That’s why we will continue pressing the Corps to do everything it can to conserve water and to reduce flows out of Garrison Dam as much as possible
Continue pressing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conserve water in the upper Missouri River Basin and reduce flows out of Garrison Dam as much as possible.
Occurrences
Evidence
legacy_unverified · Source version not recorded · locator unknown
Hoeven's office said he had been working with USACE on Missouri River water levels, repeatedly pressing the Corps to reserve water, plan for continuing drought into 2027, and address low Lake Sakakawea levels. It said he was calling for all other possible fall and winter conservation measures and would keep pressing to reduce Garrison Dam flows as much as possible.
legacy_unverified · Source version not recorded · locator unknown
USACE reported low storage and well-below-average runoff in the Fort Peck and Garrison reaches, said Garrison releases would be reduced from 17,000 cfs to 13,000 cfs starting September 14, 2026, and said minimum-service navigation flow support would be shortened, with flow targets possibly missed to conserve water when no commercial navigation was present.
Assessments
The promise was an oversight commitment to keep pressing USACE to conserve upper Missouri River Basin water and reduce Garrison Dam flows as much as possible, not to enact legislation. Evidence from September 2026 shows Hoeven's office continuing that pressure in his current Senate term, specifically calling for fall and winter conservation measures and reduced Garrison Dam releases. USACE also reduced Garrison releases and adopted conservation-oriented operations during the same period, supporting that the requested agency action materially occurred, even if the agency source does not attribute causation solely to Hoeven.