Missouri to ban water exports
On May 20, the Missouri state legislature passed a bill, Senate Bill 82, that would make it illegal to export any water from the state without a permit. Lawmakers talked about water scarcity in the western United States and raised concerns that states would tap Missouri’s water resources in any future drought.
The bill requires people to get a permit from the state Department of Natural Resources to export water and makes it illegal to export water with a pipeline farther than 30 miles from the state’s borders. Water exporters would be required to report the amount of water they withdrew and its use. If the governor declared a state of national emergency, the DNR could revoke or suspend the permits. Last year, a similar bill passed the state House but failed in the Senate.
Farm groups support
A coalition of Missouri farm groups strongly supported the bill, including the Missouri Cattlemen’s Association, the Missouri Soybean Association and the Missouri Farm Bureau. The Missouri Corn Growers Association supported it with some reservations about protecting the data of water users.
The Bullvine, an online publication serving the dairy industry, wrote, “Let’s be blunt: without water, your dairy operation is dead. Period. That’s why Missouri’s Senate Bill 82, which just passed both legislative chambers, should grab every dairy producer’s attention–whether you’re milking cows in the Show-Me State or managing herds halfway around the world.”
Pipeline concept believed to be a pipedream
During the recent severe drought that affected much of the Midwest from 2020 through 2021, an old idea was revived of using pipelines to send water from the Mississippi River or Missouri out west to parched or chronically water-short areas. While it provided entertaining social media fodder, most serious studies conclude that such plans are wildly expensive and impractical. But the idea pops up again during every drought.
“Those states are turning a thirsty eye to Missouri and other Midwestern states that are water rich in order to get some of that water and move it,” said Rep. Colin Wellenkamp, a Republican from St. Charles County—who is also the executive director of Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative, a coalition of cities and towns along the length of the Mississippi River. “That is a very real threat that this bill attempts to mitigate.”
Senate Bill 82 passed the House in March and is now headed to Gov. Mike Kehoe for final approval, who is likely to sign it. State Sen. Jamie Burger was a state representative at the time and sponsored both last year’s and this year’s bills.
David Murray can be reached at [email protected].
