By AP/KWMU
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – A multi-state meeting on managing the Missouri River ended without consensus Monday.
South Dakota's Governor called the meeting, looking for changes in how and when water is released from northern states for downstream barges.
But a representative from Missouri said any change in the navigation season would affect contracts already signed for barge deliveries.
When upstream reservoirs are too low, the Corps of Engineers has to reduce the flow to the point that the river is too shallow for barges.
That move ends the barge season, and officials say it's almost certain that the water will reach those low levels in the summer of 2006 and probably in 2007, too.
Water levels in upstream storage reservoirs are currently at record lows.