The Cost of Failed Missouri River Mitigation and Endangered Species Recovery
Crofton, NE, June 04, 2026 --(PR.com)-- River Ecosystems, Inc. Releases a Summary of Federal Investment in Misguided, Missouri River Mitigation, and Endangered Species Recovery. June 2026
“Degradation of the Missouri River ecosystem will continue unless some portion of the hydrologic and geomorphic processes that sustained the pre-regulation Missouri River, and floodplain ecosystem are restored, including: flow pulses that emulate the natural hydrograph, and cut-and-fill alluviation associated with meandering. The ecosystem faces the prospect of irreversible extinction of species.” This was quoted from the 2002, National Research Council report: The Missouri River Ecosystem Exploring the Prospects for Recovery, published by the National Academy Press. The Corps of Engineers and EPA commissioned this study.
The book; The Middle Missouri River A Collection of Papers on the Biology with Special Reference to Power Station Effects. 1982, Edited by Larry W. Hesse, Gary L. Hergenrader, Howard S. Lewis, Steven D. Reetz, and Allen B. Schlesinger, wrote “The present Missouri River hardly resembles the glacially integrated stream born, no less than 115,000 years ago. The Missouri River, like so many rivers on this planet, was harnessed solely, it often seems, for the benefit of man. The mechanical alteration of the Missouri River has become so intense, as to threaten its integrity, as a living ecosystem.” The Corps of Engineers was one of the eleven, state and federal agencies involved in this research.
The river is separated into two sections: the upper river, from Fort Benton, MT to Sioux City, IA, is impacted by 15 dams on the mainstem, and dams on nearly all of the tributaries. The reservoirs, behind these dams, inundate 1,219,556 acres of the floodplain. The approximate total area of the floodplain, in this section, was 2,276,756 acres. However, none of the upper river floodplain interacts with the river anymore, because overbank flow has been prevented by water management operating plans for each dam (Hesse, L.W. 2026. Quantifying Lost Habitat of the Missouri River Ecosystem. LinkedIn Article).
Channelization of the lower river, begins at Ponca, NE, and extends to the Mississippi River (753 miles). The area of the floodplain, in this section, is 2,180,000 acres. Channelization resulted in the loss of 354,000 acres of the meander belt, and 168,000 acres of natural channel, totaling, 522,000 acres, 24% of the lower river floodplain. The entire, remaining floodplain, is permanently disconnected from the river, because the channel no longer migrates, due to wing dikes and revetments, reservoirs, and an altered hydrograph. In addition, channel incision, which afflicts most of non-reservoir sections, has dug the thalweg as much as 16 feet deeper than the elevation of the floodplain; 95% of the floodplain has been developed for agriculture, urban, and industrial uses. The floodplain was created by the river, and was an inseparable component of the ecosystem. Therefore, 4,456,756 acres of the river’s geomorphology, has been lost, from the Missouri River ecosystem. In addition to the USACE dams, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, has constructed more than 40 dams on Missouri River tributaries. Twenty-one of the largest (storage >250,000 acre-ft) have inundated 389,676 acres of tributary floodplains (ibid, p.1).
The Missouri River Fish and Wildlife Mitigation Project was authorized in 1986. Missouri River Recovery Program, MRROM, 2012 (Chief’s Annual Report, 2012) presents the project cost. “The Omaha District has overall program management responsibility. The Omaha District is involved in the implementation of the project in the States of IA, NE, SD, ND, and MT. The Kansas City District is involved in the project in MO and KS. Estimated total Federal cost of the project is $3,739,687,000.”
The Missouri River Recovery Plan Budget for 2013-2024, in millions of dollars is reported in the following link: https://usace.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16021coll6/id/2574 Fiscal year reports include the cost of endangered species recovery plans.
2013 – 90; 2014 – 70; 2015 – 48.7; 2016 – 47.1; 2017 – 18; 2018 – 30; 2019 – 10; 2020 – 17.7; 2021 – 9.7; 2022 – 8.075; 2023 – 25.21; 2024 – 17.5; total 15-year expenditure - $392,000. Total to date; $4,131,687,000.
