May 21, 2008 12:08 pm
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Getting reallocated water from Stockton and Table Rock lakes to benefit Southwest Missouri might be more difficult than first envisioned, members of the executive committee of the Tri-State Water Resource Coalition learned Wednesday.
Robert Nichols, chairman of the non-profit group, told the committee he participated in a conference call on Tuesday with a representative of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about the possibility of reallocating discretionary water from the lakes to water users in Southwest Missouri.
“The Corps representative was negative in a friendly way,’’ said Nichols. “He said it was next to impossible. He did say we could probably get help from the Corps in getting planning money for the state of Missouri.’’
Nichols said the Corps suggested that the best approach for the coalition would be the construction of a new reservoir, which the coalition also is exploring. A Texas consulting firm has been retained for $100,000 to begin a two-year study of possible reservoir sites in Southwest Missouri. Half of the funding for the study is coming from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
But Nichols noted that the Corps had not granted permission for the construction of a new reservoir in 15 years.
Nichols said the reallocation of discretionary water would be “a sizable task’’ for the coalition, but that it should not give up hope on the construction of pipelines to carry water from the lakes to Southwest Missouri. The reallocation process, he said, could take a minimum of five years if it is fast-tracked by the Corps.
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