed to avoid flooding

By   /  October 3, 2011  /  Letters to the Editor  /  No Comments

I appreciated encountering the August edition of the Great Plains Examiner, and the articles that were published on the floods this year. The management of surface runoff, particularly in a year like this one, is bound to fail because flooding and surface runoff are symptoms, not the cause. By focusing on the minutiae of Corps […]

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Corps refuses to disclose untold number of e-mails

By   /  August 5, 2011  /  Flood, News, Top Stories  /  2 Comments

This is an excerpt from the Corps of Engineers' response to the Great Plains Examiner's Freedom of Information Act request.

Last month, the Corps of Engineers turned over thousands of pages of e-mails sent and received by Missouri River water chief Jody Farhat, but the agency refused to turn over an untold number of messages that included “internal deliberations” between government officials about water-management operations during the months leading up to the flood. The Corps’ […]

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Farhat defends Corps after e-mails revealed warnings

By   /  August 5, 2011  /  Flood, News, Top Stories  /  3 Comments

(Photo by Matt Bunk) Col. Robert Ruch, Jody Farhat and Brig. Gen. John McMahon attended a flood meeting at Bismarck City Hall in late May.

Just more than a week after thousands of pages of her e-mails were published online, Jody Farhat, the Corps of Engineers’ chief water manager for the Missouri River, granted an interview to the Great Plains Examiner. Here is a partial transcript of that conversation. According to some news reports I’ve read, the Corps is saying that releasing […]

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Corps announces 2012 Missouri River plans; says no changes needed

By   /  July 29, 2011  /  Flood, News  /  4 Comments

Officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Friday they will cut back releases from Garrison Dam to 85,000 cubic feet per second by Aug. 17 and allow floodwater to recede into the Missouri River’s normal channel this fall. The Corps’ top officials for the Missouri River system also discussed flood-control plans for the […]

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