By Kevin Lavery, KWMU
St. Louis – The Army Corps of Engineers held a public hearing in St. Louis Wednesday on its proposed annual operating plan for the Missouri River.
The controversial plan calls for two high water releases next spring from a dam in South Dakota.
Biologists say that's necessary to protect endangered species, but farmers and shippers say it will cause flooding.
Riverboat captain Bill Beacom thinks the Corps should go ahead with the plan - but only for one year.
"So I think it's a good deal because we can gather data by it," Beacom said. "I don't think that it's going to put the farmer in a risk position that's unacceptable. This amount of water is not enough water to start floods everywhere."
Beacom said he believes the artificial rises will ultimately prove that scientific data does not justify a need for more spring rises beyond 2006.