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UNL water and natural resources tour looks at Missouri RiverNebraska The annual water and natural resources tour in July will focus on a variety of issues affecting northeast Nebraska and the Missouri River. The tour is July 18 to 20, beginning and ending in Lincoln. "Northeast Nebraska has some unique water and natural resources issues affecting small communities, tribal lands and threatened and endangered species, that the tour hasn't delved into previously. In addition, navigation, recreation, land use and a host of other issues continue to add to the mix of topics on how the Missouri River should be managed," said tour co-organizer Michael Jess, associate director of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Water Center. The tour leaves Lincoln for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Reservoir Control Center in Omaha, where operation of Missouri River main stem dams and reservoirs at Ft. Peck, Garrison, Oahe, Big Bend, Ft. Randall and Gavins Point will be explained. There also will be discussion on revisions to the Corps' master control manual for the river and the recently completed release of water for a spring rise on the river. Next stop is DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge near Blair for a look at wildlife and exhibits and a visit to the final resting place of the steamboat Bertrand, whose cargo was excavated in 1968 and is now displayed at the refuge. The tour continues north to Sioux City, Iowa, and a stop at the Sgt. Charles Floyd Monument and commentary on regional development by Sheldon Harrison of Siouxland Interstate Metropolitan Planning Council. Floyd was the only member of Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery to die during the 1804-1806 expedition across what is now the western United States. Overnight is in South Sioux City. On the second day the tour heads to the Missouri River near Vermillion, S.D., for discussion of the developing Lewis and Clark Rural Water System, which when finished will supply municipal water to more than 200,000 users in South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa. The project has been under development for more than 15 years. Lunch and a presentation on the Missouri River by Nebraska Game and Parks Commission personnel will be at Niobrara State Park, followed by an afternoon view of the river, by boat, upstream of Lewis and Clark Lake. Overnight is at Yankton, S.D. The final day of the tour begins with a view of the Missouri River and exhibits at the Corps of Engineers' visitor center at Gavins Point Dam. From there, Lewis and Clark Natural Resources District Director Tom Moser and Bill Kranz and Sue Lackey of UNL's Northeast Research and Extension Center will talk about a joint groundwater research and management project near Creighton. Lunch is in Norfolk before the tour concludes by late afternoon at UNL's East Campus. Registration is $425 per person single occupancy or $375 per person double occupancy and includes all food, motel and motor coach expenses. To register, contact Kearney Area Chamber of Commerce event coordinator Sara Rector at 800-652-9435. Registration deadline is July 1 and participation is limited to the first 50 registrants. Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District, Gateway Farm Expo, Kearney Area Chamber of Commerce, Nebraska Water Conference Council, Nebraska Association of Resource Districts, Nebraska Public Power District and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's School of Natural Resources and Water Center cosponsor the tour. Date: 6/22/06
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