JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Reuters) — Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt has sued in Jefferson City federal court the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation in a bid to stop the construction of a water diversion project in North Dakota that the state claims would imperil Missouri River levels about 600 miles downstream in Missouri.
The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri on Tuesday alleges that the federal agency has violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by conducting a “flawed” analysis of the proposed Central North Dakota Water Supply Project that found its impacts on water needs and uses in Missouri would be insignificant.
