JEFFERSON CITY, MO. ? U.S. Sen. Jean Carnahan has urged the Bush administration to release additional water from upstream dams into the Missouri River.

The Missouri Democrat expressed dismay Saturday at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision earlier this month that the Army Corps of Engineers the agency charged with managing the Missouri River’s flow cannot move two endangered shorebirds and their eggs to accommodate the release of additional water from two dams.

Speaking to reporters near Jefferson City’s Missouri River Bridge, Carnahan said Saturday that the decision would halt barge traffic along a 250-mile stretch of the river and would hamper local power plants that use its water.

“We need the administration to do its part” and “reverse its decision to prohibit releases from upstream dams,” she said.

However, Jane Ledwin, a biologist in the Columbia office of the Fish and Wildlife Service, said it was not clear that the two shorebirds piping plovers and least terns could be relocated successfully. She noted that piping plover chicks more than two days old can’t adapt to the stress of relocation.

Randy Asbury, executive director of the Coalition to Protect the Missouri River, which represents the barge industry, said 70 percent of the normal barge traffic had been taken off the river because of an anticipated lack of water. He said that without a compromise, navigation would cease completely by early September.

“We see no reason why the Fish and Wildlife Service cannot relent in their prior decision, and we urge them to make decisions that benefit all stakeholders, whether man or animal, in the fairest, most equitable manner possible,” Asbury said.

The corps operates a series of dams and reservoirs to keep water flowing straighter and deeper for barge shipments. The wildlife service administers the Endangered Species Act and has given the corps until 2003 to switch to a more seasonal ebb and flow.

Last month, the corps indefinitely postponed the release of its long-awaited management plan when it entered into informal talks with the service.

The service insists that a more natural flow, with heavier spring releases and less water in the summer, is required to protect endangered fish and birds by providing channels and sandbars for nesting and spawning.

Carnahan, however, said Saturday that heavier spring releases could result in flooding, while lower levels in the summer could halt barge traffic.

“Generations of families have worked hard, they’ve worked hard to build homes and communities on the firm land of the river valley, and these families have helped to feed the world,” Carnahan said. “They rely on sound flood control measures to protect both their investment and their communities.”