Lower Ecosystem Initiative FINAL REPORT 1994-1998

Missouri River Manitou Bluffs Region, 142-198, Jefferson City to Boonville, MO

The Lower Missouri Initiative (LMREI) began in 1994 at the U S Geological Survey Columbia Environmental Research Center in Contents Columbia, Missouri The goal of the LMREI was to 2 Missouri River Basin partner with others to facilitate the transfer of 3 History Missouri River scientific data and other information 4 Lower River Channelizaiton needed by river management agencies and local, 5 Upper River state, and Federal decision makers 6 Ecological Results of River Control 8 1993 Midwest Objectives were to: 9 National Ecosystem Initiatives 1) develop partnerships to facilitate communication 10 Lower Missouri River Ecosystem Initiative and cooperation among agencies and the public, (LMREI) 2) create an information clearinghouse to serve as 11 LMREI Information Clearinghouse an access point for data and information, 12 LMREI Partnerships 3) house a geographic information system (GIS) lab 13 LMREI Spatial Analysis to transform data into maps for landscape-scale 17 LMREI Monitoring and Research resource analysis, 19 The Future 4) assist in river monitoring and research projects 20 Acronyms & References

Published by: In 1998, the original LMREI ended Through USGS Columbia Environmental Research Center additional partners, LMREI expanded its focus and 4200 New Haven Road, Columbia, MO 65201 was transformed into the Missouri River InfoLINK 573-875-5399 http://www4cerc4cr4usgs4gov December 1998 FINAL REPORT Lower Missouri River Ecosystem Initiative Page 1 Missouri River Basin

Shaded areas designate location of Indian Tribes

The Missouri River basin drains Precipitation in the basin varies one-sixth of the and from an annual mean of 40 inches in encompasses 529,350 square miles the southeast interior highlands of the with 9,700 square miles in Canada% It Missouri to 10 inches in areas flows 2,341 miles from its headwaters of the dry upland plains of North and at the of the Gallatin, , , and Mon- Madison, and Jefferson in the tana% Precipitation deviates widely mountains above Three Forks, within each of the physiographic , to its confluence with the divisions of the basin% just north of St% Louis, Missouri% The basin is home to a total population of 10 million people from 28 Native American tribes, 10 states (Colorado, , , Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, , , South Dakota, and Wyoming), and a small part of Canada%

Page 2 FINAL REPORT Lower Missouri River Ecosystem Initiative History

Elevation drops from 4,050 feet control the river’s unpredictable above sea level in the Rocky Moun- and its rich alluvial flood plain for tains to 380 feet at the confluence transportation, farming, and urban with the Mississippi in St% Louis, development% In the 1940’s the Pick/ Missouri% Sloan Plan (1944 Act) A century ago, the Missouri River and the Missouri River Bank Stabiliza- supported one of ’s tion and Navigation Project were most diverse ecosystems with abun- created by the U%S% Army Corps dant braided channels, riparian lands, of Engineers and the Bureau of chutes, sloughs, , sandbars, Reclamation% The two programs backwater areas and natural flood transformed the free-flowing river plain communities% These riverine and into a system of reservoirs flood plain were maintained and highly altered riverine reaches by a dynamic equilibrium of continu- influenced by regulated flows, self- ous bank and , channelization, and bank stabilization% which constantly reshaped the In addition to the main stem and flood plain%9 modifications, the river is influenced by an extensive reservoir system in The Missouri River is the large basins of the Platte, 2,341 miles long and Kansas, and Osage Rivers; channel- flows through 7 states ization of flood plain ; and along the lower river and and a portion of major tributaries% Not until the late Canada Its watershed 20th century were these actions drains one-sixth of the recognized as having damaged the United States river’s ecosystem%

The river carried a high load, thus earning the nickname “Big Muddy,” and had a propensity for flooding and changing the location of its channel% Typical river flows rose throughout the from rain and melting snow runoff, first from the and in late June from the % Flows declined throughout the summer and fall, reaching their low point in late December%9 As European settlement of the Missouri River basin increased in the 19th century, people began attempts to

FINAL REPORT Lower Missouri River Ecosystem Initiative Page 3 Lower River Channelization

