MISSOURI VALLEY, Iowa – A $3 million project to restore historic backwaters and side channels to the Missouri River is nearing completion at the Tyson Bend Wildlife Area that will create about 30 acres of critically needed backwaters.
The new 30 acre backwater will have a depth up to 10 feet and a large area of shallow water that will serve as a fish nursery.
“We certainly hope to see benefits to both fish and wildlife from projects like this,” said Van Sterner, fisheries biologist for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources at Onawa. He said bluegill, crappie, bass, catfishes, buffalo, paddlefish, waterfowl, shorebirds should all benefit from the backwater habitat.
The river itself has been altered in a number of ways from its original form over the years. When the Missouri River was channelized, an estimated 100,000 acres of critical backwaters and side channels were lost between Sioux City and St. Louis.
Before dams were placed on the Missouri River, the sediment load measured at Sioux City was 142 million tons per year. Sediment was historically critical to aquatic life in the Missouri. After dams were installed, the sediment load dropped to 4 million tons per year.
The river system had become sediment starved and the newly channelized river was eliminating backwaters and side channels.
Of the 67 native fish species in the Missouri River, 51 are listed as rare, uncommon or decreasing in all or part of their range.
The Tyson Bend project is one step toward improving the aquatic resources of the Missouri River.
A dredge is removing 1 million cubic yards of sediment creating the backwater area and pumping it into the river, which goes against nearly every piece of water quality improvement discussions in Iowa, but is critical to improving the health of the Missouri River. The plan is to allow the river current to deposit the dredge spoil which will create sandbars and aquatic habitat.
The dredging portion of the project is expected to be finished by the middle of August.
“This is a great project but we need a lot more of this kind of thing if we are going to make a difference over here,” said Sterner.
Recreating critical backwater habitat is a partnership between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources who have been working on similar joint projects on the Missouri River since 1986, when Congress instructed the Corps to restore 25 percent of the terrestrial and aquatic habitat that was lost when the river was channeled. The Iowa DNR identifies land along the river that it currently owns, submits a list of goals and objectives it would like to achieve and works with the Corps to construct the project.
“We feel it’s a good partnership that is adding or improving habitat for fish, wildlife, and recreation opportunity,” said Doug Chafa, wildlife biologist for the DNR for the Missouri River Wildlife Unit. The potential is almost unlimited for improving recreation on and along the river, he said.
While the landscape of Tyson Bend has been changed, the access will remain the same. Hunters can continue to use the road to access the area and pursue deer at Tyson Bend. The low water crossing will remain in tact. “The public can still hunt and fish the area,” said Chafa.
Iowa Sportsman
http://www.iowasportsman.com/article.php/20090721155727384