Welcome to the U. S. Institute's Missouri River Authorized Purposes Study Situation Assessment Website!

This website will serve as an information source for U. S. Institute-sponsored activities related to the Missouri River Authorized Purposes Study (MRAPS). For additional information on the MRAPS Situation Assessment and the Study, please visit the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers site: http://www.mraps.org.

In the FY 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act, in particular, Section 108, Division C, Congress authorized and provided first year funding for a study of the Missouri River Projects in the Missouri River Basin to review the original project purposes based on the Flood Control Act of 1944, as amended, and other subsequent relevant legislation and judicial rulings to determine if changes to the authorized project purposes and existing Federal water resources infrastructure may be warranted:

Areas/issues to be addressed by the study include:

Flood Risk Prevention
Water Supply
Navigation
Recreation
Fish and Wildlife
Hydropower
Power Plants and Cooling Water
Irrigation
Cultural Resources
Social, economic and other impacts from construction of the main stem reservoir system
Ecosystem Restoration
Sedimentation
Future Development
Tribal Water Rights
Impact of climate change on the basins water supply
Economic and other costs and benefits

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has engaged the U.S. Institute of Environmental Conflict Resolution (USIECR) and the Osprey Group (Osprey) as neutral third parties to conduct an assessment of how the Corps can best design and implement consultation with Tribes and public involvement for the Missouri River Authorized Purposes Study. Cherie Shanteau-Wheeler, the U.S. Institute's Sr. Program Manager/Sr. Mediator will serve as the Program Manager for this project, and Gail Brooks will be the Program Associate.

The U.S. Institute is a federal program established in 1998 by the U.S. Congress to assist parties in resolving environmental, natural resource and public land conflicts. Since its creation, the U.S. Institute has been involved in hundreds of environmental issues around the country, For more information about the U.S. Institute, visit www.ecr.gov.

The U.S. Institute is a program of the Tucson-based Udall Foundation, an independent agency of the executive branch overseen by a board of trustees appointed by the President. The Udall Foundation was established in 1992 by Congress to honor the late Morris K. Udall's thirty years of service in the House of Representatives. For more information about the Udall Foundation, visit www.udall.gov.

U.S. Institute Contacts:

Cherie Shanteau-Wheeler
Sr. Mediator/Sr. Program Manager
520.901.8546
shanteau@ecr.gov

Gail Brooks
Program Associate
520.901.8532
brooks@ecr.gov

For comments or questions about this website, please contact: usiecr@ecr.gov. This page was last updated 1/12/2011.