Hoeven Meets with Corps Northwestern Division Commander to Ensure Corps Prevents Missouri River Flooding in ND

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven this week met with the Brigadier General D. Peter Helmlinger, the Northwestern Division Commander for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to discuss the Corps’ flood management plan for the Missouri River and to press the Corps to carefully monitor snowmelt and take actions to prevent flooding in North Dakota. General Helmlinger oversees the Corps’ Omaha District, along with four other districts.

“I met with Brigadier General Helmlinger, who leads the Northwest Division of the Corps, to ensure that the Corps is being proactive in releasing water to stay ahead of the threat of spring flooding,” said Hoeven. “The Corps is already dealing with the flooding downstream, but they need to be prepared upstream, as well. We have snowpack coming down, and there is always the possibility of a rain event, so the Corps need to take steps now to make sure that we don’t have flooding in the upper states.”

Last week, Hoeven spoke with Col. John Hudson, Commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Omaha District, and expressed concern that the Missouri River water level is already high in North Dakota. Hudson told Hoeven that Fort Peck, Lake Sakakawea and Lake Oahe all have adequate capacity to prevent flooding in the north. 

As a member of the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Committee, Hoeven worked to include a measure in the Fiscal Year 2019 Energy and Water funding bill that pressed the Corps to implement a soil moisture and snowpack monitoring program to help mitigate flooding along the Missouri River. 

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