Plans began by the late 1800’s to Indian Cave Bend, Nebraska solve the problems associated with bank erosion and while increasing viability of navigation on the river% The goal of the Missouri River Bank Stabilization and Navigation Project was to create one stabilized channel from the numerous small 1934 channels of the natural river% The plan entailed concentrating the water flow The wide natural river channel before channelization with and shaping it in smooth easy bends sandbars, shallow water, and riparian vegetation so that the energy of the flowing water scoured out a deeper, more efficient channel%1

Water Flow

Convex Dike

Revetment L Head Dike Crossing Control Structure 1935 Kicker Structure Concave Dike

Sediment collects behind wing dikes The constricted river Underwater Sills washes away sandbars and eliminates shallow water  The Rivers and Harbors Acts of 1912, 1917, 1925, 1927, 1930, 1935, and 1945 each affirmed the desire of the flood plain occupants, the basin’s elected officials, and the Federal government to harness the natural river for navigation and flood control%1 1946 Officially completed in 1981, 735 miles of the Missouri River from Land accreted behind the wing dikes is City, Iowa, to St% Louis, Missouri colonized by forest communities were channelized or stabilized%5

1977

Forests are removed and accreted land is farmed

Page 4 FINAL REPORT Lower Missouri River Ecosystem Initiative Upper River Dams

The Missouri River main stem reservoir system, completed in 1967, is the largest system of reservoirs in the United States with a storage capacity of 74 million acre-feet and a surface area of one million acres% The ratio of reservoir storage to annual runoff in this drainage is 3%1 acre-feet of storage for each acre-foot of natural runoff% Six dams were built in the upper basin states of Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota, submerging about a The Missouri River reservoirs are the largest in the United States third of the former river under This graph demonstrates the relative water storage capacity of all permanent pools% Corps dams The original plan was to collect and store snow runoff and spring rains in the reservoirs to prevent flooding and to provide water for irrigation in the dry upper basin states% Though the irrigation use was never fulfilled, the reservoirs became a source of recreational income for the upper states% Consistent water flow from the dams provides hydropower, navigation, and water supply for municipal and industrial uses downstream% on Francis Case in South Dakota

Between 1933 and 1967 six dams were built on the upper river: • Fort Peck • Garrison • Oahe • Big Bend • Fort Randall • Gavins Point

FINAL REPORT Lower Missouri River Ecosystem Initiative Page 5 Ecological Results of

The Missouri River is now DAMS and RESERVOIRS considered one of the most highly • Converted riverine and flood plain engineered rivers in the country% aquatic and wetland habitats to Damage to the ecosystem has deep water habitats% occurred as a result of changes made by flow regulation, dams and • Interrupted sediment and organic reservoirs, and channelization% material transport, resulting in reduced turbidity, increased bed RIVER FLOW degradation, and reduced sandbar Flow Regime at Changes to water flow, especially formation downstream of dams% Omaha, Nebraska the suppression of the spring flood • Blocked upstream and down- pulse, has: fish movements to spawn- • Caused loss of spawning cues ing or foraging areas% (i%e%, warmwater coupled with river • Created unsuitable temperatures stage increases) that triggered for native warmwater fish spawn- spawning activity in native river ing and development due to fish% Natural Missouri River bottom releases from some dams% • Reduced productivity in the upper • Degraded the river bed in the river reaches due to altered tailwaters below dams compound- nutrient transport and cycling% ing the effects of the loss of high The historical flows introduced spring flows for recharging detritus and other carbon sources wetlands and other produced on the flood plain and off-channel habitats% in off-channel wetlands to the river% Such materials are the basis • Reduced formation of high of the food chain and energy flow Altered Missouri River elevation sandbar habitat in in large, temperate rivers% Hydrograph unchannelized reaches below dams% Vegetation encroachment • Prevented seasonal fish and of remaining high elevation bars wildlife access to remaining off- has resulted from loss of sedi- channel backwaters and wetlands% ment and scouring flows associa- Seasonally inundated backwaters tion with the natural spring flood and wetlands provide spawning, pulse%9 nursery, and feeding areas for fish and important feeding and breeding habitat for migratory birds and furbearers%9

