Laserfiche WebLink
<br />Mr. Chairman and Membel's of the Committee. ( thank you for the opportunity <br />to appear before you today and speak to an issue which I believe is of concern to <br />all of us. <br />I hereby submit to you this statement expressing extreme reservations about <br />the current mcmorandum of understanding between the Departments of Army and <br />Interior regarding marketing of water for industrial uses from the six main stem <br />Missouri River reservoirs. I would like to explain my concerns and doubts about <br />the memorandum, Further, I hope to explain why this important and complex issue <br />of allocation and use of Missouri River water is of such concern and interest to the <br />State of South Dakota. <br /> <br />South Dakota's Concern <br /> <br />Inasmuch as four of the main stem Missouri River dams are located in South <br />Dakota and some 32 million acre feet of storage are behind these dams, the State is <br />vitally concerned with the management and use of this water. I am told that at the <br />1970 level of depletions. some 21.8 million acre feet of water annually flows through <br />the State. This is a tremendous volume of water for a dry state such as South <br />Dakota. The management and future use of this great resource will directly affect <br />each and every person in South Dakota, The people of my State. as throughout <br />the upper Missouri River Basin, are very sensitive to any moves that may affect <br />the development and use of water from the Missouri River. Thus. we are quite <br />concerned upon learning of unilateral moves on the part of administrative depart- <br />ments in the Executive Branch of the federal government to significantly control <br />and manage the use of Missouri River water without consulting the states or re- <br />questing Congressional authorization. <br /> <br />Prior Actions <br /> <br />In order to understand our concern, one must recall some of the prior actions <br />on the part of the federal government and state government concerning development <br />of the Missouri River. In the early 1940's Congress directed the Corps of Engineers <br />and the Bureau of Reclamation to prepare comprehensive plans for the development of <br />water and related resources in the Missouri River Basin. Out of this planning came <br />what is known as the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program. The basic plans for the <br />main stem reservoirs and for the use of water for irrigation. for power generation. <br />for downstream navigation. and to reduce downstream floods was authorized in the <br />1944 Flood Control Act. <br /> <br />-1- <br />