Great Rivers Habitat Alliance S P R I N G
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P R E S E R V I N G T H E 1 0 0 -Y E A R C O N F L U E N C E F L O O D P L A I N S I N C E 2 0 0 0 | VOLUME 13, ISSUE 1
Floods Devastate Nebraska, Iowa, and Northwestern Missouri We all saw the pictures and read the stories of the terrible March floods along the Missouri River and its tributaries in America’s upper plains. As that disaster happened, many along the Mississippi River have been dealing with major flooding as well, with the potential for that river to turn into another disaster this Spring as the snowmelt from up north continues to make its way down the river. Unfortunately,
Great Rivers Habitat Alliance Active in Jefferson City Great Rivers Habitat Alliance Executive Director, David Stokes, has traveled to the Missouri Capitol Jefferson City several times this legislative session to educate state lawmakers about the benefits of smarter
the response to the flooding from too many politicians has been exactly the wrong one. Too many officials want to double-down on the failed policies of the past by expanding and enlarging the levee system along the rivers. The overwhelming scientific consensus is that an overreliance on levees has made flooding worse, and that combined with too much floodplain development and climate change,
this is precisely why we are experiencing major flooding far more frequently than in the past. GRHA has reached out to Missouri and Illinois elected officials in an effort to convince them that this is finally the time to change our planning and give the rivers room to connect to the natural floodplain. We will let you know when we hear back. (Our letter to our elected officials was written up in an April 15th article by Tony Messenger in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
floodplain policies. Stokes has supported House Bill 699 (HB 699), which gives authority to local governments to enact tighter floodplain development regulations and Senate Bill 108 (SB 108), which further restricts the use of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) within the floodplain. SB 108 has been passed by the State Senate and is currently being considered by the State House of Representatives as we go to print.
be held again at the Jones Visitors Center in Forest Park. We hope many of you will be able to join us for this event, which will begin at 1:00 p.m. with the keynote address at 6:00 p.m. (times are subject to change). This year’s keynote address will be given by Chad Pregracke, the founder of Living Lands and Waters, a group dedicated to cleaning the Mississippi River. We are grateful for our cosponsoring organizations this year, including Missouri Coalition for the Environment, Greenway Network, Sierra Club, Great Rivers Environmental Law Center, and Missouri Confluence Waterkeeper.
2nd Annual River Soundings Conference Scheduled
Last year, Great Rivers Habitat Alliance hosted our first River Soundings conference along with several other conservation and environmental groups. The conference, with a keynote address by John Barry, the best-selling author of Rising Tide, was a major success. We have scheduled the 2019 conference for Wednesday, June 26. It will
Donations Encouraged
If you would like to help Great Rivers Habitat Alliance in our opposition to the Port of Lincoln proposal as well as help support and achieve our other goals that we know are important to you, please visit our website at www.grha.org and donate today!