Page 6 FINAL REPORT Lower Missouri River Ecosystem Initiative River Control

CHANNELIZATION From bluff to bluff, the river flood plain below Sioux City, Iowa, covers 1%9 million acres% Historically, the river meandered across more than one-fourth of this flood plain acreage% This “ belt” contained a variety of fish and wildlife habitats including wetlands, sandbars, wet , and bottomland forests% Seasonal provided the water needed to replenish shallow-water • Converted nearly 67,000 acres habitats used for fish and wildlife of riverine habitat into primarily breeding and growth% Channelizing privately owned and leveed More than half of and stabilizing the river: 9 agricultural land% the historical natural • Resulted in the loss of roughly • Isolated any remaining wetlands channel and meander 168,000 acres of natural channel, from the river and reduced belt have been lost 354,000 acres of meander belt organic matter inputs needed for as a result of habitat, and 50% of the river’s fish and wildlife by building levees 9 channelization surface area% adjacent to the river for protection from floods% This is the area most • Resulted in the loss of shallow- crucial for fish and water habitat (0-5-foot depths) The damage to fish and wildlife by up to 90% in some river habitat was acknowledged in 1986 wildlife habitat reaches and virtually eliminated when the Corps was authorized to sandbars and islands, oxbows implement the Missouri River Fish and and backwaters%9 Wildlife Mitigation Project The goal of the project is to acquire and restore • Reduced flood plain forest 28,000 acres in Iowa, Kansas, Mis- coverage from 76% in the 19th souri, and Nebraska% This equals century to 13% by 1972, while approximately 5% of the habitat lost increasing cultivated lands from as a result of the Missouri River Bank 18% to 83%%4 Stabilization and Navigation Project%

Open water

Bushes

Sandbars

Willows 1879 1978

Loss of habitat over 100 years at Lisbon Bottom, river mile 211-219

FINAL REPORT Lower Missouri River Ecosystem Initiative Page 7 The 1993 Midwest Flood

Management Review Committee to assess the causes and consequences of the flood and to evaluate the performance of existing flood plain watershed management programs%4 The Review Committee published Sharing the Challenge: Manage- ment into the 21st Century (Sharing the Challenge) in June 1994% Because it had been clear for many years that incomplete and inconsistent collection of data is a Jefferson City, Missouri’s The 1993 Midwest Flood was a severe handicap to developing policy state capital, during the hydrometeorological event without for flood plain management,5 the cresting waters of the 1993 precedence in modern times% In terms Scientific Assessment and Strategy Midwest Flood of precipitation amounts, record river Team (SAST) was established as part levels, flood duration, area of flood- of the Review Committee% The SAST ing, and economic losses, it surpassed developed a major database of flood all previous floods in the United and basin information at the USGS States% During the period from June to Earth Resources Observation Systems (EROS) Data Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota%4 Sharing the Challenge recommended establishing a clearinghouse to provide Federal, state, and local decision makers the information gathered as a result of the flood%4 It also suggested “exploiting science and technology to September 1993, record precipitation support monitoring, analysis, model- fell on soil already saturated by ing, and the development of decision previous seasonal rainfall and spring support systems and geographic snowmelt, resulting in flooding along information systems (GIS) for flood major rivers and tributaries in the plain activities%” The pioneering nature basin%4 of the SAST effort, and the subse- Following the flood, the quent use of its products, initiated a President’s Executive Office created scientific foundation for Missouri a Federal Interagency Flood Plain River management decisions%5

Page 8 FINAL REPORT Lower Missouri River Ecosystem Initiative National Ecosystem Initiatives

The Lower Missouri River reduction, navigation, private lands, Ecosystem Initiative (LMREI) water quality, and watershed programs provided a vehicle for fulfilling the of other agencies%”4 scientific information exchange The LMREI is located at the recommended in Sharing the Challenge Columbia Environmental Research (see previous page)% The LMREI Center (CERC) in Columbia, Missouri, was one of 12 ecosystem initiatives one of four research centers in the selected through a competitive process central region of the USGS-BRD% The mission of the by the National Biological Service The CERC has a national mission of USGS-Biological (now the U%S% Geological Survey, conducting environmental contami- Resources Division Biological Resources Division, nants research and a regional mission is to work with others USGS-BRD)% of conducting ecosystem science for to provide scientific The initiatives were created in large rivers and other ecosystems% The understanding and response to the critical need of LMREI is administered by the CERC technologies needed assessing the condition of important Ecogeography Branch and is located to support the ecosystems% The overall goal was to in the Environmental Technology management and provide information, oversight, and Center% conservation of our coordination that promote a scientifi- The CERC’s 33-acre facility Nation’s biological cally broad understanding of the includes a 26,000 sq% ft% building resources and biological condition in an ecosystem% with a wet laboratory; 37,000 sq% ft% to make the data Sharing the Challenge confirmed the of peripheral buildings devoted to and information need for understanding natural aquatic ecology, toxicology, analytical easily accessible resources as ecosystems: “Ecosystem chemistry, landscape analysis, fish to all people; information is critical for setting culture, library sciences, and confer- resource management objectives, ence facilities; 36 small used examining alternatives within multiple- for investigating relationships between use planning, and implementing organisms in freshwater habitats; and solutions% Additional uses of this 3 artificial for studying plant information include scientifically and animal communities in flowing sound input to ongoing flood damage waters%

