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MO River water level raises concernsBISMARCK, N.D. (AP)--Sen. Bryon Dorgan, D-ND, says he wants to rewrite how the Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation handle emergency water shortages, the Bismarck Tribune reported. Dorgan, who is the new chairman of the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, led a meeting Feb. 20 with officials and residents of Missouri River communities worried about running out of water. "The fear and concern is alive and well," Jesse Taken Alive, a Standing Rock reservation resident, told the newspaper. People living in Fort Yates, on the Standing Rock reservation, were without water for several days in 2003 when silt plugged the city's water intake pipe. To the north, Parshall's intake has been lowered to protect the city's water supply. Falling water levels have also resulted in a decline in barge traffic on the Missouri River since the 1970s. North Dakota's Lake Sakakawea has reached record low levels in recent years because of prolonged drought in the Missouri River basin. The corps has predicted more of the same this year. The corps says Wakpala, S.D., is threatened with water problems this summer. Dorgan said the corps has been hamstrung by rules that make it difficult to step in and help with such things as extending water intakes or digging wells. "I hope to add authorization language to the appropriations bill this year," Dorgan said, according to the newspaper. "I want to give them the authority and some funding so both the corps and the Bureau of Reclamation are willing and able to participate in this fight." Dorgan also said a drought emergency declaration could free up federal money to help with emergency fixes to water systems. Parshall auditor Loren Hoffman said his community is frightened by corps predictions that it could lose its water source. Extending or moving the intake would be too costly, Hoffman said. "I hear that we'll squeak by, and I hope that's right," Hoffman said. "The city of Parshall will never be able to fix this problem on its own. We need help and we're asking for it today." Corps spokesman Erik Belchinger said the biggest factor is technical assistance. "And once again, that has to be requested," he said. "And we haven't had a whole lot of takers. Fort Yates was the one that took part in that particular effort." Terry Fleck, a member of the Friends of Sakakawea group, asked why the barge navigation season cannot be shortened more than it has been. Belchinger said the navigation season already has been shortened considerably. "The definition of extraordinary to you might be different than the definition of extraordinary to the lower basin states," he told Fleck. "Eight years of drought is extreme," Fleck said. "How many more meetings do we have, before you people get 'extreme?'" The water level in the Missouri River system is about 34 million acre-feet, more than 20 million acre-feet below normal, Dorgan said. An acre-foot is the amount of water that could cover an acre, one foot deep. "We're at rock-bottom now, and are just hoping to see if anything can be done," said Tolly Holtan, owner of the Indian Hills resort. "We're on our sixth boat ramp. We've been chasing water for 10 years. There's a mile between the store and the water now. We have no place else to go after this year." B 11 3/25/07 6 Star Midwest Ag Date: 3/21/07
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