Missouri River Mitigation: A System Approach

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Abstract
Channelization of the Missouri River from Sioux City, Iowa, to the mouth at St. Louis directly eliminated 192,071 hectares (474,600 acres) of aquatic and terrestrial habitat from the active erosion zone; agricultural and urban encroachment has affected an additional 728,460 hectares (1.8 million acres). The Water Resources and Development Act of 1986 authorized a mitigation package which would result in the acquisition of 12,100 hectares (29,900 acres) of habitat; this mitigation would replace only 6.3% of lost habitat. Development of this land should proceed in a manner consistent with the view that the river is an ecosystem. The system approach suggests that: (1) successful mitigation is related to the extent to which natural channel and floodplain morphology and vegetative cover are replaced; (2) mitigation must be an ongoing program which recognizes need beyond that which has been already identified; (3) a “Trust Fund” is an appropriate instrument to provide for the allocation of funds for re...

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