Print edition: 
OMAHA — A meeting of Missouri River governors Monday, including Sam Brownback of Kansas, revealed significant disagreement between Montana and states farther downstream over flood control, even as federal officials warned the group that damage from this year's high water may make their states even more vulnerable next year.
Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer fought against a developing notion that flood control for states farther down the river should dominate how reservoirs are managed upstream.
He told governors of the downstream states that such a plan would lead to empty reservoirs in Montana, which are relied upon for recreation, wildlife and agriculture when a drought hits.
Schweitzer phoned into the Omaha conference in which governors from Iowa, Kansas, North Dakota and South Dakota took part. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon was in the meeting by phone, and Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead sent representatives.
The host, Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman, clashed several times with Schweitzer during the meeting.
Afterward, Heineman said that "the No. 1 thing we all agree to is flood control."
There was no unanimity on that topic during the meeting, however, after Schweitzer strongly challenged the notion of it as a priority.
Heineman and Schweitzer also clashed several times on whether Schweitzer was allowed to present data showing wild fluctuations in year-to-year water levels. The Montana governor alleged Heineman was not allowing its distribution, while Heineman told Schweitzer he should have attended in person.
"If you showed up here, you can bring all the damn data with you," Heineman told Schweitzer, who countered that he would not attend a "closed meeting" where reporters were not allowed.
The downstream governors, whose states saw historic Missouri River flooding this year, are trying to convince the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to make flood control the focus for the nation's longest river. The corps manages the 2,341-mile- long river, which flows from Montana through North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and Missouri.
Army Corps administrator Gen. John McMahon told the governors that it could cost $500 million to $1 billion to repair the system of levees, dams and other flood control systems damaged in this past year's flooding. He said Congress will need to appropriate the money and suggested the system could be modified greatly at that time to allow more controlled flooding as a way of preventing future breakthroughs.
McMahon also told the governors the full system won't be repaired by the time flood season strikes again in spring and will be "very vulnerable."
"It's going to be a dicey year," he said.
Heineman said after the meeting that the five governors who came in person agree flood management should be their top priority to avoid a repeat of the summer flooding that submerged thousands of acres of farmland, forced residents from their homes, and rerouted trains and motorists.
The five governors in Omaha presented reporters with a tentative proposal intended to limit next year's flood risk. The plan would have the corps lower the water elevation at Garrison Dam, north of Bismarck, N.D., by 2.5 feet.
Other downstream governors embraced that idea, although it was unclear whether such a move would impede repair efforts stymied in places by water that is still high.
