Water Resources

The Missouri River basin, encompassing all of Nebraska and part of nine other North Central states, is experiencing its most severe drought since the 1930s. GAO reviewed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' management of the Missouri River reservoir system under drought conditions in 1988, 1989, and 1990. Acting consistently with its drought contingency plan, the Corps reduced winter release rates, shortened navigation seasons on the Missouri River, and reduced water levels in the navigation channel. As a result, 17 percent less water was released during the three-year period than would have been released under normal operating conditions. The drought and the Corps' response to it harmed all reservoir efforts save one--flood control. The Corps' contingency plan, however, relies on assumptions about the amount of water needed for navigation and irrigation made in 1944 that are no longer valid, and the plan does not reflect the current economic conditions in the Missouri River basin. The Corps' ongoing study of its operation of the reservoir system is expected to address these issues. The Corps insists that, unless Congress approves changes to existing operating priorities, it must continue to give recreation a lower operating priority than other authorized purposes even if this lower priority results in decreased system benefits. GAO sees no appropriate basis for the Corps' view. A lawsuit filed in federal court by three upper basin states questions the legality of the Corps' position on recreation.

GAO found that: (1) between 1988 and 1990, the Corps followed a drought contingency plan when releasing water from the reservoir system; (2) the plan reduced winter release rates, shortened navigation seasons on the Missouri River, reduced navigation channel water levels, and reduced the amount of water usually released under normal operating conditions by 17 percent; (3) the drought and the Corps' response to it adversely impacted all of the reservoirs' purposes except flood control; (4) the Corps' drought contingency plan did not reflect the Missouri River Basin's current economic condition, because the Corps based the plan on outdated, invalid assumptions regarding the amount of water needed for navigation and irrigation; (5) the Corps is reviewing its operation of the Missouri River reservoir system and updating the Missouri River Division's Master Manual; (6) the Corps believes that it must continue to give recreation a lower operating priority than other authorized purposes, even if this low priority results in decreased system benefits, unless it obtains congressional approval to change existing operating priorities; and (7) three states filed a federal lawsuit questioning whether the Corps' drought contingency plan conserved the reservoir's water and equitably distributed the negative impacts of the drought among all reservoir water users, particularly between the upper basin's recreation industries and the lower basin's navigation industry.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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