Location
The UMRR (Upper Mississippi River Restoration) Program includes the Upper Mississippi River between the Twin Cities, Minnesota and the mouth of the Ohio River, the Illinois Waterway and small portions of tributaries that have commercial navigation channels.
Description
The UMRR Program was authorized by the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 1986 and continuously authorized by WRDA 1999. The program consists of two primary elements: habitat rehabilitation projects and systemic monitoring and research. Some of the key provisions of the program are: 1) a continuing authority; 2) total authorized annual funding amount is $90,000,000; and 3) the requirement for a Report to Congress every six years to evaluate the Program and document progress and its accomplishments and identify systemic habitat needs.
The UMRR Program was the first environmental restoration and monitoring program undertaken on a large river system in the United States. The UMRR Program has come to be recognized as the single most important effort committed to ensuring the viability and vitality of the Upper Mississippi River Systems’ (UMRS') diverse and significant fish and wildlife resources since establishment of the National Wildlife Refuges on that system in the 1920s.
This systemic program provides a well-balanced combination of habitat restoration activities, along with monitoring and research. UMRR has pioneered many new and innovative engineering and planning techniques for ecosystem restoration in large river systems. In addition, the science element of the UMRR has developed state-of-the-art techniques to monitor and conduct research on the river. Scientific monitoring, engineering design and environmental modeling techniques have been shared throughout the United States and in more than five countries.
The UMRR Program has an long-standing strong partnership with multiple federal and state agencies, non-governmental organizations, and the general public. The total annual value of these partnership contributions to the UMRR Program averages $1,000,000.
Over the past 38 years, the program has completed several major initiatives. These include: five Reports to Congress; the 2000 & 2018 Habitat Needs Assessments; three Status and Trends Reports (most recently in 2021); two Habitat Restoration Design Manuals; a UMRR Program Strategic and Operational Plan; two UMRR Long Term Resource Monitoring Element Strategic Plans; and developed an explicit approach to Adaptive Management.
Background
Since 1986, the UMRR Program has completed 63 habitat projects that improved critical fish and wildlife habitat on 121,400 acres in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin. From 2005 to 2015, UMRR projects benefited nearly 35,000 acres of habitat - nearly 50% of all habitats reported by the Corps nationally. In addition, from 2020 to 2024 UMRR projects have benefitted an additional 15,400 acres of habitat. The UMRR Program has 25 additional projects in various stages of construction and design. These projects will benefit another 65,000 acres of habitat when implemented. The UMRR Program fulfills the direction of Congress to manage the UMRS as a nationally significant ecosystem. Other Corps programs address the navigation system.
The UMRR Program addresses long term stressors to the UMRS, such as sedimentation, increased water tables due to maintaining navigation pools during low flows and continues to effectively respond to new stressors on the UMRS, such as the invasive Asian carps. Without the UMRR Program, the Upper Mississippi River ecosystem will degrade at an accelerated rate and the progress that has been made to preserve this national treasure for future generations will be lost.
Status
In the last six years, the UMRR Program: 1) completed the 2022 Report to Congress; 2) completed the 2015-2025 UMRR Strategic and Operational Plan and conducted an interim review in 2021; 3) signed a new Advisory Groups Charter in 2021; 4) recognized the Program's 35 years of service to the nation, receiving commendations from several federal, state, and local leaders; 5) initiated the groundbreaking effort to define and integrate ecosystem health and resilience principles for the UMRS; 6) completed development of the second Habitat Needs Assessment to focus future habitat rehabilitation efforts; 7) continued collection of the annual systemic data on key environmental attributes of the UMRS to assess changes and evaluate ecosystem health and resilience; 8) Released the 3rd Ecological Status and Trends of the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers; 9) advanced over 20 Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement projects; and 10) executed an average of 97.7% of funds.
For Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Projects in FY 23, the UMRR Program initiated Feasibility on four projects, continued Feasibility on six projects, completed Feasibility on three projects, initiated and/or continued Design on four projects, initiated Construction on one project, and continued Construction on seven projects. These projects represent an additional 65,000 acres of habitat restoration potential over the next 5-10 years.
