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Mississippi River, 2006 Water Quality
Report to Congress

Seining at Stoddard Wetland, Summer, 2003, courtesy of John F. Sullivan

Seining at Stoddard Wetland, Summer, 2003.
Courtesy of John F. Sullivan

Environmental Management Program - Long Term Resource Monitoring Program
The Long Term Resource Monitoring Program (LTRMP) was authorized by Congress in 1986 as part of the U.S. Corps of Engineers' Environmental Management Program on the Upper Mississippi River (UMR). This program is being implemented by USGS with assistance and field support by the five UMR States (MN, IA, WI, IL and MO). This program has been in place since 1988 and provides information on water quality, vegetation, fisheries and land-cover/land-use and other resource information used to assess the trends and ecological health of the River. The Department's field station at La Crosse, WI carries out this monitoring program.
LTRMP Reports
2006 Water Quality Report
2004 Fish Status Report
LTRMP Data and Reports.

In 2005, due to anticipated long-term federal budget shortages, a monitoring program restructuring was necessary which resulted in dropping invertebrate sampling and reduced monitoring of the other components (fish, vegetation, water quality) by about one third.

Major products and reports or publications completed in 2004 and 2005 included:
  • annual data summaries in each component for each year,
  • multi-year synthesis analysis reports for each component,
  • input about indicators chosen for the Report To Congress for the Environmental Management Program,
  • a Fish Data graphical browser, which is user friendly for the river managers and the public,
    (related: Water Quality graphical browser)
  • and a manuscript about aquatic vegetation as related to habitat rehabilitation (island building) projects in Lower Pool 8.
An assessment of LTRMP's quarterly stratified random sampling (SRS) data for Pools 4 and 8 of the Mississippi River was conducted in 2005. The data were evaluated by assessment reaches agreed to by the five UMR States and considered different aquatic areas (strata) and seasons. Data were compared to both Minnesota's and Wisconsin's water quality standards (Table 1). The assessment revealed frequent exceedances (> 10% of samples) in Minnesota's turbidity standard, particularly in upper Pool 4 (Lock & Dam 3 to Lake Pepin). This problem was primarily associated with high suspended sediment loads from the Minnesota River. Minnesota's and Wisconsin's pH standard of 9.0 were commonly exceeded in backwaters especially during spring and fall periods. These high pH measurements were correlated with high chlorophyll (i.e. algae) concentrations and were associated with nutrient enrichment and elevated photosynthetic activity. Other water quality standard exceedances (DO, chloride and ammonia nitrogen) were observed in two isolated backwaters in Pool 8, both of which were influenced by municipal wastewater discharges.
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program for Great Rivers (EMAP-GRE)
EPA Great Rivers Website

EPA Great Rivers Website

EMAP-GRE is a monitoring program established by USEPA to assess the "great" rivers of our nation including the Mississippi, Ohio and Missouri. In 2004 and 2005, WDNR staff collected a comprehensive suite of physical, biological and chemical data along the main channel and associated riparian corridor of the Upper Mississippi River to use in future 305(b) reports. Data categories include water quality, fish identification and habitat and fish tissue for contaminants and genetics, aquatic and riparian vegetation, snag and substrate-associated invertebrates in the littoral zone of the main channel, littoral sediments for toxicity, zooplankton, periphyton, and data about human use and impacts.

EMAP Site Map

EMAP Site Map

Wisconsin plans to cooperate with Minnesota and USEPA in an additional 4-year monitoring effort beginning in 2006 with the main purpose being to develop reference condition and bioindicators for great rivers. EMAP-GRE data for 2004 and 2005 has been field-verified and is in the SWIMS national database. It will be compared with LTRMP data and Wisconsin DNR's nonwadeable river baseline monitoring data collected in Wisconsin waters of the Upper Mississippi River to cross-validated and to determine if there are overlaps in data acquisition or if there are data gaps.EMAP-GRE and LTRMP datasets both will be used for bioindicator development. Website:http://www.epa.gov/emap/greatriver/index.html.

Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Projects
Section 1103 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 (P.L. 99-662) authorized the construction of Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Projects (HREPs) as one element of the Upper Mississippi River System Environmental Management Program (UMRS-EMP). These projects are selected by biologists and designed by multi-agency teams led by the Corps of Engineers. Input from the public is an important element of planning these habitat projects and is accomplished through public meetings and personal contacts.

HREPs use conventional and experimental techniques to restore and enhance fish and wildlife habitat degraded by human activities that have altered the river ecosystem. A variety of techniques may be used to achieve chemical, physical and biological objectives for projects:
  • Dredging sediments to deepen selected backwaters and side channels.
  • Constructing dikes and levees to reduce sedimentation in backwaters and control water levels
  • Building islands to reduce wind and wave induced resuspension of sediments.
  • Side channel modifications to reduce sedimentation in backwaters.
  • Providing flows to isolated backwaters to improve fish habitat.
After construction is completed, all projects are monitored to document chemical and physical responses. Some projects are also monitored to determine if biological objectives are achieved.

The State of Wisconsin has sponsored, or co-sponsored, 17 projects that have been constructed since 1986. These projects are located in several different areas of the Mississippi River along Wisconsin's western border. Ten projects have also been constructed along Wisconsin's border in the states of Minnesota and Iowa. For more information on individual EMP habitat projects, visit the St. Paul and Rock Island Corps of Engineers Web sites: http://www.mvr.usace.army.mil/EMP.
Interstate Coordination
Light Penetration Reading, Lake Pepin, courtesy of John F. Sullivan The Upper Mississippi River (UMR) is a resource of major importance to Wisconsin and forms the boundary between Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin. Sharing management responsibilities for this Upper Mississippi segment with these states and federal agencies, Wisconsin DNR participates in numerous multi-state planning, monitoring, and restoration projects involving this major resource, including the Environmental Management Program (EMP), navigation studies, environmental pool plans, channel maintenance plans, water level management and other planning activities.

During 2004-05, Wisconsin participated on the Upper Mississippi River Basin Water Quality Task Force, coordinated by the Upper Mississippi River Basin Association (UMRBA). This task force, comprised of water resource management administrators and staff from the five UMR basin states, met regularly to improve coordination of water resource management activities on the Mississippi. In August 2005, the Task Force prepared a report that described the States approaches for issuing fish consumption advisories on the river with recommendations to improve consistency. This report and other water quality management reports prepared by the UMRBA can be found at the following Web address: http://www.umrba.org/reports.htm. Current Task Force efforts are evaluating approaches used for assessing sediment-related water quality problems on the River and developing guidance for making sediment impairment decisions.
Last Revised: 2006