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<br />Midweek Focus w!:u: Basy E;~44
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<br />What Does Each Side Want?
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<br />Upst<eam States
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<br />Water should be dIverted from the M1SSOOri
<br />irrigatiOn and for development of energy projects.
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<br />RIver for agncul1ural
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<br />Downstream States
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<br />Only small amounts of water should be taken. The nver should nmtam
<br />deep enough for navigation. Fish and Wildlife should not be dlst~rbed,
<br />ClIi~s along the river should be assured plenty of water for dnnking,
<br />cooling power plams and other uses. .
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<br />Omaha Meeting to Seek Answers
<br />Missouri River Water: Everyone Wants It
<br />By Robert Don
<br />Worid-HerllJdSIIffWr1ler
<br />h was k.!\own as lh~ BIg Muddy. Cit.
<br />les along its banks feared spring noods
<br />Some folks jO,"oo lhat It was too thIck to
<br />drink and too thin to plow.
<br />That was the MISSQun Rtver of old
<br />The MIssouri RIVer of today IS a dif-
<br />ferentmatter.
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<br />Little flOOding occurs rn the spnng,
<br />The nver has been h.!lmessed by SIX
<br />huge dams construcl~ since the 19.105.
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<br />The argument is over the Missoun's
<br />water. Everybody wants it. And there
<br />mIght not be enoogh for e'lerybOOy, wa-
<br />fer speclahsts say.
<br />That is the backdrop for a meeting of
<br />representatIves of the 10 Missoun River
<br />BaSin states In Omaha Thursday. The
<br />Slates WI)) dISCUSS ways of allocating
<br />the Water
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<br />You don't hear as many jokes abOut
<br />the rIVer these days, Instead. It has be-
<br />come the focal point of an important
<br />Issue pitting some Missouri River BaSin
<br />statesagamslothers.
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<br />Generally, the states are divided mfo
<br />three groUpS:
<br />- Upstream states: Montana; Wyom-
<br />mg and the Dakotas.
<br />- Downstream stales: Nebraska,
<br />Iowa and Mlssoun,
<br />- Neutral states: Kansas. Colorado
<br />and Minnesota.
<br />The upstream stales want .to with-
<br />draw waler rrom the nver before it
<br />leaves their stales. They would like to
<br />dIvert the wafer through canals to irn-
<br />gate cropS. They want 10 sell the water
<br />to pnvate business which would -mix it
<br />with. crushed coal that would move in
<br />lhe form of slurry lhrough plpelmes,
<br />The downstream states are happy
<br />with the slarus quo. They want the river
<br />channel fa remain deep enough for
<br />barge trafrlc. They need lofS of water
<br />lo cool their river.;ide po'Ner plants and
<br />to supply muniCIpal "".ster for Omaha,
<br />Kansas City and many other towns and
<br />. cities.
<br />"We want [0 keep the Missouri River
<br />a river, not have it tum mto a drainage
<br />ditch," said BiJI Crews, MiS5Quri River
<br />coordmator and admmislrative as-
<br />.s.iStBntlo Iowa Gov, Robert Ray.
<br />The tngger for controversy In recent
<br />months was South Dakota's proposed
<br />waler sale to Energy Transportation
<br />Systems Inc., which plans to build a
<br />coal slurry Ime (rom Wyoming 10 Ar-
<br />kansas,
<br />Opponents have said the sale would
<br />sel a bad precedent. Nearly 80 other
<br />projects that would take welter froin
<br />the Missouri are on the drawing boards,
<br />they say.
<br />But officials: in upslream slates say
<br />the downstream states have been freed
<br />from the danger of flooding and have
<br />received most of the other benefns
<br />from lhe harneSSing o( the mer.
<br />Now, it IS their turn, they say. The
<br />1944 Flood Control ACt, which au.
<br />thorizeO lhe Pick.Sloan dams on the
<br />Missouri, also promised that f/:lrm Ini-
<br />gation projects would be constructed m
<br />the upstream states. tl1ey say..
<br />None of the Plck.Sloan irrigation pro-
<br />jects has been carried oul In Nonh Da-
<br />kota, said Vernon Fahy. Nann Dak.ota.
<br />Water CommIssion engineer. ."Not one
<br />acC1! has been irrigateO. h
<br />Crews said.he thinks there IS enough
<br />Water for some upstream projects..But
<br />he said he is reluctant to go along with
<br />"taxpayers subsidizing the consttuction
<br />o{ projects to imgate com that would
<br />compete with our (Iowa's) com."
<br />The interests of Kansas migtll seem
<br />!? lie wi,th Ihe do~stream slates..But
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