For the Long-Term Resource Monitoring element in FY 23, the Program continued our baseline data collection and analysis of fisheries, aquatic vegetation and water quality resources across the system and made it publicly available. This information is critical to identification, planning, design, and evaluation of habitat restoration projects. Additionally, an update to the systemic topobathy layer for the system was initiated which will provide critical topographic and bathymetric information for project planning and design efforts as well as scientific research. Finally, the UMRR Program completed an implementation planning effort to identify and prioritize the critical information needs of the Upper Mississippi River System for the next decade and made initial investments in the highest priority needs which will provide valuable insight to the Program, partners and the UMRS.
Finally, at the end of 2022 (FY 23) the UMRR partnership completed the 2022 Report to Congress to HQ USACE, which provided a comprehensive evaluation of the Program elements and highlight the value to the nation of its restoration, science and monitoring efforts.
The Water Resources Development Act of 2020 increased the Programs authorization to $55,000,000 ($40M Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Projects & $15 M Long Term Resource Monitoring) from $33,170,000. The Water Resources Development Act of 2022 further increased the Programs annual authorization from $55,000,000 to $90,000,000 ($75M Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Projects & $15 M Long Term Resource Monitoring).
Additional Information
Authority
CG - Construction General
Section 1103 of WRDA 1986, as amended
Summarized Project Costs
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Estimated Federal Cost
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$1,678,700,000
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Estimated Non-Federal Cost
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$26,066,000
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Estimated Total Project Cost
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$1,704,766,000
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Allocations Prior to FY 2024
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$791,991,000
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FY 2024 Allocation
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$55,000,000
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FY 2025 President’s Budget
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$55,000,000
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FY 2025 Total Capability
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$75,810,000
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Major Work Item Current Year
FY 2024: Construction funding has enabled the UMRR Program to take a proactive approach to ensure progress on projects in the planning, design, and construction phases as well as ensuring the best available monitoring and science is available to inform restoration. The UMRR Program has advanced planning on 12 projects, including completion of feasibility on 6 projects. The UMRR Program has advanced 9 design projects, including completion of design on 2 projects. Construction has been advanced on 9 projects, including initiation of construction on 2 projects and completion of the Beaver Island in Clinton County, IA, benefitting 1,680 acres. In addition, funds supported collection and analysis of monitoring data to enhance effectiveness of current and future UMRR restoration efforts.
For the Long-Term Resource Monitoring element in FY 24, the Program continued our baseline data collection and analysis of fisheries, aquatic vegetation and water quality resources across the system and made it publicly available. This information is critical to identification, planning, design, and evaluation of habitat restoration projects. Additionally, an update to the systemic topobathy layer for the system has continued, which will provide critical topographic and bathymetric information for project planning and design efforts as well as scientific research. Finally, the UMRR Program made additional investments in the highest priority critical information needs which will provide valuable insight to the Program, partners and the UMRS.
The UMRR Program also initiated the development of its next Strategic Plan as well as identification of the next generation of Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Projects. Finally, the UMRR Program executed a Programmatic Agreement for Cultural Resources and Historic Preservation across three USACE Districts (St. Paul, Rock Island, St. Louis) in coordination with 55 Tribes, the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri, the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. This landmark agreement will increase the efficiency of the Program, improve compliance and coordination, and strengthen the UMRR partnership.
Major Work Item Next Fiscal Year
FY 2025: FY25 Construction funding will enable the UMRR Program to take a proactive approach to ensure progress on projects in the planning, design, and construction phases as well as ensuring the best available monitoring and science is available to inform restoration. The UMRR Program will advance planning on 9 projects, including completion of 1 feasibility study the initiation of 3. The UMRR Program will advance design on 10 projects, including the completion of design efforts for 5 projects. The UMRR Program will advance construction on 11 projects, including initiating construction of 3 projects. In addition, these funds would support collection and analysis of monitoring data to enhance effectiveness of current and future UMRR restoration efforts. The UMRR Program will also complete development of its next Strategic Plan as well as identification of the next generation of Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Projects.