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Spring Rise Monitoring on the Missouri River
Issue
Prior to the construction of the dams on the Missouri River, two major increases in flow occurred each spring, one due to the melting of plains snowpack and the second due to the melting of mountain snowpack and spring rains throughout the Missouri River Basin. Construction and operation of the six large dams on the mainstem of the Missouri River have altered the historical spring and early summer high flows. Flood peaks have been greatly reduced, and the stored water is released at appropriate levels to serve the downstream uses of flood control, navigation, water supply, hydropower generation, and recreation. These releases have been altered to also benefit water quality and fish and wildlife resources, including the endangered interior least tern and threatened piping plover. In the meantime, the benefits of the higher spring and early summer flows to the native river fish were lost.
Goal
In response to the needs of the native river fish on the Lower Missouri River, especially the endangered pallid sturgeon, March and May spring pulses from Gavins Point Dam were included in the Missouri River Mainstem Reservoir System's Master Water Control Manual in March 2006. Spring pulses created spring rises on the downstream Missouri River in May 2006 and March 2008. These pulses were released to mimic the much larger, historic spring rises on the Missouri River, which still occur naturally as one proceeds further down the Lower Missouri River. The benefits of the created spring rises are, therefore, to be more significant in the upper 200 miles of the Lower Missouri River from Gavins Point Dam to about Omaha, Nebraska.
Monitoring of the spring rises, whether created by the spring pulses or natural due to rainfall and subsequent tributary inflows, on the Lower Missouri River began in 2006. Pallid sturgeon monitoring focuses on the effects of the spring rises on spawning activities and habitat of this species and its close relative, the shovelnose sturgeon and their larvae in the river following spawning activities. At the same time, the movement of spring pulses downstream was monitored to determine if adverse effects were occurring to drainage of lands and groundwater levels adjacent to the river. Monitoring of the May 2006 spring pulse for drainage and groundwater effects focused entirely on the effects of the manmade pulse, as it moved downstream. In 2008, the drainage and groundwater monitoring efforts were expanded to evaluate all rises in Lower Missouri River flows to better understand how various flows affect farmers along the Missouri River.
Data
Links are provided below that provide ready access to the data on the drainage and groundwater monitoring. A link has also been provided to the U.S. Geological Survey, Columbia Environmental Research Center website that provides papers, presentations, and reports on the pallid sturgeon monitoring. The Corps' Northwestern Division, Missouri River Basin Water Management Division's link that provides additional data and information on the operation of the six mainstem dam projects and on the Lower Missouri River.
Documents
Links to Additional Data on the Missouri River
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