Furthering his commitment to improving management of the Missouri River, U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-3) has offered an amendment to the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA) to require the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to incorporate existing public and private conservation acres along the Missouri River into its mitigation efforts.

“The government’s failure to include the vast existing state, federal and private conservation acres along the Missouri River in determining mitigation acreage goals is inefficient, misleading, and has led to the misallocation of resources,” Luetkemeyer said. “My amendment inserts some much needed common-sense into the Corps’ mitigation efforts along the Missouri, slowing down a federal land grab and saving taxpayers millions of dollars.”    

Currently, the Corps spends tens of millions of taxpayer dollars each year purchasing private land along the Missouri River. The amendment submitted by Luetkemeyer and co-sponsored by all five of his House Republican colleagues in the Missouri delegation would have the Corps maintain an inventory of all conservation acres along the Missouri and count them toward the current 166,750 acre goal.  The House of Representatives is expected to debate and amend WRRDA this week. 

This amendment expands upon an earlier successful effort by Luetkemeyer and U.S. Rep. Sam Graves (MO-6) to include language in the base text of WRRDA requiring the Corps to provide detailed information to Congress on mitigation efforts along the Missouri River including a  results-based, long-term management plan through the president’s annual budget justifications.

Luetkemeyer has a longstanding commitment to river issues.  Earlier this year, he established and currently co-chairs the Mississippi River Valley and Tributaries Caucus that serves the interests of constituents and stakeholders who live and work throughout the Mississippi River Valley and along its tributaries. Luetkemeyer also serves as the second vice president for the Mississippi Valley Flood Control Association and provides a critical voice on issues including flood control, bank stabilization, navigation and major drainage.