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River Politics: Overview
Back to River Politics main page. Visitors to Minneapolis's Mississippi riverfront often marvel at operations of the upper and lower "locks" at St. Anthony Falls—sections of river gated on both ends to control water flow, allowing boats between the gates to rise or lower in line with the river's changing elevation. But the locks at St. Anthony Falls are only the beginning of an enormous system—37 locks between Minneapolis and St. Louis, managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a civilian arm of the military. The entire Mississippi system, including several locks on the Illinois River, was designed to control the river and make navigation easier for commercial watercraft like barges hauling grain or coal.
This year, Congress will make decisions about the Corps that will shape the future of the Mississippi River and other waterways in Minnesota and across the country. These decisions encompass both old and new issues—the influence of special interest groups, accountability to taxpayers, and balances between economic growth and environmental conservation, between bureaucracy and efficiency. They will have far-reaching consequences that will affect how we understand and use our natural resources.
The Corps has a great impact on the nation's rivers, floodplains, and wetlands. For nearly 200 years, hundreds of the nation's most vital rivers—including the Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Columbia, and Rio Grande—have been dammed and altered by the Corps. The stated purposes of these projects range from controlling floods to supporting economic development. A number remain steeped in controversy, however, and new projects are being proposed despite the opposition of local residents, independent experts, and state agencies.
 The Corps is scheduled to complete its Upper Mississippi River and Illinois Waterway System Navigation Feasibility Study (Navigation Study) in 2004. The study, which focuses on proposed changes to structures in these rivers that could take 10 years and $2 billion to build, has become embroiled in disputes, fueling a national debate about whether the Corps' practices need to be reformed.
On one hand, the agribusiness and navigation industries claim that the nation's inland waterway system is in need of upgrading and, in its current state, is inhibiting U.S. farmers in competition with foreign counterparts. On the other hand, ordinary citizens concerned about conservation and government expenditures assert that there are more cost-effective and less environmentally damaging ways to modernize the navigation system without increasing environmental harm—and that advantages of foreign competitors are more closely tied to cheap land and labor costs abroad than to domestic transportation issues.
In 2000, an internal whistleblower revealed corrupt practices and flawed methodologies in the Navigation Study. Many independent experts substantiated these claims, as they uncovered additional problems. And public scrutiny of other Corps projects nationwide—projects that would cost taxpayers many hundreds of millions of dollars—have revealed additional incidents of flawed analyses. Members of Congress and nongovernmental organizations are creating their own forums to explore and discuss the Corps' operations.
Within this "Hot Issue" report, Framing the Issue provides highlights of the current disputes, lessons from other water projects across the country, and recent developments. News articles about prominent controversies during the last three years are included in the Links section.
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