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From page 1... ... There have also been substantial reductions in the daily and annual variability of hydrologic and geomorphic processes. Causes of these changes include the removal of snags from the river in the late 1 800s; introduction of nonnative fish species beginning in the late 1800s; navigation enhancement beginning in the early 1900s; and damming and flow regulation of the mainstem Missouri River beginning in the 1930s. Read the entire page →
From page 2... ... For example, before the l950s, the Missouri River carried an average of roughly 142 million tons of sediment per year past Sioux City, Iowa; after closure of the dams, an average of roughly 4 million tons per year moved past the same location. Damming and channelization have occurred on most of the Missouri River basin's numerous tributary streams, where at least 75 dams have been constructed. Read the entire page →
From page 3... ... Degradation of the Missouri River ecosystem will continue unless some portion of the hydrologic and geomorphic processes that sustained the preregulation Missouri River and floodplain ecosystem are restored including flow pulses that emulate the natural hydrograph, and cut-and-fill Read the entire page →
From page 4... ... STATE OF THE SCIENCE There is a rich, extensive body of scientific research on the Missouri River ecosystem that can provide the foundation for future river management actions. For example, a 1997 technical report from the U.S. Read the entire page →
From page 5... ... Adaptive management is not necessarily easy to implement and execute and, like the Missouri River basin itself, presents many complexities. Read the entire page →
From page 6... ... The sum of these efforts is insufficient to noticeably recover ecological communities and fundamental physical processes in the Missouri River ecosystem. To substantially improve the ecosystem, a more systematic and better-coordinated approach that considers ecological conditions on par with other management goals in the entire Missouri River system will be required. Read the entire page →
From page 7... ... The banks along the river's navigable channel are stabilized and contain communities and other important infrastructure in many areas. If it is decided to enact management actions to improve the state of the ecosystem, and if those management actions are to be effective, some degree of Missouri River meandering must be restored. Read the entire page →
From page 8... ... When the Corps of Engineers constructed five of the Missouri River mainstem dams in the 1950s and 1960s after passage of the Pick-SIoan Plan, goals for dam and reservoir operations were to reduce flood damages, enhance navigation, generate hydroelectric power, and store water for irrigation. But changes in social preferences have resulted in a new mix of uses and stakeholders on the Missouri River today. Read the entire page →
From page 9... ... Specific Missouri River adaptive management experiments and activities involving a broad spectrum of river system stakeholders in a collaborative process to establish goals and guidelines for such experiments should be implemented as soon as possible. Adaptive management actions for improving ecological conditions should be examined and conducted within a systems framework that considers the entire Missouri River ecosystem from headwaters to mouth, as well as the effects of tributary streams on the mainstem. Read the entire page →
From page 10... ... To ensure support of the adaptive management program and management actions that balance contemporary social, economic, and environmental needs in the Missouri basin, Congress shouici enact a fecleral Missouri River Protection and Recovery Act clesigneci to improve ecological conclitions in the Missouri River ecosystem. This act shouici inclucle a requirement for periodic, inclepenclent review of progress toward implementing adaptive management of the Missouri River ecosystem. Read the entire page →
From page 11... ... Social values and goals in the Missouri River basin in 11 Read the entire page →
From page 12... ... Congress, is known as the Pick-SIoan Plan and is the effective existing management regime for the Missouri River. The Pick-SIoan Plan represented a merger of Missouri River basin development plans that were formulated independently in the early 1940s by the Corps of Engineers (the Corps' "Pick Plan" was headed by Colonel Lewis A Read the entire page →
From page 13... ... Missouri River mainstem reservoirs behind Fort Peck Dam in Montana (Fort Peck Lake) , Garrison Dam in North Dakota (Lake Sakakawea) Read the entire page →
From page 14... ... Congress, the Missouri River basin states, and the basin's water users and interest groups disagree on the appropriate water release schedule (including timing, locations, and quantities of water) for the Missouri River's . Read the entire page →
From page 15... ... The committee spoke with federal and state scientists and engineers, representatives from Indian tribes, experts on Missouri River institutions and policies, groups interested in Missouri River ecology and river management, the commercial navigation industry, and many citizens. This report focuses on the Missouri River ecosystem. Read the entire page →
From page 16... ... When they were constructed, the Missouri River mainstem dams were intended to help control river flows and to reduce streamflow variability. Today, however, there is a better understanding of and appreciation for the ecological values and services supported by streamflow variability (Box 1.1 describes the values of ecosystem goods and services) Read the entire page →
From page 17... ... As a result, the arid and semiarid western United States is shifting from the reclamation era characterized by the construction of large, federally subsidized regional water projects to an era of reallocation, conservation, and ecosystem restoration. The Bureau of Reclamation today focuses on management and maintenance of existing projects and on ecological improvements in degraded stream systems. Read the entire page →
From page 18... ... The commission's final report was issued in 2000 (WCD, 2000~. Although care must be taken in applying findings from the commission's global review of dams to the Missouri River, many of the commission's findings regarding environment, indigenous people, equity, and sustainability are applicable to the Missouri River basin and to the United States. Read the entire page →
From page 19... ... Beyond reservoir releases, possible adaptive management actions for the Missouri River in Read the entire page →
From page 20... ... The lack of such a management authority in the Missouri River basin has created a management vacuum that has been filled by the Corps and increasingly by the courts (Thorson, 1994~. If adaptive management is chosen as a paradigm by which to coordinate Missouri River management organizations and policies, it must be considered and implemented in the context of these current and historical organizational efforts. Read the entire page →

From page 1...

... There have also been substantial reductions in the daily and annual variability of hydrologic and geomorphic processes. Causes of these changes include the removal of snags from the river in the late 1 800s; introduction of nonnative fish species beginning in the late 1800s; navigation enhancement beginning in the early 1900s; and damming and flow regulation of the mainstem Missouri River beginning in the 1930s.