Governor Jay Nixon agrees with the Army Corps of Engineers on canceling the planned artificial spring rise on the Missouri River this past weekend, Missouri farmers still needed to be protected from the Corps’ planned spring rise for May. In a March 18th letter to Brigadier Geneneral William Rapp, commander of the Army Corps of Engineer's Northwestern Division, Nixon cites danger to farmers because many levees are not repaired from previous floods

In response to Nixon’s letter, the Corps cancelled the two-day rise scheduled for last weekend, which involves the release of water from upstream reservoirs, is based on the theory that the higher water levels will increase spawning of the pallid sturgeon, an endangered fish. Governor Nixon said. “While the cancellation of this first artificial rise is good news for Missouri farmers, our concerns are still very real about the planned rise in May.