The Missouri River takes the prize as the longest river in North America. Starting life in the Rocky Mountains of Montana, the river cuts through the Great Plains before emptying into the Mississippi River. It used to flood so often and wash away so much soil that it was nicknamed "Big Muddy." Once dams had tamed the river's power, the farms and cities along its banks began to benefit from irrigation water and inexpensive electricity. Book jacket.
The Missouri River Ecosystem: Exploring the Prospects for Recovery resulted from a study conducted at the request of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The nation's longest river, the Missouri River and its floodplain ecosystem experienced substantial environmental and hydrologic changes during the twentieth century. The context of Missouri River dam and reservoir system management is marked by sharp differences between stakeholders regarding the river's proper management regime. The management agencies have been challenged to determine the appropriate balance between these competing interests. This Water Science and Technology Board report reviews the ecological state of the river and floodplain ecosystem, scientific research of the ecosystem, and the prospects for implementing an adaptive management approach, all with a view toward helping move beyond ongoing scientific and other differences. The report notes that continued ecological degradation of the ecosystem is certain unless some portion of pre-settlement river flows and processes were restored. The report also includes recommendations to enhance scientific knowledge through carefully planned and monitored river management actions and the enactment of a Missouri River Protection and Recovery Act.
This report is a tale of a great peaceful constructive undertaking -- freely assumed by the people of this country. It is a tale, briefly told, of our national effort to develop the vast resources of one-sixth the area of our country -- the Missouri River basin, greatest in the United States and one of the greatest in the world. The goal: Transformation -- of a drought-plagued, flood-ridden land, periodically over-grazed and overplowed; a valley rich in resources yet underpopulated, underindustrialized, and economically unstable -- to a land of greater economic security and strength, contributing its full share to the American welfare. In 1944, Congress authorized the Missouri River basin development program. How the plan works, its results to date, and future objectives are related in this booklet.
The Mississippi River is, in many ways, the nation's best known and most important river system. Mississippi River water quality is of paramount importance for sustaining the many uses of the river including drinking water, recreational and commercial activities, and support for the river's ecosystems and the environmental goods and services they provide. The Clean Water Act, passed by Congress in 1972, is the cornerstone of surface water quality protection in the United States, employing regulatory and nonregulatory measures designed to reduce direct pollutant discharges into waterways. The Clean Water Act has reduced much pollution in the Mississippi River from "point sources" such as industries and water treatment plants, but problems stemming from urban runoff, agriculture, and other "non-point sources" have proven more difficult to address. This book concludes that too little coordination among the 10 states along the river has left the Mississippi River an "orphan" from a water quality monitoring and assessment perspective. Stronger leadership from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is needed to address these problems. Specifically, the EPA should establish a water quality data-sharing system for the length of the river, and work with the states to establish and achieve water quality standards. The Mississippi River corridor states also should be more proactive and cooperative in their water quality programs. For this effort, the EPA and the Mississippi River states should draw upon the lengthy experience of federal-interstate cooperation in managing water quality in the Chesapeake Bay.
