Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MNRRA) National

Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MNRRA) National

Mississippi National River
and Recreation Area (MNRRA)
National Park Service
Trapped by History
Will the Past Anchor
the Mississippi River’s
Future?
America’s Inner Coast Summit,
June 22-24, 2010
John O. Anfinson
Mississippi National River and
Recreation Area
National Park Service
The Test Looming Before Us:
Can we create a river that is economically
successful and ecologically sustainable?
th
4
River ?
4th River Ecosystem
by 1960s.
The Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of
1986 stated that the Mississippi River was a
“nationally significant ecosystem.”
WRDA 1986 also stated that the Mississippi River
was a “nationally significant commercial
navigation system.”
Dividing the Pie
on the Columbia River?
Grand Coulee Dam
Migrating Salmon
Dividing the Pie on the Mississippi River
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
A Time of Testing:
Can we successfully divide the
pie and avoid a hydraulic trap?
The West’s Hydraulic Trap?
Boulder Dam, Colorado River
First Three Upper
Mississippi Rivers
1. Natural River, Up to 1878
2.Constricted River, 1878-1930s
3. Locked & Dammed River, 1930sPresent
The Natural River
Upper Mississippi River, Annual Hydrograph
Low end of pulse prevented.
Map - Natural Channels
Light Blue - Less than 3 feet at low water
Sandbar at Queens Bluff
Harvesting mussels
for buttons and
pearls.
Pearl Buttons
Mississippi River floodplain at Gorham, Illinois.
Bountiful Backwaters
Islands at Savanna, Ill.
4-Foot Channel, 1866-1878
4.5 and 6-Foot Channels ,
1878-1930s
9-Foot Channel, 1930sPresent
The Need for Navigation
Improvements
Snagging Scene
Railroads at St. Paul. Bosse
Oliver Hudson
Kelley, founder
of the Granger
Movement
Wing dams below Nininger,
4.5-Foot Channel Project
Pine Bend, MN, 1891,
4.5-Foot Channel Project
Closing Dam
Channel Constriction,
6-Foot Channel
Channel Constriction, 6-Foot
Channel
Wing Dams
Keokuk and Hamilton Dam
(Lock & Dam 19), 1913, Keokuk
Lock & Dam No. 1, St. Paul
Completed 1917
Constricted
Channel,
Mississippi
River below
St. Paul, 1927
Floodplain Agriculture
Rupture Points
• They occur when a society has managed a
river for one purpose and then decides to
manage it for another.
• The early conflict between navigation
improvements and agricultural levees are
an example of a rupture point.
Floodplain
Levees, Rock
Island
District
Mississippi River Floodplain near
Waterloo, Illinois
Will Dilg,
Izaak Walton
League cofounder &
refuge
champion
Upper Mississippi National
Wildlife & Fish Refuge
Minneapolis-St. Louis RR
Mississippi River, 9-Foot Channel Project
Refuge above Rock Island
Levees below Rock Island
Channel constriction, whole
Upper Mississippi River
WHAT
KIND
OF
RIVER?
Image Sources
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Slide 1. Mississippi National River and Recreation Area.
Slide 3. usfweb2.usf.edu/.../Study_Skills.html.
Slide s 4 & 5. Natural River. Seth Eastman(1808-1875) . View on the Mississippi 70
Miles below the Falls of St. Anthony. Art Collection, Watercolor, 1846-1848.
Slide 6. www.trmichels.com/ElkBuglingTours.htm.
Slide 7. Lock & Dam No. 15, Rock Island, Ill.
www.stchas.edu/faculty/ewilson/Photos/SE%20Coast/.
Slide 8. Grand Coulee Dam, www.physics.uiowa.edu/.../nov_06-04.html.
Migrating salmon, staff.washington.edu/jltran/My%20favorite%20g.
Slide 11. Boulder Dam, Colorado River. bridgepros.com/.../index.htm.
Slides 12 & 13. Seth Eastman(1808-1875) . View on the Mississippi 70 Miles below
the Falls of St. Anthony. Art Collection, Watercolor, 1846-1848.
Slide 14. Environmental Pool Plans, River Resources Forum, 2004.
Slide16. Queens Bluff by Henry P. Bosse. St. Paul District, Corps of Engineers.
Slide 17. Mountains of shells rose up alongside the Mississippi as clammers made a living
harvesting mussels to supply the button industry.
www.fws.gov/midwest/mussel/harvest.html. Source: Oscar Grossheim Collection, Musser
Public Library, Iowa. And, mussel shell and pearl buttons.
http://www.muscatine.k12.ia.us/was/History/pearlbuttons/Index.htm.
Image Sources, Continued
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Slide 18. University of Iowa.
Slide 19. Mississippi River floodplain at Gorham, Illinois. American Environmental
Photographs Collection, [AEP Image Number, e.g., AEP-MIN73], Department of
Special Collections, University of Chicago Library.
Slide 20. www.treknature.com.
Slide 21. Islands at Savanna, Illinois. American Environmental Photographs
Collection, [AEP Image Number, e.g., AEP-MIN73], Department of Special
Collections, University of Chicago Library.
Slide 22. Dredge Phoenix and Wing Dams Below Nininger, by Henry P. Bosse; Lock
& Dam No. 6. St. Paul District, Corps of Engineers.
Slide 23. www.mvd.usace.army.mil/mrc/history/index.php.
Slide 24. Railroads at St. Paul by Henry P. Bosse, Rock Island District, Corps of
Engineers.
Slide 25. Snagging Scene by Henry P. Bosse, Rock Island District, Corps of
Engineers.
Slide 26. Oliver Hudson Kelley. www.freemasonry.bcy.ca/.../kelley_o.html.
Image Sources Continued
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Slide 27. Wing Dams below Nininger by Henry P. Bosse. St. Paul District, Corps of
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Engineers.
Slide 28. Pine Bend by Henry P. Bosse. St. Paul District, Corps of Engineers.
Slides 29 & 30. 6-Foot Channel images. St. Paul District, Corps of Engineers.
Slide 31. Keokuk and Hamilton Co. Lock and Dam, www.usgwarchives.org/.../postcards/pcslee.html
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Slide 32. Lock & Dam No. 1, St. Paul District, Corps of Engineers.
Slide 33. Constricted River. Brown Survey Photo. St. Paul District, Corps of Engineers.
Slide 34 & 42. Floodplain Agriculture. Minnesota Historical Society. Minnesota Harvest
Field, Painter: Joseph Rusling Meeker (1827-1889), Art Collection, Oil 1877 .
Slide 36. Floodplain Levees, Rock Island District. Floodplain Management Assessment,
Corps of Engineers.
Slide 37. Floodplain near Waterloo, Illinois. American Environmental Photographs Collection,
[AEP Image Number, e.g., AEP-MIN73], Department of Special Collections, University of
Chicago Library.
Slide 38. Will Dilg, Izaak Walton League.
Image Sources Continued
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Slide 39 & 42. Upper Mississippi River Wildlife & Fish Refuge.
www.scienceiniowa.org.
Slide 40. Minneapolis & St. Louis Railroad. Hibbard Studio. Photograph
Collection,1918-1920, Minnesota Historical Society.
Slide 41. Lock & Dam No. 8, St. Paul District, Corps of Engineers.
Slide 42. 6-Foot Channel Scene. St. Paul District, Corps of Engineers.
Slide 43. Mississippi River Scene. St. Paul District, Corps of Engineers.