USGS Columbia Environmental Research Center, Columbia, Missouri, home to the Lower Missouri River Ecosystem Initiative

FINAL REPORT Lower Missouri River Ecosystem Initiative Page 9 Lower Missouri River Ecosystem Initiative

The goal of the Lower Missouri River Ecosystem Initiative (LMREI) is to partner with others to facilitate the transfer of Missouri River scientific data and other information needed by river management agencies and local, state, and Federal decision makers%

The Lower Missouri River was selected because of the: • Extent of environmental alteration from channelization and resulting effects on ecological processes% • National importance of the Missouri River ecosystem% • Impact of flooding on citizens, wildlife, and the economy% • Need to integrate interstate management efforts% • Desire to view ecological processes at landscape scales as demonstrated in the products generated by the Scientific Assessment and Strategy Team%

For the past 4 years, the LMREI has provided the following services:

Information Clearinghouse Serving as a collator of and access point for data and information%

Partnerships Facilitating communication and cooperation among agencies and the public%

Spatial Analysis Providing geographic information system (GIS) data for landscape- scale resource analysis%

Monitoring and Research Assisting with the identification of biological monitoring needs and providing supplemental funding in support of research projects related to the river%

Interior

Page 10 FINAL REPORT Lower Missouri River Ecosystem Initiative LMREI ACCOMPLISHMENTS INFORMATION CLEARINGHOUSE Homepage Links Proposed Future • State, Federal and local partners Activities: involved in Missouri River natural Information Serving as a resource issues% Clearinghouse collator of and • Biological data including fish and access point bird listings, a benthic invertebrate • Continue and for data and database, and the Missouri River expand information Natural Resources Bibliography information on on the Missouri River • Maps of spatial data including homepage and the the Missouri River data collected by the SAST on the bibliography through 1993 Midwest Flood, an 1879 land the Missouri River cover map from Yankton, South InfoLINK% Dakota to St% Louis, Missouri, and Missouri River levees% • Publish a compre- The Missouri River Natural • Real time of water hensive State of the Resources Bibliography stages from the Corps of Engi- Missouri River report neers and USGS% The LMREI identified and listed to be updated periodi- • CERC’s Global Positioning biological information on the river in a cally and provide the System (GPS) Base Station for use comprehensive Missouri River Natural most scientific in accurately mapping and deter- Resources Bibliography with a keyword information available mining locations along the river% index% It contains over 2200 basinwide on the river for use by • Missouri River events and related listings% Federal, state, and points of interest% local decision makers% Missouri River Homepage To serve as an information clearinghouse for biological informa- tion on the Missouri River, the LMREI created a Missouri River homepage located at the Columbia Environmental Research Center:

Missouri River InfoLINK Internet homepage:

http://infolinkcrusgsgov

The InfoLINK web page interactive maps provide a visual perspective of Missouri River basin information

