missouri river recovery program partnership with purpose ......missouri river recovery...
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Missouri River Recovery Program—Partnership with Purpose
Steve A. Fischer1 and Clint K. Miller2
1United States Army Corp of Engineers, Northwest Division, Kansas City, MO, USA 2The Conservation Fund, Upper Midwest Office, Pine Island, MN, USA The Missouri River, America’s longest river, has been significantly altered from its original state to provide a variety of bene-fits to the communities in its watershed, including agriculture, energy, navigation and recreation. Three million acres of natu-ral river habitat have been altered, an impact that, among other things, means that 51 of 67 the River’s native fish species are rare, uncommon or declining. In response, the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) initiated the Missouri River Recov-ery Program to target opportunities to restore and maintain at risk species. The program relies on public/private cooperation involving conservation organizations, private landowners, state and other federal agencies, and the USACE. USACE and The Conservation Fund recently partnered on projects involving local landowners and implemented solutions that conserved nearly 4,000 acres. We outline the goals of the Missouri River Recovery Program (MRRP) for fish and wildlife habitat recov-ery and describe how partnerships play a critical role for USACE efforts to balance its multiple missions and restore more of the natural heritage of the Missouri River. We provide a summary of the recent catastrophic flooding in 2011 and explore re-cent implementation projects and the successful partnership strategies behind them. Contact Information: Clint K. Miller, The Conservation Fund, Upper Midwest Office, 807 Rodeo Drive SE, Pine Island, MN, 55963, USA, Phone: 507-356-6301, Fax: 507-356-6302, Email: [email protected] BUILDING STRONG®
Williston
Bismarck
Pierre
Sioux City
Omaha
Kansas City St. Louis
Wolf Pt.
Denver
Metropolitan
Longest River in the U.S.
Drains 1/6 of the Country
10 States
2 Countries
29 Native American Tribes
12 million people
Largest Reservoir Storage
System in the U.S.
The Missouri River Watershed
Missouri River Recovery Program
The MRRP is a product of long-term changes to the River because of historic policies and actions. Vision: A sustainable ecosystem supporting thriving populations of native species while providing for current social and economic values
USACE/TCF Partnership Land acquisition from willing sellers is an important component of accomplishing the MRRP vision. Ac-quired land is used for habitat restoration. The USACE has a strong real estate program, however, in an effort to enhance this part of the program, USACE turned to The Conservation Fund for help. TCF is able to enhance USACE real estate program by: - Working with sellers who do not want to work directly with USACE -- this will be critical following the historic flood event; - Work with sellers who have complex tax situations; - Work on projects that "layer" funding from various sources. Critical as USACE seeks to purchase large river bends; - Pre-acquire land where the seller is ready to go before government funding is available; - Work with sellers who have complex transactions that require a significant investment of time;
2011 Flood and Future
BUILDING STRONG®
Self-Scouring Channel
Partnerships are critical to the success of the initiatives. Dozens of tribal, state, lo-cal and federal government agencies along with non-profit organizations are working hard to make the vision a reality.
BUILDING STRONG® BUILDING STRONG®
One Federal Voice
Missouri River Basin Interagency Roundtable (MRBIR) and
the Federal Working Group (FWG):
“a collaborative approach to solving issues
within the Missouri River watershed”
MMRP Initiatives: Habitat Creation
Shallow Water Habitat Emergent Sandbar Habitat
Hatchery Support Flow Modification Science Program
Audubon Bend
2,400 acres
$10.6 million
5 miles river front
Bootlegger Bend
1,400 acres
$7.3 million
3 miles river front
The real estate partnership between USACE/TCF allows the MRRP to signifi-cantly advance its vision by providing more land and more habitat restoration opportunities, thereby accelerating the MRRP initiatives.
In 2011 unprecedented runoff occurred in the Missouri River Basin above Sioux City Iowa resulting in catastrophic flooding.
May was the third wettest single month on record, with 10.5 MAF of runoff shattering the previous May record of 7.2 MAF set in May 1995 June was the single wettest month on record with 13.8 MAF of runoff, surpassing the old record of 13.2 MAF set in April 1952 July was the fifth wettest single month on record with 10.0 MAF Combined May through July runoff of 34.3 MAF is higher than the total annual runoff in 102 of 113 years in the period of record
The unprecedented flooding in 2011 had devastating impacts on people and infra-structure. However, it did FOCUS ATTEN-TION once again on the management of the River, flood control and has advanced dis-cussions about restoration of the river and its floodplain. Clearly, partnerships will be critical to the future of a healthy River.