Editorial: Senator Has A 'Duh' Sort Of Fix For Missouri Water Woes

Years ago, during a heated conflict between river folks and environmentalists, a fake proposal to build a barge canal toward the West and over the mountains was circulated. Its purpose, if we recall correctly, was to accommodate the transportation of yak fat. The environmental critics fell into the trap and objected strenuously to the proposal. The objects of their endless criticism had the last laugh.

U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan (N.D.) has proposed in a letter to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Chief Lt. Gen. Carl Strock an idea that may be in the same "duh" category as the one involving the fake canal. Except, Dorgan is serious. He wants the Corps to buy out downstream barge businesses on the Missouri to resolve a long-running dispute over how river flows are managed.

The good senator already knows that his idea is laughable. Barge industry officials called it "absolute lunacy." Randy Asbury, director of the Coalition to Protect the Missouri River, said the proposal is "politics at its worst." Paul Rohde, president of Midwest Area River Coalition 2000, has taken the opportunity to suggest that such a buy-out would cost "billions." A Corps spokesman in Washington said he didn't know if the proposal had been received yet, but it would be taken under advisement.

Dorgan says, "I know it's a different approach, but I want them to look at all the options." Does he believe the Corps is an agency that doesn't consider all of the options?

Dorgan's proposal is not funny. It may be laughable, but it's not funny. It demonstrates that he and perhaps many of his colleagues do not understand the water resources development program of the United States and the broad-scale benefits derived from it.

A February 4 Associated Press article in the Kansas City Star quotes Dorgan as saying that the Corps is wasting tax dollars to support a "dying barge industry." He said that industry "has an $8 million annual economic impact, compared to the $80 million a year upstream states get from fishing and recreation." He apparently believes the barge industry is the only entity that uses water.

Certainly the Supreme Court decision that continues to give the Corps control over Missouri River water management reflects a better understanding of water resource benefits.

Four factors are at play in the Missouri River controversy scenario. One is that over the decades, through good water-availability and bad, environmentalists have been trying to halt barge transportation. A second is that at present we are experiencing drought that has hurt everyone. As Asbury said, "We're sharing the pain. It needs to be give-and-take, not take, take, take." Third, some upstream entities want all the water they can get and really don't want to share the pain. Finally, Missouri River tonnage figures are influenced to no small degree by the first three factors.

Some say environmental critics, particularly big organizations, don't care about endangered birds and fish. They use them as pawns in their campaign against the towing industry and the Corps. To keep money rolling in and membership up, they need controversy—at any cost. If these people really were concerned about the environment, they would embrace the towing industry as an environmentally friendly mode of transportation. It would also help improve highway safety. The environmental friendliness of barge transportation has been documented in great detail for decades by the Maritime Administration.

As for drought, Asbury is right. Everyone does suffer from it. The $80 million fishing and recreation industry that Dorgan wants to protect represents a drop in the bucket when all benefits are calculated. One of those benefits is the amount of water contributed to the Mississippi to enhance shipping from near St. Louis to the Gulf. South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds wants the Corps to hold back water this year and cut the towing season short. It would then be better next year, he said.

Tonnage fluctuates on the Missouri and is presently down. This is related directly to the absence of reliable flows. Whether unreliable flows are a product of natural conditions or the tactics of man doesn't matter. Without reliable flows, tows cannot operate efficiently. Without reliability, operators cannot get long-term transportation contracts.

Given "good water" and no outside interference, Missouri River barge transportation would seek its own level; it would rise or fall depending upon the demand for transportation. Given time, even container-on-barge service could be established. Most likely we will have to see the end of the drought first.

The Wall Street Journal has done an extensive piece on the crumbling transportation infrastructure in the U.S. Importantly, the newspaper supports proper maintenance and modernization of the inland waterway system. Its writers are not shortsighted. Population and transportation demands are on the rise.

The Wall Street Journal understands water resource benefits and the overall transportation picture. Doesn't Dorgan?

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