FINAL REPORT Lower Missouri River Ecosystem Initiative Page 11 interests to share new scientific PARTNERSHIPS research on the Missouri River and discuss management concerns% Co-hosts of the conference were the Facilitating Missouri River Natural Resources Committee, Missouri River Basin communication & Association, Columbia Environmental cooperation among Research Center, and Missouri agencies & the Department of Conservation)% Other public to share cooperators in the conference in- information about cluded the U%S% Environmental Protection Agency, Missouri Depart- the river ment of Natural Resources, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Missouri Chapter of the American Fisheries Society% The Lower Missouri River Ecosystem Initiative (LMREI) cooperates with Missouri Resource other agencies and the public to Assessment Partnership integrate scientific information with The Missouri Resource Assess- coordinated management of the ment Partnership (MoRAP) is a Missouri River% It provides expertise, collaborative initiative involving nine funds, and equipment to help a variety state and Federal agencies and the of river projects and fosters commu- University of Missouri-Columbia% Its nication among all river interests% goal is to develop, analyze, and disseminate high-quality natural Missouri River Conference resource information at the lowest Over 200 people attended the cost so each partner agency can meet 1st Annual Conference on the its own goals for natural resource Natural Resources of the management% MoRAP is co-located Missouri River Basin held at the CERC% January 14-16, 1997 in The LMREI coordinates with Columbia, Missouri% MoRAP by sharing equipment in the This basinwide CERC Environmental Technology conference was Center’s GIS lab, serving on MoRAP organized by the technical committees, and developing LMREI to bring and sharing GIS layers such as land together diverse public cover, stream networks, and historical and private river vegetation of the Missouri River%

Page 12 FINAL REPORT Lower Missouri River Ecosystem Initiative LMREI ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Missouri River Natural The LMREI provided GIS Proposed Future Resources Committee analysis and support by creating land Activities: The Missouri River Natural cover maps for the Big Muddy Partnerships Resources Committee (MRNRC) was Refuge’s Environmental Impact Statement, established in 1988 to seek a system digitizing Big Muddy Refuge lands • Continued approach to managing the natural into a public land ownership layer and co-sponsorship resources of the Missouri River; to researching the biological significance of the Annual promote preservation, conservation, of a new chute at Lisbon Bottom, the Conferences on the and enhancement of the natural and first such occurrence in the Kansas Natural Resources recreational resources of the Missouri City to St% Louis reach in several of the Missouri River River and its flood plain; and to decades (see p% 18)% with the Missouri provide coordinated recommendations River Natural to appropriate agencies% It consists of Environmental Management Resources representatives from the seven state Technical Center (EMTC) & Committee and fish and wildlife management agencies Midcontinent Ecological other organizations% along the Missouri River (Iowa, Science Center (MESC) Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, LMREI helped fund EMTC and • Continuation and North Dakota, and South Dakota) and MESC’s development of Metamaker, a expansion of ex-officio members from the Corps software application designed to partnerships of Engineers, Fish and Wildlife capture information about metadata% including those Service, Western Area Power Adminis- Metadata consists of the data, pro- with the USFWS tration, and the Bureau of Reclama- cesses, and quality controls used in the Big Muddy National tion%8 The LMREI coordinated and development of scientific research, Fish and Wildlife assisted in the development of the monitoring, or mapping% It provides a Refuge and the Missouri River Environmental Assessment history of the process and helps Missouri Resource Program, a comprehensive monitoring evaluate the usefulness of the infor- Assessment Part- plan for the river (page 17)% mation% The Federal Geographic Data nerships% Committee implemented standards for Big Muddy National Fish metadata and required Federal agen- • Official designation and Wildlife Refuge cies to follow the standards% of the Ecosystem Of the over 500 national U%S% Fish Initiative as a and Wildlife Service (USFWS) refuges, Other Cooperators basinwide effort one of the newest is the Big Muddy The LMREI also coordinates by recognizing that National Fish and Wildlife Refuge activities with the U%S% Army Corps information gener- which was established on September of Engineers; U%S% Fish and Wildlife ated and partner- 9, 1994% Its purpose is to address the Service, Regions 3 and 6; U%S% Envi- ships developed public need to preserve and restore ronmental Protection Agency, Regions already include the the river flood plain, manage fish and 7 and 8; and U%S% Natural Resources upper basin% wildlife habitats, and provide for Conservation Service% wildlife-dependent recreation% The Big Muddy headquarters is co-located at the CERC%

FINAL REPORT Lower Missouri River Ecosystem Initiative Page 13 SPATIAL ANALYSIS and with which analysis can be conducted% A GIS database typically Providing consists of a set of layers, coverages, or themes of data, each of which geographic describes the spatial distribution of information system some feature or attribute%5 (GIS) support for The Lower Missouri River landscape-scale Ecosystem Initiative (LMREI) resource analysis coordinates mapping needs with a variety of partners and works in the CERC’s Environmental Technology Center’s GIS lab, which has five Unix- based workstations, an E-size color plotter for making large maps, and a Geographic Information digitizer for converting hard copy Systems maps to GIS layers% Research and management of the Missouri River require an ability to examine patterns and processes over large areas through time% Historically, interpreting these patterns and predicting outcomes were done through a tedious analysis of maps with plastic overlays or analyzing data that had little association to the actual space it represented% A geographic information system (GIS) is a system of hardware and software, procedures, and data that can be related to a place on the earth

