Brownback names Missouri River panel

? Gov. Sam Brownback has named an advisory committee to help the administration assess future flooding issues in Kansas along the Missouri River.

The governor named the committee on Monday. He asked the committee for its input on a new annual operating plan the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will use to manage the river.

Brownback is one of several Midwestern governors and members of Congress who have criticized the corps’ management of the river this year. Heavy rains and snowmelt upstream on the river led to several months of flooding, including several communities in northeast Kansas.

Members of the advisory committee include Tracy Streeter, director of the Kansas Water Office, and numerous city and county government officials.