Missouri River

The Missouri River is one of our most profound natural and community resources, but it often flows by unnoticed.

Back in the 1940’s there was a vision of the river, one dominated by turning the river into an industrial, region-developing resource.  Many benefits have derived from that plan: electricity, irrigation, recreation.  The costs, however, have been high: a fragmented food chain, dozens of native fish and bird species endangered or threatened, people alienated from a dangerous river.  Congress has authorized a study leading to an Ecosystem Restoration Plan. 

Cities like Omaha, Bismarck, Sioux City have gained great community vigor by revitalizing their riverfronts.  Now it is time to provide for a healthier river basin-wide. 

Change for the Missouri River is coming.  Now you can help set this change in motion. The United States Army Corps of Engineers, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, a Recovery Committee of stakeholders, basin tribes and states, and other federal and state agencies are studying how to restore the Missouri River to a more natural condition.  Jim Redmond, the Sierra Club representative on the Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee, needs your help as a new vision of the river emerges.  Public meetings are being held throughout the basin but your written comments can also be submitted.

At these public meetings and in written comments, please stress the following:

• The river needs to return to a post-industrial, sustainable river.  The swiftly degrading streambed is a key symptom of an unhealthy river.

• The future Missouri River should reflect contemporary and emerging economies and lifestyles, not support economic activities that are inefficient and  unsustainable.

• Water is a critical resource, the lifeblood for our region. The water of the Missouri River basin must be protected from degradation, diversion and waste.

• Citizens, tribes and states must move beyond the segmentation of the river that resulted in lawsuits between states, etc.

• Invite community leaders and future leaders to help in this re-visioning of the river.  A half-century will go by before we have this chance for a revitalized river.

You are invited to help shape this vision.  Public meetings are being held throughout the basin; your written comments can also be submitted.  Below find key websites for taking this first step in restoring the Missouri River ecosystem.  Thanks for taking the time to let the Army Corps and Fish & Wildlife Service know how important a healthy river is to you and your children.

For more information, contact Dr. Jim Redmond, Northwest Iowa Sierra Club Group Chair and representative on the Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee, at 712-258-8303, or jim.redmond@briarcliff.edu.

Public hearings are scheduled throughout the basin.  The closest hearing site is Omaha.  Find the list of public meetings on Missouri River Restoration throughout the basin.   (A new window will open.)

Statements of purpose and need are the first steps in the Environmental Impact Study. See the sidebar "Missouri River Ecosystem Restoration Plan" in the right-hand column.

The citizens of the Missouri River basin have the chance to participate in setting the boundaries of this key effort to restore this ecosystem.   Submit your comments to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about the draft statement of purpose and need.  (A new window will open.)

MISSOURI RIVER AUTHORITY TO DISCUSS USES OF MISSOURI RIVER

SIOUX CITY – An interagency group that makes recommendations on policies affecting the Missouri River will discuss recent developments at an Aug. 18 meeting in Sioux City.

The Missouri River Authority will meet from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. starting with a tour in the morning and the meeting in the afternoon at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, 900 Larsen Park Road. The meeting is open to the public.

The group will discuss uses and priorities of the Missouri River for Iowa. Benefits of the river are also on the agenda.

The complete agenda is available below and on the state public meetings calendar at www.iowa.gov/state/main/pmc/pmc.php under Department of Natural Resources. 

1. Tour of Missouri River resources around Sioux City

·     8:30 a.m. - Riverfront briefing, Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center - Terry Hoffman, Sioux City Parks and Recreation Manager and Skip Meisner, Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee Alternate Representative

·     8:45 a.m. - Riverfront Tour including the marina, boat ramp, Flight 232 Memorial and pavilion

·        9:30 a.m. -  Travel to Port Neal Power Plant

·        10:00 a.m. - Tour Port Neal Power Plant

·        11:30 a.m. - Travel

·        Noon -  Lunch at Bev’s on the River 

2. State Interagency Missouri River Authority Meeting, Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center

1.   1:30 p.m. - Review Minutes of June 12, 2009, State Interagency Missouri River Authority Meeting

2.   1:35 p.m - Clarification of Missouri River Association of States and Tribes (MoRAST) Voting and Payment

3.   Investigate Missouri River Uses and Priorities for Iowa

a.   1:45 p.m. - Discuss Missouri River Uses and Benefits - Sioux City Missouri River Technical Group

b.   3:00 p.m. - Natural and Recreational Goods and Services Benefits - Jeff Fields, Superintendent, Ponca State, Neb.

4.      3:30 p.m. - For the Good of the River Open Discussion

5.      3:45 p.m. - Adjourn

Five Iowa agencies are represented on the Missouri River Authority. They include the Governor’s office; the Secretary of Agriculture: the Chair of the Utilities Board; and the Directors of the departments of natural resources, transportation and economic development or their designees. 

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Photo by Jonathan Bry Missouri River Ecosystem Restoration Plan  Purpose is a broad goal statement telling readers what the agency (United States Army Corps of Engineers) intends to accomplish by taking action.  Need addresses why the agency is taking action at this time.  Typically, the need for taking action is because there are problems that need to be addressed, conditions that need to be changed, opportunities that are available to create change, and plans that need to be implemented in order to create those changes.  Scope provides both the geographic area for plan development and analysis.  Following are the draft MRERP statements of purpose and need that have been developed for consideration and review.

Proposed Draft Purpose Statement

To determine the actions required to mitigate losses of aquatic and terrestrial habitat, to recovery federally listed species under the Endangered Species Act, and to restore the ecosystem to prevent further declines among other native species, while seeking to balance with social, economic and cultural values for future generations.

Proposed Draft Need Statement

The MRERP is needed to fully implement the direction received in subsection (a) of Section 5018 of the Water Resources Development Act of 2007 and address current trends indicating: diminished natural habitat, reduced populations of native species and communities, reduced variability of physical process such as flows, flooding and sediment erosion/ deposition.