Global Positioning System To verify map accuracy, Global Positioning System (GPS) technology is used to determine map features and locations in the field% The LMREI established a GPS base station at the CERC to serve as a known reference point% Rover units are used in the field to determine coordinates and the base station is used for differential correc- Global Positioning GPS field unit tions of field readings% Data from the System (GPS) base GPS base station are available on the station antenna CERC homepage%

Page 14 FINAL REPORT Lower Missouri River Ecosystem Initiative LMREI ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Map Production and Analysis Proposed Future The LMREI added to databases flooding and channel movement (see Activities: developed by the SAST and continues below)% Development of these maps is Landscape to convert Missouri River maps into a cooperative effort with the Missouri Analysis digital representations, including: Fish and Wildlife Cooperative Re- search Unit at the University of • Expand upon the HISTORICAL CHANNELS: Maps Missouri-Columbia% LMREI’s ability to of the river from 1879, 1920, 1954, produce GIS maps and 1980 were individually digitized LAND COVER: Land cover for for clients, develop for the Moberly, Marshall, and Missouri counties adjacent to the river new maps, and make Jefferson City quadrangles in Missouri% from Kansas City to St% Louis was the maps available to When the four time periods are developed for the Environmental Impact the public through overlaid, an “active channel zone” is Statement of the USFWS Big Muddy InfoLINK% identified that demonstrates the National Fish and Wildlife Refuge% natural meander belt of the river% By The maps show the current land cover • Model and predict placing the coverage over the of forest, agriculture, water, wetland, flood plain changes active channel zone, it becomes and urban area with the highways and and link the physical apparent which areas may be prone to flood plain delineated% and chemical changes to biological responses%

Missouri River, Moberly Quadrangle, Missouri

+ + + =

1879 1920 1954 1978 Active Channel Land Cover Historical channels overlaid to define an Active Channel Zone, visually demonstrating which areas may be prone to flooding

FINAL REPORT Lower Missouri River Ecosystem Initiative Page 15 SPATIAL ANALYSIS

parcels from willing sellers% A GIS map of public lands was created to facilitate the tracking of purchases and to provide a base map for future management activities% Development of this map was in collaboration with Lincoln University, Jefferson City, Pallid Missouri, and with the cooperation of the MDC, COE, and USFWS%

Hydrographic Survey The LMREI is converting the COE 1994 Missouri River Hydro- Historical graphic survey from CAD to GIS Distribution format% The data cover the river from Knowing where pallid sturgeon Rulo, Nebraska, to St% Louis, Missouri% have been found in the past is impor- The data will be used by MDC to tant in restoration efforts and imple- evaluate sampling design using menting a recovery plan% Using wing dam and information Missouri River Division, Corps of and as a base for the collection of Engineers data, the LMREI prepared Missouri River bathymetry supporting a map showing the historical distribu- the CERC pallid sturgeon research tion of this endangered fish that is (see page 18)% being used in the CERC’s current research on pallid sturgeon movement, Flood plain Geomorphology distribution, and habitat requirements The LMREI is converting 1993 (see page 18)% post-flood Missouri River scour hole (blue hole) bathymetry collected by the Publicly Owned Land NRCS from CAD to GIS format% The After the Flood of 1993 and data will be used by MDC and the Sharing the Challenge was published, Missouri Cooperative Fish and it became apparent that purchasing Wildlife Research Unit to evaluate the some highly damaged flood plain longevity of these off-channel habitats lands from willing sellers would save as part of a multiyear investigation taxpayers’ money while providing into the benefits of habitats created as needed fish and wildlife habitat% For the result of the 1993 flood% example, in Missouri, three Federal agencies, the Corps of Engineers Hydrography (COE), U%S% Fish and Wildlife Service The LMREI is developing a (USFWS), and Natural Resources hydrography layer (stream network) Conservation Service (NRCS), and covering the Missouri River and the one state agency, Missouri Depart- major tributaries from Yankton, South ment of Conservation (MDC) are Dakota to St% Louis, Missouri for use cooperating to purchase various by the USFWS%

