ART HOVEY / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Tuesday, May 29, 2007 7:00 pm
At one point earlier this month, emergency management officials in Missouri feared the Missouri River was about to go on its worst rampage in that state since 1993.
More heavy rain on top of already saturated soil as far north as Nebraska did eventually push the river six feet above flood stage at Jefferson City, for example.
But one factor that saved downstream dwellers from even more dire predictions was a recent change in river management strategy. It allowed some of the flood surge to be released into wetlands reserve areas such as one near Plattsmouth.
Federal officials said a 2003 decision to take out a portion of a river levee there paid off in early May. That’s when some 600 million gallons of water flowed through that manmade breech and into the 700 acres in and around the Noerrlinger/Burden Wetland.
Bill Best, based at Weeping Water with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, said water that ponded up to three feet deep came from the first major flooding event there since the wetland was restored.
“When we do have a major flooding event, there’s going to be flooding somewhere … but these areas certainly relieve the pressure,” Best said.
Not until the river level drops does some portion of the overflow typically go back into the river channel.
Similar actions all along the river’s Nebraska route from South Sioux City to Rulo go together with easement payments to landowners who enroll acres in a Wetland Reserve or Wetland Reserve Enhancement Program.
What’s happening not far from Lake Waconda in Cass County is one of many examples of a departure from a much older river agenda largely presided over by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Since as far back as the 1930s, the corps has been working to straighten the river and to build a levee system that would allow farmers to raise crops on rich bottomland.
Paul Johnston, based at the corps’ district office in Omaha, said some people might see wetlands restoration as a return to a pre-1930s era in the 10-state area served from that headquarters.
Since the 1930s, the river has been shortened in those states by 240 miles, Johnston said.
Agencies acting at the direction of Congress traded wetland areas “for some of the richest farmland on the planet. And today we’re trying to figure out, how do we continue to enjoy the economic benefits of the river and, at the same time, make modifications to make a future for fish and birds?”
Apart from flooding concerns, the corps has become a partner in making adjustments along the river to protect a list of threatened and endangered species, including the pallid sturgeon, the least tern and the piping plover.
Dave Burden, who sold easement rights to the federal government from his family’s portion of the Noerrlinger/Burden Wetland, is satisfied with the results so far, including the planting of native grasses.
“I’m happy with it, I guess,” Burden said. “It’s just in the initial starting stage, because they just planted the initial vegetation last spring.”
Burden said the decision to quit farming acres that his grandfather bought in 1929 made sense.
“It wasn’t real profitable raising corn when the river flooded you out every now and then,” he said. “And all the property around there is kind of developed for wildlife habitat.”
Besides species battling against extinction, he sees benefits for turkeys, deer, bobcats, foxes and other creatures.
Burden said the federal government does indeed seem to be taking a step away from its heavy emphasis on navigation. But that, too, makes sense to him.
River barges haven’t been a major factor in moving grain to ports lately.
“Back in the older days, when farmers needed to transport grain and stuff (on the river), it probably served its purpose,” he said, “but there isn’t near the traffic there used to be.”
Railroads and trucks do most of the hauling now.
Chad Smith of Lincoln, director of the Nebraska Field Office for American Rivers, said that non-profit advocacy group supports the wetland initiative.
“We are recognizing that natural flood protection is one of the most critical things that a healthy river provides for the communities along it,” Smith said. “That’s one of the functions that was almost entirely lost when they channelized the lower Missouri River.”
Wetlands slow down flood water, collect its sediment and protect farmers and other property owners downstream, he said.
Burden said the $24 million the Natural Resources Conservation Service committed to enhancing wetlands in Nebraska, beginning in 2004, will undo a portion of what was done decades ago to make the Missouri function as a river highway.
“But that river used to be 10 times wider than it is now, if not more,” he said. “In theory, we are re-creating that. But that’s a very small percentage of what it used to be.”
Reach Art Hovey at (402) 523-4949 or at ahovey@alltel.net.