The Corps of Engineers will proceed with plans to reduce flow from an upper Missouri River reservoir, despite concerns that it will worsen low-water problems on the Mississippi River. The Corps expects to cut the flow from a South Dakota dam by about 40-percent starting sometime around November 23rd.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon, along with a barge industry trade group, has implored the Corps to rethink the plan, saying less water from the Missouri would lower the pool of the middle Mississippi, potentially stopping barge traffic.

Corps officials say they will use dredging and rock removal to keep the Mississippi open for as long as possible, but that the agency is obligated to act in the best interest of the Missouri River basin.