MRRIC was authorized by Congress in Section 5018 of the 2007 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA). This authorization included a provision for MRRIC to provide guidance on a study of the Missouri River and its tributaries, known as the Missouri River Ecosystem Restoration Plan (MRERP). That study was suspended per the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2012 (Section 120).

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.

For more information on the Charter drafting process, please visit: https://projects.ecr.gov/moriver/.

MRRIC is exempt from the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA).

There are 16 different stakeholder interest groups with the possibility of having 2 primary seats; however, only 29 primary seats can be filled at any one time per the Charter to balance with the number of eligible tribes in the basin. The vacant primary seats rotate over time based on when members step down and what seats receive applications annually. Primary members are encouraged to nominate an alternate; however, they are not required to do so leaving that position unassigned.