Current Status of the Missouri River Ecosystem
Sediment remains trapped in upper basin reservoirs. The discharge from main stem dams does not include the March or June rise, and does not include fall low flows. The remnant flowing sections, between dams, do not erode into, or flow over the floodplain, with rare exceptions. There is not a single dam on the mainstem or tributary that has a fish bypass. Hydropower peaking and flood control actions, continue to dewater the remnant free-flowing sections, and unnatural water temperatures, from deep release dams, barely reaches the minimum, for successful native species reproduction.
The channelized portion of the river remains the same width and depth, that it was when channelization was completed in 1980. Mitigation and endangered species projects, have failed to recover the pallid sturgeon and the interior least tern. Nearly the entire original sources of primary production (macrophytes) have been eliminated. Secondary production (macroinvertebrates) has declined by more than 80%. Forty-one native fish species are in danger of extirpation. Four billion dollars was spent on artificial, non-scientific projects, that USACE was told would fail.
Only navigation and bank stabilization, at select sites, limit widening the river to create a meander belt. Navigation, cost/benefit, does not justify losing the ecosystem (Hesse, L.W. Missouri River Navigation – Part 2. LinkedIn Article). Sediment bypass sluice gates or canals, have been used in other large rivers, across the globe. Reservoirs and riverine sections, alike, benefit from renewed sediment transport. Sixty-six thousand acres of public land, is available along the channelized Missouri River, to recover meandering and cut-and -fill alluviation. However, USACE refuses to adopt any true scientific remediation, that has been documented, by many years of large river scientific research. Therefore, $4.13 billion has been spent, experimenting with artificial solutions, that were known would fail. State and Federal scientists involved in the Missouri River Mitigation, and endangered species research, have proven that to be true. Have new artificial solutions surfaced again, or will science finally prevail?
“Degradation of the Missouri River ecosystem will continue unless some portion of the hydrologic and geomorphic processes that sustained the pre-regulation Missouri River, and floodplain ecosystem are restored, including: flow pulses that emulate the natural hydrograph, and cut-and-fill alluviation associated with meandering. The ecosystem faces the prospect of irreversible extinction of species.” This was quoted from the 2002, National Research Council report: The Missouri River Ecosystem Exploring the Prospects for Recovery, published by the National Academy Press. The Corps of Engineers and EPA commissioned this study.
The book; The Middle Missouri River A Collection of Papers on the Biology with Special Reference to Power Station Effects. 1982, Edited by Larry W. Hesse, Gary L. Hergenrader, Howard S. Lewis, Steven D. Reetz, and Allen B. Schlesinger, wrote “The present Missouri River hardly resembles the glacially integrated stream born, no less than 115,000 years ago. The Missouri River, like so many rivers on this planet, was harnessed solely, it often seems, for the benefit of man. The mechanical alteration of the Missouri River has become so intense, as to threaten its integrity, as a living ecosystem.” The Corps of Engineers was one of the eleven, state and federal agencies involved in this research.
The river is separated into two sections: the upper river, from Fort Benton, MT to Sioux City, IA, is impacted by 15 dams on the mainstem, and dams on nearly all of the tributaries. The reservoirs, behind these dams, inundate 1,219,556 acres of the floodplain. The approximate total area of the floodplain, in this section, was 2,276,756 acres. However, none of the upper river floodplain interacts with the river anymore, because overbank flow has been prevented by water management operating plans for each dam (Hesse, L.W. 2026. Quantifying Lost Habitat of the Missouri River Ecosystem. LinkedIn Article).
