Larry W. Hesse

An Alternative Hydrograph for the Missouri River Based on the Precontrol Condition

Abstract The Missouri River and its tributaries have been impounded and channelized, and their hydrographs, sediment and organic matter dynamics, and floodplain connectivity have been altered, adversely impacting native fish and wildlife and leaving many species with an uncertain future. Using stage and discharge data collected prior to dam construction, we defined the precontrol hydrograph and compared it with the present hydrograph and with hydrographs proposed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. We offer an alternative to present operations based on the precontrol percentage of total annual discharge for each day of the year, averaged monthly. Our model may be used to restore the seasonality of flow and to minimize discharge peaks until floodplain planning and management can provide a public corridor contiguous to the river to allow reestablishment of high discharge.

The Missouri River Hydrosystem

Abstract Recent political initiatives, expanding knowledge regarding river science, and degraded conditions of fisheries and shellfisheries in the Mississippi River Basin have provided the stimuli to begin restoration of rivers in the basin. The Missouri River is a case in point; lost functions included separation of the floodplain from the channel, loss of the natural hydrograph, curtailment of sediment and organic matter transport, altered temperature regimes and removal of instream cover. We have approached restoration from the perspective that it is essential to recover part of all lost functions rather than to pursue a new direction, acknowledging the profound changes in morphology, because it is our opinion that the native community will be served best by such an approach. It is important to recognize the conditions of fish and wildlife habitat from the pre-dam and pre-channelization period if we are to be effective at restoring these conditions. Early hydrographic surveys were available to achieve ...

Taming the Wild Missouri River: What Has it Cost?

Abstract The most significant legislation that authorized the alteration of the Missouri River is reviewed from a fisheries position. An outline of the dollar costs to achieve change along the river shows that the U.S. taxpayer has spent more than

Effects of Flushing Spencer Hydro on Water Quality, Fish, and Insect Fauna in the Niobrara River, Nebraska

6 billion in the Missouri River Basin. Broad ecological concern about lost riverine resources is raised. Mitigation, management, or enhancement of riverine resources has not been successfully completed. Alternatives to impoundment and channelization were not adequately discussed, and the extent of environmental damage was unknown, unexpected, and unstudied at the time these projects were planned. There was sufficient latitude in congressional action after 1944 to have provided some safeguard, had these laws been interpreted with a concern for wildlife.

On Estimating the Abundance of Fish in the Upper Channelized Missouri River

Abstract Hydroelectric facilities with a low generating capacity (approximately one megawatt) such as Spencer Hydro on the Niobrara River in Nebraska are important, as referenced by the renewed interest in the revival of many that were deactivated with the advent of large fossil fuel and nuclear generating stations. The water reservoir impounded by the Spencer Dam is shallow and entrapped sediment quickly fills the pond, reducing power generating potential and threatening the internal components of the hydro station. This action requires periodic flushings to allow settled sediment to move past the station, resulting in adverse impacts on water quality, fish, and fish-food organisms in the 63.3 km of Niobrara River downstream from the dam. Investigations in 1979 revealed unacceptable low levels of DO (3.5-4.0 mg/liter), pronounced increases in turbidity (>400%) and suspended solids (4-fold), and a doubling of dissolved solids. Thirty species of fish were affected, with a conservative count of 22,471 dead ...

Missouri River Mitigation: A System Approach

Abstract Population estimates of fish in large rivers are scarce, but such information would be extremely useful to evaluate the impact of mans activities on sport and commercial fish in the Missouri River. Winter sampling offered the best opportunity to use multiple-census techniques to estimate populations because of reduced movement of fish and reduced stream flow, thereby concentrating fish in wintering holes. Reliable population estimates were obtained by electrofishing during the winters of 1979-1980 and 1980-1981 in two 16-km study areas of the channelized portion of the river. Estimates and their 95% confidence limits were obtained for common carp (Cyprinus carpio); river carpsucker (Carpiodes carpio); freshwater drum (Aplodinotus grunniens ); goldeye (Hiodon alosoides ); buffalo spp. (Ictiobus spp.); northern pike (Esox lucius); and channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus). Aside from channel catfish, the total population was estimated to be 2,794 fish per kilometer; the estimated number of channel...

Status of Selected Fishes in the Missouri River in Nebraska With Recommendations for Their Recovery

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...