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19031 East County Road 2110N E-mail: IllinoisRiver@fws.gov |
Long Term Resource Monitoring Program
The Long Term Resource Monitoring (LTRM) Program was authorized under the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 (Public Law 99-662) as an element of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Environmental Management Program. Original authorization provided for a 10-year Program starting in 1987; Section 405 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-640) extended the Program.
The LTRM Program is being implemented by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the five Upper Mississippi River System states (Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin), with guidance and overall Program responsibility provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. A directive outlining the mode of operation and the respective roles of the agencies is embodied in a 1988 Memorandum of Agreement.
In the Water Resources Development Act of 1986, Congress recognized the Upper Mississippi River System as both a nationally significant ecosystem and a nationally significant commercial navigation system. Accordingly, the mission of the LTRM Program is to provide decision makers with the information needed to maintain the Upper Mississippi River System as a viable multiple-use large river ecosystem. The long-term goals of the Program are to understand the system, determine resource trends and impacts, develop management alternatives, manage information, and develop useful products.
The Environmental Management Technical Center, in Onalaska, Wisconsin, is the USGS facility which administers both the LTRM Program and the Computerized River Information Center components of the Environmental Management Program. Six remote state-operated field stations have been established for data collection, one of which is near Havana, Illinois.
Researchers evaluate fish production in Lake Chautauqua
as part of the LTRM program.
Water levels and quality, sedimentation, fish, vegetation, and invertebrates are being monitored, as well as land cover and use. To document system-wide ecological trends, resource monitoring data are being collected in five separate 25- to 30-mile reaches of the Mississippi River and in one reach of the Illinois River. Scientific guidance is being provided by an international committee of scientists.
Significant resource problems are being investigated, including navigation impacts, sedimentation, water level fluctuation, lack of aquatic vegetation, and reduced fisheries populations. If you would like more information about the LTRM Program or the Environmental Management Technical Center, please write to the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, 2630 Fanta Reed Road, La Crosse, WI 54602-0818 or visit 
visit the LTRM Program Web site.
