Missouri River/file photo By BRENT MARTINSt. Joseph PostA major piece of legislation that determines how the Army Corps of Engineers manages the Missouri River has passed the U.S. House.Northern Missouri Congressman Sam Graves, the top Republican on the House Transportation Committee, says part of the Water Resources Development Act limits the number of special habitat areas the Corps can build along the lower Missouri River for the endangered pallid sturgeon."They wanted to build 10 more on top of what they have already done," Graves tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. "And we have said, look, we're done spending money on this until you can actually prove that they work. So, we completely cut them off. We're going to allow two to be built and no more. If they can prove that they work, then we'll revisit that."Critics of what the Corps of Engineers calls Interception-Rearing Complexes say they negatively impact flood control and navigation on the Missouri River, which those same critics contend should be the top priorities of the Corps as it manages the river. The bill requires the federal government to count all mitigation lands along the Missouri River acquired with federal funds to be counted toward the Bank Stabilization and Navigation Fish and Wildlife Mitigation Project's goal of 166,000 acres.The act also lifts an expensive inspection requirement for local levee districts. Graves claims a requirement in federal regulation could force local levee districts to spend up to $100,000 to perform a drone inspection of their levees to ensure they are in compliance with Corps of Engineers regulations. The legislation would require the Corps to offset the expense of compliance.Graves says a provision allows the Corps to experiment with a program on the lower Missouri River basin that has reduced bank erosion upstream. Graves says efforts to stop erosion in the past have been a little too successful."Well, that creates a problem, because now less sediment is flowing through the river and that sediment used to be deposited on the river banks," according to Graves. "When you solve that problem, when we put less sediment in the river, now all of the sudden you have a problem, because the banks are eroding and it's getting worse and worse and worse, particularly on the lower Missouri River."The bill would allow the Corps to create a demonstration program based on a successful program used on the upper Missouri River.St. Joseph could benefit greatly from the bill.A provision in WRDA allocates $50 million for wastewater, water, and sewer projects in northern Missouri. Half of the total is designated to help St. Joseph comply with EPA mandates for its sewer system."The EPA continues to put new requirements and regulations on our waste treatment facilities and the citizens of St. Joe are paying more and more and more," Graves says. "In fact, it's gone up a huge amount since 2009. I think, sewer rates in St. Joe have tripled since 2009."Money also is provided for sewer and stormwater projects in Camden Point, Smithville, Excelsior Springs, and Hannibal.The provision still must be approved by the Senate and pass through the appropriation process.