River supporters in Missouri, Illinois and Iowa are working together to get the kind of comprehensive flood control on the upper Mississippi River that has been used on the lower Mississippi for more than 85 years.
U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, met Friday with members of the Upper Mississippi, Illinois, Missouri River Association to announce the effort to “work regionally” on river issues. In a letter sent this week, Graves and four other members of Congress called on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to work on a comprehensive flood control plan and river management plan.
“We’ve got $250,000 that’s being appropriated,” Graves said.
He wants to get to the point where funding is closer to the $300 million a year that’s spent on the lower Mississippi.
Graves said one of the big problems now is that disparate funding levels are used in the upper basin and coordinating priorities for the betterment of the entire basin would be a better course of action.