Page 16 FINAL REPORT Lower Missouri River Ecosystem Initiative LMREI ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Missouri River Environmental MONITORING & Assessment Program RESEARCH GOAL - To provide the scientific basis for optimum manage- ment of the Missouri River’s mainstem and flood plain fish and wildlife resources while avoiding or minimizing conflicts with Assisting with the other river uses identification of Characteristics biological monitoring • Focus on operation and maintenance (O&M) of the river needs and providing • Assess biological, chemical, and physical responses to changes in O&M supplemental • Inventory biological, physical, and chemical habitat funding in support • Use and build upon existing data, studies, and sampling of research projects protocols • Develop (or adopt) and apply standard methods • Conduct sound scientific studies designed to meet the Program’s objectives

Objectives - to understand and predict: Research and monitoring provides • Species, community, habitat, and water quality response to information used to make complex different flow regimes, including intrasystem regulation • Biological response to structure addition, modification, or management decisions on the river% removal The LMREI was involved in deter- • Impact of physical changes due to (sedimenta- mining future monitoring needs and tion) in the upper reaches of reservoirs and degradation conducting specific research projects% (incision) below the dams on biota and habitat The need for a comprehensive environmental monitoring plan for the Missouri River was recommended in the Missouri River Environmental Sharing the Challenge, by the Missouri Assessment Program A series of meet- River Natural Resources Committee ings began in late 1996 with a repre- (MRNRC) in its 1995 Annual Report sentative group of resource managers and by the Missouri River Basin from the entire basin, many of whom Association, a quasi-governmental are members of the MRNRC% policy body represented by the states The Missouri River Environmental of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Assessment Program will be especially Nebraska, North Dakota, South useful for recovered flood plain lands Dakota, and the Mni Sose Intertribal that are managed for the benefit of Water Rights Coalition representing 26 the overall Missouri River ecosystem% Indian tribes% It will take careful observation of the In 1996, the USGS-BRD State natural processes at work to determine Partnership Program provided how to manage these areas within the financial assistance to the CERC and confines of the modern world% This MRNRC to develop the blueprint for multiyear proposal was completed in such a monitoring plan, referred to as 1998%

FINAL REPORT Lower Missouri River Ecosystem Initiative Page 17 LMREI ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Proposed Pallid Sturgeon Research Lisbon Bottom Chute Future Project Research Activities: The pallid sturgeon was listed as Almost 2,400 acres of the Lisbon Monitoring & endangered in 1990, but management Bottom have been purchased for the Research of recovery efforts has been hindered USFWS Big Muddy National Fish and by the lack of information on its Wildlife Refuge% The CERC scientists • Conduct and habitat needs% The CERC is conduct- are evaluating a newly formed chute support basinwide ing a three-part research project to on Lisbon Bottom and its effect on research that leads facilitate management decisions by aquatic and terrestrial biota% The to a better under- conducting early life history, juvenile LMREI partnered with the USFWS by standing of the behavior, and food habits lab studies; providing funds for the study and impacts of river studying movement and habitat use mapping the area% modification on with telemetry and bathymetric native biota% equipment in the river reach between Jefferson City and Glasgow, Missouri; Other related research • Integrate the and assessing fish populations and Missouri River reproduction status% Benthic Invertebrate Study Environmental The LMREI contributed to the The CERC is currently conduct- Assessment Program project by providing a historical map ing a study to characterize critical process into of pallid sturgeon distribution and habitats for aquatic macroinvert- research capabili- funds to purchase bathymetric equip- ebrates in the lower Missouri River% ties at the CERC% ment for mapping and sonar transmit- This research will also evaluate ters to track fish movement% sampling methodologies for macro- invertebrates in large rivers and was initiated as a component of the Biomonitoring Environmental Status and Trends (BEST) program% The LMREI provided funding to complete the work%

Post Flood Evaluation The MDC and NRCS coordinated a major research effort on the lower ames Whitley ames J Missouri River after the 1993 flood% Field investigations into the naturally formed chute at Lisbon Bottom, a Many agencies are involved in collect- unit of the Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge south of ing data associated with the new Glasgow, Missouri, help researchers understand the physical, biological, wetlands and scour holes created from and chemical relationships in the complex Missouri River ecosystem that event% The LMREI provided staff to complete basin morphometry mapping for this project%

