Good for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which last week rejected pressure from lawmakers and barge industry officials to release more water from upstream reservoirs on the Missouri River in order to help business interests downstream on the Mississippi River.
Corps officials said legislatively they are responsible for what happens to the Missouri River, regardless of those impacts on the Mississippi River. Lawmakers from Missouri and other downstream states were not happy with the Corps' decision, saying that the Corps would be held responsible if barge shipping on the Mississippi is slowed or shut down.
We do sympathize with the industry officials downstream. But they also need to know that there are countless business interests upstream, too, that depend on the reservoirs and river, and those interests should not be overlooked and trumped by downstream interests. As the Corps officials also pointed out, it is their duty to act in the best interest of the Missouri River, not the Mississippi River.
We're glad the Corps was not swayed by political pressure and guarded threats.