Missouri WRP Success Story

The Missouri River Project

Missouri River Between Boonville and Jefferson, Missouri

The Missouri River may never be the same, thanks to the partnership of various state and federal conservation agencies. The 49 mile stretch of the Missouri River between Boonville and Jefferson City, Missouri has received the attention of agencies involved with floodplain restoration and management. Approximately 19,000 acres have been set aside and protected through a combination of fee title acquisition by the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and easement acquisition by the Natural Resources Conservation Service through the Wetlands Reserve Program. These lands will be managed as floodplain habitats for a variety of wildlife and fish species, and will include emergent wetlands, forested wetlands, bottomland forests, sloughs, chutes, and flood overflow areas.

Most of this land will be managed by the MDC and will include intensively managed areas, like the Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area, and areas that will receive only passive management and allowed to naturally revert as determined by soils and hydrology. Nearly 6,000 acres that were previously encompassed by flood protection levees are now open to river flooding and therefore, help reduce flood severity by storing water during floods. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers personnel stated that these overflow areas reduced the flood crest by approximately four feet during a recent flood event.

These overflow areas will also provide spawning and rearing areas for many species of river fishes. Waterfowl and other wetland bird populations have greatly increased in this area due to the additional wetland areas.

This partnership between State and Federal agencies exemplifies the conservation environmental protection efforts that can be achieved through a multi-agency effort.

Area before restoration

Area after restoration

Photographs by Dale Humburg, Missouri Department of Conservation, Waterfowl Biologist

Contact Allen Green, NRCS, MO State Office for additional information, 573-876-0900

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