Channelization of the lower river, begins at Ponca, NE, and extends to the Mississippi River (753 miles). The area of the floodplain, in this section, is 2,180,000 acres. Channelization resulted in the loss of 354,000 acres of the meander belt, and 168,000 acres of natural channel, totaling, 522,000 acres, 24% of the lower river floodplain. The entire, remaining floodplain, is permanently disconnected from the river, because the channel no longer migrates, due to wing dikes and revetments, reservoirs, and an altered hydrograph. In addition, channel incision, which afflicts most of non-reservoir sections, has dug the thalweg as much as 16 feet deeper than the elevation of the floodplain; 95% of the floodplain has been developed for agriculture, urban, and industrial uses. The floodplain was created by the river, and was an inseparable component of the ecosystem. Therefore, 4,456,756 acres of the river’s geomorphology, has been lost, from the Missouri River ecosystem. In addition to the USACE dams, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, has constructed more than 40 dams on Missouri River tributaries. Twenty-one of the largest (storage >250,000 acre-ft) have inundated 389,676 acres of tributary floodplains (ibid, p.1).
The Missouri River Fish and Wildlife Mitigation Project was authorized in 1986. Missouri River Recovery Program, MRROM, 2012 (Chief’s Annual Report, 2012) presents the project cost. “The Omaha District has overall program management responsibility. The Omaha District is involved in the implementation of the project in the States of IA, NE, SD, ND, and MT. The Kansas City District is involved in the project in MO and KS. Estimated total Federal cost of the project is $3,739,687,000.”
The Missouri River Recovery Plan Budget for 2013-2024, in millions of dollars is reported in the following link: https://usace.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16021coll6/id/2574 Fiscal year reports include the cost of endangered species recovery plans.
2013 – 90; 2014 – 70; 2015 – 48.7; 2016 – 47.1; 2017 – 18; 2018 – 30; 2019 – 10; 2020 – 17.7; 2021 – 9.7; 2022 – 8.075; 2023 – 25.21; 2024 – 17.5; total 15-year expenditure - $392,000. Total to date; $4,131,687,000.
Current Status of the Missouri River Ecosystem
Sediment remains trapped in upper basin reservoirs. The discharge from main stem dams does not include the March or June rise, and does not include fall low flows. The remnant flowing sections, between dams, do not erode into, or flow over the floodplain, with rare exceptions. There is not a single dam on the mainstem or tributary that has a fish bypass. Hydropower peaking and flood control actions, continue to dewater the remnant free-flowing sections, and unnatural water temperatures, from deep release dams, barely reaches the minimum, for successful native species reproduction.
The channelized portion of the river remains the same width and depth, that it was when channelization was completed in 1980. Mitigation and endangered species projects, have failed to recover the pallid sturgeon and the interior least tern. Nearly the entire original sources of primary production (macrophytes) have been eliminated. Secondary production (macroinvertebrates) has declined by more than 80%. Forty-one native fish species are in danger of extirpation. Four billion dollars was spent on artificial, non-scientific projects, that USACE was told would fail.
Only navigation and bank stabilization, at select sites, limit widening the river to create a meander belt. Navigation, cost/benefit, does not justify losing the ecosystem (Hesse, L.W. Missouri River Navigation – Part 2. LinkedIn Article). Sediment bypass sluice gates or canals, have been used in other large rivers, across the globe. Reservoirs and riverine sections, alike, benefit from renewed sediment transport. Sixty-six thousand acres of public land, is available along the channelized Missouri River, to recover meandering and cut-and -fill alluviation. However, USACE refuses to adopt any true scientific remediation, that has been documented, by many years of large river scientific research. Therefore, $4.13 billion has been spent, experimenting with artificial solutions, that were known would fail. State and Federal scientists involved in the Missouri River Mitigation, and endangered species research, have proven that to be true. Have new artificial solutions surfaced again, or will science finally prevail?
Contact
River Ecosystems, Inc.
Lawrence W. Hesse
402-640-7809
https://www.linkedin.com/in/larry-hesse-522ba1346/
Lawrence W. Hesse
402-640-7809
https://www.linkedin.com/in/larry-hesse-522ba1346/
Contact
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