The Missouri River

"Old Man River"

The Missouri is the longest river of the United States: over 2,500 miles in length.

It is the the principal tributary of the Mississippi River.

The middle and lower river valleys are lined with grasslands and forests of poplar, hickory, and other trees, providing a habitat for rabbits, foxes, beavers, and other animals.

Fish in the warmer lower river include bass, several species of catfish, and carp.

According to the Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, barges on the Missouri River only carry 0.3% of the annual combined grain harvest in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri

  A link to the American Rivers' Lewis and Clark cartoon: http://www.amrivers.org/missouririver/animation.htm

 

Three native Missouri species are on the brink of extinction: the palid sturgeon, the piping plover, and the least tern.

 

The Missouri has 6 large dams, operated by the Corps. These dams form the largest reservoir system in the nation, and are used to control how water moves down the Missouri. 

 

The dams are operated under a guidebook called the Missouri River Master Water Control Manual, or "Master Manual," a document that has gone largely unchanged since 1960.

In its January 2002 report on the Missouri River, the National Academy of Sciences concluded that “degradation of the Missouri River ecosystem will continue unless some portion of the hydrologic and geomorphic processes that sustained the pre-regulation Missouri River and floodplain ecosystem are restored – including flow pulses that emulate the natural hydrograph.”

Further, the Academy wrote that “the current dam and reservoir operation schedules…to provide a steady and reliable 9-foot deep navigation channel…run counter to established river science, in which a large degree of natural hydrological variability is essential to biological productivity and species richness.”

There is currently a push to change the flow of the Missouri River to accommodate the species and changing needs of the river. Go to www.savethemissouri.org to find out more