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Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee to hold fall plenary session in Omaha, Nebraska

Published Nov. 15, 2019

 The Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee (MRRIC) will hold its fall plenary session Nov. 19-21, 2019 in Omaha, Neb.

“MRRIC continues to be an important forum for constructive dialogue and advice for the Missouri River Recovery Program”, said Gail Bingham, MRRIC Chair. “The challenges in making recommendations on management actions to benefit the endangered Pallid Sturgeon, Least Interior Tern and the Piping Plover that all interests represented on the Committee can live with are great—particularly with the large geographic scale of the Missouri River Basin, multiple interests in the Basin, and scientific uncertainties about the life cycle and needs of these species.”

The meeting will be at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Omaha Downtown Old Market beginning at 8 a.m., Tuesday, Nov. 19, and concluding at 12:30 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 21. 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.

Plenary sessions are open to members of the public wishing to observe, unless explicitly noted as in executive session. An opportunity is provided each day for 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. These public comment sessions are noted in the agenda.

Topics being discussed at this meeting include a draft, five-year strategic plan for the MRRP and scientific information related to the status of the species listed under the Endangered Species Act.

Preliminary analyses related to potential test flows from Ft. Peck Dam to benefit the endangered pallid sturgeon will be presented, as will USACE’s response to a review of the framework for these potential test flows by the Independent Scientific Advisory Panel (ISAP) to MRRIC and MRRP. New members of the ISAP will be introduced, and information will be provided on the Bank Stabilization and Navigation Project (BSNP) Mitigation Program. MRRIC work groups will provide reports on a variety of topics including highlights from recent scientific studies and MRRIC’s annual self-assessment process.

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/.


Release no. 19-132