|
Phone: 573-234-2132 |
Missouri River Habitat Restoration Monitoring
Big Muddy National Fish & Wildlife Refuge
The BMNFWR was established on September 9, 1994. The refuge's name derived from the historical nickname for the Missouri River. The refuge consists of several units along the Missouri River from Kansas City to St. Louis.
| Lisbon Bottom Flooding from 1993-1997 on the Lower Missouri River carved a side channel chute through the river bottom at Lisbon, Missouri. The Lisbon Bottom chute is unique in that high water events in 1996-1999 allowed the chute to evolve into a wide channel with diverse habitats. Construction of water control structures was started by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1999 to minimize the flow through the chute and maintain the river’s navigation channel. Structures were completed in 2001. Columbia FRO staff have monitored the fish population in the Lisbon Bottom chute since 1997. The first evidence of pallid sturgeon reproduction in the Lower Missouri River was collected in the lower end of the chute in 1998. The side channel also provided nursery and rearing habitat for other larval and juvenile fishes. The area has changed dramatically with the addition of the structures and lower water levels. |
 Larval pallid sturgeon collected in the Lisbon Bottoms Unit of the Big Muddy National Fish & Wildlife Refuge in 1998. (Photo credit: Rick Hansen, FWS) |
 Aerial photo of sandbar complex in Jamison Island unit of the Big Muddy National Fish & Wildlife Refuge. (Photo courtesy of Jim Whitly) |
Jameson Island Monitoring at the Jameson Island Unit also began in 1997. This area is a complex of sandbars and wing dikes located down river of the Lisbon side channel at river mile 214. Dikes near the upper end of the bend were notched and detached from the bankline allowing erosion of the bank to occur. This created a narrow chute between the sandbars and the bank. Several deep holes developed downstream of the notched dikes. The diversity of habitats at Jameson Island is used by over 40 native species including larval and juvenile chubs, sturgeon, and blue suckers. |
Cranberry Bend
The Cranberry Bend Unit is located at River mile 279. The Unit contains a 0.5 mile side channel with a wooded island and attached sandbar. At the head of the side channel is a closing structure that has been notched allowing water to flow through at lower river stages. Monitoring of this side channel began in 2001 to compare the number and type of fish using the side channel and the main river channel. Similar species have been found in the side channel and the main river channel. However the number of fish has been higher in the main channel. This may be because the side channel has swifter water than the river side of the wooded island/sandbar.
| Overton Bottoms The COE constructed a 1.5 mile chute at Overton Bottoms in 2001 at river mile 187.55. The side channel only receives water from the Missouri River at high river stages, thus, sampling within the chute is limited. Sampling began in 2001 to compare the number and species of fish using the side channel and the main channel side of the wooded island. In the spring the Missouri River rises and the narrow side channel is used by shortnose gar, gizzard shad, and river carpsucker. Several shovelnose sturgeon and paddlefish have also been collected. Modifications to the chute are ongoing. We are also monitoring fish use of the flood plain and seasonal wetlands during flood pulse events. Future monitoring will allow us to see how Overton Bottoms is being used by Missouri River fishes as it continues to evolve. |
 White pelicans on migration at the Overton Bottoms unit of the Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge. |
Missouri River Habitat Improvements
Columbia FRO works with the Kansas City and Omaha Districts of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to monitor and evaluate the responses of fish populations to structure modifications and habitat improvements made in the Lower Missouri River. Some of these projects were completed as part of the Missouri River Bank Stabilization and Navigation Mitigation Project, while others are operations and maintenance work.
Nathan’s Lake was renovated by the Omaha District, and the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District as part of a project to re-establish Missouri River floodplain wetlands. Nathan’s Lake is approximately a 50-acre wetland complex and is a unit of the Boyer Chute National Wildlife Refuge. The lake was redesigned and water control structures were added to help maintain water levels in the lake to attract waterfowl and create a spawning and nursery habitat for Missouri River fishes. Columbia FRO sampled the fish community in Nathan’s Lake in 2001 and 2002 and compared the fish species present and the available habitat at different river stages. Our work indicates spring rises sufficient to reach the wetland are necessary to ensure use of Nathan’s Lake as a spawning area by large river fish species. (2001 Report), (2002 Report)
The Kansas City District has been working to increase fish habitat by modifying their bank stabilization and navigation structures. COE engineers are creating notches in the middle of rock dikes and excavating the bank where dikes attach to the riverbank. Both of these modifications allow water to flow around or over the structures, increasing fish habitat. Other purposes are to expand channel width and create shallow water habitat. Columbia FRO is collecting fish around these modified structures to assess fish response.