Page 18 FINAL REPORT Lower Missouri River Ecosystem Initiative The Future

The Lower Missouri River Ecosystem Initiative (LMREI) started the process recommended in Sharing the Challenge: Flood- plain Management into the 21st Century of using science and technology to its full advantage in gathering and disseminating critical resource management information%4 The LMREI served as a clearinghouse, making View from Jefferson City, Missouri available scientific informa- tion for resource managers and policy makers% It is appropriate for the LMREI to be data being collected and analyzed are housed in the USGS, which has crucial to the river management provided valuable information about community for use in decision making% earth sciences to guide resource The Missouri River Environmental management decisions in the United Assessment Program will ultimately States for over a hundred years% provide many of the scientific answers There is still much to be done% needed to restore the ecosystem in The Annual Conferences on the Natural balance with human uses% Resources of the Missouri River are an The unique timing of the initiation for many people who are LMREI’s creation positioned it to unfamiliar with viewing the river in a begin implementing recommendations broad scientific context% People need in Sharing the Challenge It is hoped the additional opportunities through LMREI can continue to support workshops and information to research and information dissemina- understand the river system and how tion on Missouri River ecosystem individual river interests can all find a problems and issues related to the place in future river management% operation and maintenance of the The partnerships developed in the system% The research will provide past 4 years are an excellent start in local, state and Federal entities the communication; additional people information needed to make informed from both the public and private management decisions about the sectors need to be included% The future of Missouri River% geographic information system (GIS)

FINAL REPORT Lower Missouri River Ecosystem Initiative Page 19 Acronyms References Version #3, December 1998

BRD: Biological 1% Ferrell, John% Soundings: 100 years of the Missouri River Navigation Project Resources Division U%S% Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha, NE 1995% CERC: Columbia Environmental Research 2% A National Biological Survey Initiative for the Upper Mississippi and Center River Corridors, Environmental Management Technical Center, Onalaska, COE: U%S% Corps of WI 1994% Engineers EROS: Earth Resources 3% Missouri River Natural Resources Committee, Comprehensive Strategic Observation Systems Plan, U%S% Fish and Wildlife Service, Columbia, MO 1993% LMREI: Lower Missouri River Ecosystem 4% Interagency Floodplain Management Review Committee, Sharing the Initiative Challenge, Floodplain Management into the 21st Century, Washington D%C% MDC: Missouri 1994% Department of Conservation 5% Interagency Floodplain Management Review Committee, Sharing the MoRAP: Missouri Challenge, Floodplain Management into the 21st Century, Part 5 SAST Resource Assessment Report, Washington D%C% 1994% Partnership MRBA: Missouri River 6% Zuerlein, Gene; Mestl, Gerald; and Brohman, M% The Missouri River, A Basin Association Crown Jewel in Need, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Lincoln, MRNRC: Missouri NE 1995% River Natural Resources Committee 7% Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act Report: Missouri River Stabilization and NRCS: Natural Navigation Project, Habitat Restoration, U%S% Fish and Wildlife Service, Resources Conservation North Kansas City, MO 1980% Service SAST: Scientific Assess- 8% Missouri River Bank Stabilization and Navigation Fish and Wildlife Mitigation ment and Strategy Team Project, Reaffirmation Report, U%S% Army Corps of Engineers, Missouri River USFWS: U%S% Fish and Division, Omaha, NE, 1990% Wildlife Service USGS: U%S% Geological 9% LeValley, Mike, Restoration of Missouri River Ecosystem Functions Survey and Habitats, U%S% Fish and Wildlife Service, USGS-BRD: U%S% Columbia, MO 1996% Geological Survey - Biological Resources Division Photo and graphics credits: U%S% Army Corps of Engineers, page 2 bottom, 4, 5 (top), 6, 10 Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, cover center, 16, 20 James Whitley, page 18 Piping Plover USGS, all other pages On the cover: top-Niobrara, NE; middle: Hamburg Bend, NE; bottom: Jefferson City, MO For information - http://infolinkcrusgsgov or 573-876-1876

Page 20 FINAL REPORT Lower Missouri River Ecosystem Initiative