Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee to hold spring plenary session in Sioux Falls, South Dakota

The Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee (MRRIC) will hold its first plenary session of the year May 21-23 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

“The priority for this meeting is to seek consensus on recommendations for implementing the Spring Strategic Plan for the Missouri River Recovery Program”, said Gail Bingham, MRRIC Chair. “MRRIC also will have an opportunity to meet with Brig. Gen. D. Peter Helmlinger, Commander of the Northwestern Division U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Regional Director Noreen Walsh of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The committee also will learn about plans for a possible test flow from Ft. Peck and discuss a report to Congress on impacts of proposed projects in the lower basin called interception rearing complexes.”

The meeting will be at the Sheraton Sioux Falls Hotel and Convention Center beginning at 8 a.m., Tuesday, May 21, and concluding at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, May 23. The draft MRRIC meeting agenda can be found online at https://www.nwo.usace.army.mil/mrrp/mrric/. The MRRIC meets 2-3 times each year.

Some of the plenary sessions are open to members of the public wishing to address the committee and the lead federal agencies—the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; public sessions are noted in the agenda.

Congress authorized MRRIC in Section 5018 of the 2007 Water Resources Development Act. In July 2008, the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, John Paul Woodley, signed the Implementation Guidance for Section 5018 of WRDA 2007, thus approving the Charter for MRRIC and establishing the committee.

MRRIC is a 70-member committee comprised of stakeholders and representatives of tribal, state and federal governments throughout the Missouri River Basin. The committee provides recommendations to federal agencies on the current and future activities of the MRRP. The committee makes its substantive recommendations by consensus. The committee meets regularly at various locations throughout the Missouri River Basin.

For additional information regarding the MRRIC, please contact Ms. Gail Bingham, committee chair, by e-mail at mrric@usace.army.mil. Information about the Missouri River Recovery Program is available online at https://www.nwo.usace.army.mil/mrrp/.