U.S. District Judge Charles Kornmann will have a hearing at 11 a.m. Wednesday in his Aberdeen, S.D. courtroom. 

"I expect the judge will issue a ruling that day," said Deputy Attorney General John Guhin, who is handling the lawsuit for South Dakota. "The judge is taking this as an emergency matter." 

The Attorney's General's office, on Friday April 26, asked the judge to stop the corps' plans to lower water levels 1.5 feet on the Oahe reservoir by May 15. Levels are already low because of a dry March and reduced snow runoff. 

	Val Hoeppner/Argus Leader Lake Oahe Reservoir shoreline rocks are evidence of current declining water level.

The state wants the corps to leave Oahe's levels stable until May 22 to protect the spring spawning season for rainbow smelt. Maintaining levels until then could produce the best spawn in five years, the Game, Fish and Parks Department said. 

Lowering levels, however, would expose the fish eggs to air, preventing them from hatching. Because walleye and other gamefish feed on smelt, that would deplete other fish populations and devastate South Dakota's multi-million dollar sport fishing industry, Janklow said. 

Guhin said he was amending South Dakota's complaint to include North Dakota and Montana reservoirs, which are facing similar problems. 

The corps has agreed to keep Oahe stable until the court hearing next week, said Rosemary Hargrave, a project manager in the corps' Omaha offices. She declined to discuss specifics of the case, but said the corps is following federal guidelines. 

Hargrave said Friday she had not heard about the amendment including reservoirs in North Dakota and Montana. 

Governor Janklow said Oahe's smelt population has been down for several years, dating back to massive releases of water by the corps in 1997. That year, Janklow said, the corp flushed a half-billion smelt out of Oahe. 

By 1999, the smelt population plunged to 47 million from 1 billion in 1996. With fewer smelt to feed on, walleye have been smaller. That has translated into less fishing and lost revenue for sport fishing and related industries. 

The corps, however, said it must adhere to what is called the Master Water Control Manual, which says the agency has to provide enough flows to maintain a shipping corridor downstream from South Dakota. 

"Right now, we believe we should be following the existing manual," Hargrave said. 

When last revised in 1979, the corps said navigation was among the primary uses of the river system. But Guhin said that today navigation downstream from South Dakota has only a fraction of the $17 million economic impact that fishing and boating have in the state.