Low River Levels Hurt Economy

  • Ft. Stevenson State Park Manager Dick Messerly stands near a wooden boat dock now left high and dry. This part of Lake Sakakawea has been dry since 2003.
    Ft. Stevenson State Park Manager Dick Messerly stands near a wooden boat dock now left high and dry. This part of Lake Sakakawea has been dry since 2003.
    (Photo courtesy of KWMU)

By Kevin Lavery

St. Louis, MO – Earlier this month, the state of Missouri failed to stop the Army Corps of Engineers from conducting a spring rise on the Missouri River. Environmentalists say the rise was needed to help the endangered pallid sturgeon. Missouri argued it would flood its cities and farms.

Kevin Lavery recently traveled to North Dakota to see the upstream side of the issue. In the first part of the series, Kevin Lavery explores how the river shapes the economy.