In an effort to correct one of their many mistakes on the upper Missour River, the US Army Corps of Engineers has throttled up releases from Lake Sakakawea to try to cover up the water shortages in the Oahe basin. As a result, we’ve got a very high river. So high, in fact, that it’s pretty much impossible to get out on the dock at Fox Island without getting wet! These guys don’t care, though; in fact, it’s a good way to stay cool on those last few hot days.

With the releases so high, there aren’t many sandbars remaining. That raises the question of protected habitat for the piping plover and other endangered species that nest on those sandbars. If the Corps could just come up with a decent equitable way of planning the Upper Missouri River management, they wouldn’t compound their problems so badly.