A key Senate committee has agreed to review events that led up to this year's "epic" floods in the state and across the country.
Sens. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., and John Hoeven, R-N.D., said in a joint statement Thursday that the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works will conduct a hearing on Tuesday on the 2011 floods "and the conditions of the nation's flood control system."
"We need to get a better understanding of what caused this flooding and what more can be done to ensure it never occurs again," the senators said. "The committee will take a close look at the serious floods that occurred across the nation this year, including in both Minot and Bismarck/ Mandan."
Conrad and Hoeven joined other Missouri River Basin senators earlier this year in calling for a formal investigation into the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' management of the national flood control system.
That request went to Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who chairs the environment and public works committee, and to its ranking Republican member, Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma.
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Conrad and Hoeven expressed concern about management of the Missouri River in the period prior to unprecedented flooding in Bismarck and Mandan. They also have raised questions about the timeliness of warnings issued by the corps and the National Weather Service that Minot faced a serious flood.
Chuck Haga is a reporter
at the Grand Forks Herald, which is owned by
Forum Communications Co.
