Winona Daily News

I've been a citizen activist trying to protect and enhance the ecology of the Mississippi River for 30 years. For the past three years, I've participated with numerous federal, Minnesota and Wisconsin officials in the Water Level Management Task Force, which, among other projects, is discussing how the water level in Pool 5 can be temporarily drawn down for the betterment of fish and wildlife.

Pool 5 is that portion of the river impounded by Lock and Dam 5 near Minneiska, Minn.

There's precedent for such a project: Further downstream, Pool 8 was drawn down by 18 inches three years ago and the results were excellent: aquatic vegetation thrived, which helped fish and wildlife.

Simply put, a temporary drawdown mimics one of the prime natural conditions under which the Mississippi thrived before the locks and dams were built. Those structures keep the water at a high, unnatural level to create a 9-foot-deep navigation channel for barge traffic.

Unfortunately, the strongest player in our discussion group, the Army Corps of Engineers, continues to have a hard time thinking "outside the box" of its normal operating structure, which doesn't include drawdowns to help the river's ecology. And the Corps has severe difficulties actually operating outside of its 70-year-old routine for maintaining barge traffic.

The upper echelons of the Corps just don't get it. These failures in communications and a lack of sustained action by the Corps to benefit the environment have significantly contributed to the problems of the Mississippi.

It isn't just the Corps. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an environmentally-conscious agency that should be supportive of drawdowns, is afraid to stick its neck out and insist on a fair balance of resource allocation � that is, to balance the needs of fish, wildlife and recreation with the desires of the barge industry. Minnesota and Wisconsin officials recognize the Mississippi's problems, but have little money that can be spent on a river that, let's face it, really is managed as a barge canal by the Corps. River valley citizens are often confused as to who is in charge, and the ecological health of the river continues to decline.

The problem lies much deeper than the water level. The Mississippi provides a transportation system that is financed primarily by federal taxpayers. The main beneficiaries of this huge public subsidy are a handful of very profitable corporate barge owners, Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland among them. The amount of money these corporations spend lobbying for the continuance of this taxpayer-financed welfare, and on their ceaseless campaign to expand commercial navigation, would boggle the public's mind if, indeed, it could be accurately tracked.

This is not an argument against capitalism. However, it is simply unfair � and cruelly incongruous � for a few large corporations to benefit from the abuse of this marvelous piece of America while taxpayers foot the lion's share of the bill. This is a situation that demands a careful, informed judgment by everyone who cares about America's greatest river.

Of course, a temporary drawdown of water levels to aid fish and wildlife will not mend the Mississippi. Still, the attitude needed for a drawdown � an attitude that the river exists for more than just the barge industry's profits � should be a first step toward repairing the damage.

What can we do to make it happen?

First, answering that question should be a top priority for all of the government agencies involved in the river. It's not just for the Corps of Engineers to decide.

Second, it's ludicrous to suggest that the Corps expand the lock and dam system, as both it and the barge industry desire, in exchange for more taxpayers' monies to repair the existing and future environmental damage to the river's ecological system. Congress has failed for decades to adequately fund the existing environmental enhancement and restoration program on the river � why would the federal lawmakers start doing so in exchange for giving the Corps and barge industry what they want?

It is time for the federal government to stop spending huge amounts of public funds to benefit a few profitable corporations with good political contacts while giving only a kiss and a promise to improving the river's ecology. Congress needs accurate information, and strong citizen input, in order to make sound, long-term decisions on the river. Personally, I am drawn down in energy and drawn out of patience with the attitudes of the agencies that are supposed to be caring for the nation's greatest river.

Mike Kennedy has been called a "river watchdog" due to his involvement in various Mississippi River groups, starting with Citizens for a Clean Mississippi in the 1970s and including being a citizen member of the Water Level Management Task Force. Mike is the owner of Bird-Song.Com Inc., a Winona wild birding products retail store and e-commerce Web site that encourages wild bird viewing and interaction in order to educate the public on the environmental and habitat needs of our winged co-inhabitants of this beautiful river valley.

Guest views are opinions of the author and don't necessarily reflect the views of the Winona Daily News. They are published to stimulate thought and to provide an expanded forum on issues of local interest.

JOBS