Missouri River dams are toxic waste dumps

Mining residues from the Basin Creek area mines are pouring into the Boulder River. Add those tons of heavy metals to the other 530,000 square miles leaching contaminants into the Missouri River system.

The vision for irrigation development has not been met. The original Pick Sloan Missouri River Plan called for irrigating 5.4 million acres, and it was downsized to 3.8 million in 1958 and 2.9 million in 1986.

Why? Because it's cheaper to drill for pristine fossil water pumped from aquifers.

Studies are underway to determine potential problems associated with the application of agricultural pesticides, increased concentration of heavy metals in soils, water, plant and animal life, and industrial pollution. In direct connection with riverbed and bank erosion, deltas are forming at a considerable rate. Soil from the Missouri River is being deposited at the headwaters of reservoirs, where the water velocity is low. This silt load moved along with ease before the dams were built. But Lake Sakakawea's delta near Williston has increased from five to 11 feet between 1956 and 1988. Oahe delta sediment has accumulated at a rate of 14,665 acre-feet per year, raising the lake bed elevation from two to eight feet.

Canyon Ferry Reservoir is the first large impoundment for these elements:

In all, 38 bodies of water across the state have some type of fish consumption warning.

Nearly a century of residue from Black Hills Mining District affected millions of cubic yards of riparian habitat all the way to the Gulf of Mexico until the Oahe Dam was completed in 1962. The soils of the Belle Fourche and Cheyenne Rivers are inculcated with arsenic at levels that have killed cattle. Catfish and most other organisms cope with lethal levels of mercury.

When will spikes in human misery finally compel action on the failures of anthropogenic biomanipulation on the environment?

On the outbound trip, between Buffalo and Gillette (in a late-May whiteout snowstorm btw), Wyoming Public Radio ran Terry Gross' interview of South Park's creators who have recently scripted the Broadway show, The Book of Mormon. I peed my pants. These guys absolutely convinced me that Israel should be moved to Utah. 

Mark Trahant from indianz.com:

It’s critical for Indian Country to re-elect President Obama. We also need a Democratic-controlled Senate (if not House). An energized Indian Country could make a difference and decide the outcome in Alaska, Arizona, Montana, New Mexico, Wisconsin and Washington. This one voting bloc could be the difference in a Republican Senate and a Democratic one. The House Republican budget is a template for what that party would like to do to the federal budget. Its impact on Indian Country would be catastrophic.