Midwest Senators Seek Better Communications from Army Corps

A group of Midwest Senators is urging the Army Corps of Engineers to communicate better with lawmakers and stakeholders during flood events. Senators Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley of Iowa led the effort, along with Senators from Kansas, Missouri, and North and South Dakota. In a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers, the Senators describe issues with communications between the Corps and local levee sponsors and those in harm’s way. The Senators requested the Corps begin sending email updates to all local sponsors of Corps levees in the Missouri River Basin weekly starting within 30 days of receiving their letter. Better communications, the Senators say, “could have mitigated some of the damages,” during the beginning of ongoing flooding along the Missouri River this spring, according to the letter. During heightened flood events along the Missouri River, the Corps of Engineers hosts scheduled conference calls with stakeholders and media, sometimes daily, with the most recent call scheduled Tuesday (today). The Corps also generally provides a forecast for the Missouri River once every three weeks. During this spring, that forecast has been updated weekly.