AUTHORS: Liam Wallace, US Army Corps of Engineers; Joan Stemler, Liam Wallace, US Army Corps of Engineers ; Dave Busse, Liam Wallace, US Army Corps of Engineers Lane Richter, US Army Corps of Engineers
ABSTRACT: Environmental Pool Management (EPM), beginning as a request by natural resource partners, is a strategy for improving environmental benefits above navigation dams on the Mississippi River while maintaining a mandated nine-foot navigation channel depth. For the past 30 years, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers St. Louis District has worked with resource agencies to implement pool drawdowns during the growing season that promote emergent and aquatic plant development over more than a thousand acres above the three locks and dams (approximately 100 river miles) on the Upper Mississippi River between Louisiana, MO and West Alton, MO. The timing and duration of these drawdowns change annually based on environmental conditions and partner input which results in varied plant response. EPM has been successfully implemented in at least one of the three pools in 25 of 30 years. In recent years, operational changes have been evaluated to expand the plant response from annual emergent plants to aquatic plants in portions of the pools. Monitoring of plant response has shown high productivity and seed production from plants with high value for migratory waterfowl as well as the return of formerly more abundant perennial aquatic species.
