DES MOINES -- An upcoming stakeholder meeting will help identify and prioritize problem areas along the Missouri River as part of a larger multi-state effort to address flooding in the lower Missouri River basin.
The meeting, to be held both in Nebraska City and online by the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources, will gather stakeholder feedback. Iowans are invited to attend. The Iowa DNR held meetings virtually in late July.
The meeting will be held in Nebraska City Aug. 26 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Lied Lodge and Conference Center, 2700 Sylvan Road. The online version of the meeting will be available via a WebEx meeting or by phone at 408-418-9388. Questions regarding the Nebraska meeting should be directed to Shuhai Zheng, Nebraska DNR, at 402-471-3936 or shuhai.zheng@nebraska.gov.
This effort is in response to near-historic levels in the Missouri River in 2019. The unprecedented amount of runoff resulted in the lower Missouri River staying above flood stage at multiple locations for nearly nine months, causing billions of dollars of damage to homes, businesses, agricultural production, levees and natural resources across five states, including Iowa.
Once problem areas have been identified by state partners and stakeholders, a set of criteria will be developed to rank and prioritize them. That prioritized list, along with any other relevant background information and ideas for potential solutions, will be provided to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for further analysis.
The information gathered and analysis completed will be documented in a flood risk management plan for the entire lower Missouri River, which can be used at the state and local level to help inform flood risk management decisions moving forward.
The project is a partnership between the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Kansas Water Office, and the Kansas City and Omaha districts of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.