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54 OVERVIEW OF RIVER-FLOODPLAIN ECOLOGY IN THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER BASIN Vear Evem Table 5-1. Selected chronology of significant events in the history of lower Missouri River development. Event 1803 Acquisition of basin to United States from France through Louisiana Purchase. 1804-1806 Captains M. Lewis and W. Clark expedition of Mis- souri River from mouth at 51. Louis Missouri to origin in Montana. .. First steamboat travel on Missouri River. First commercial steamboat barge line: 51. Louis to Leavenwonh, Kansas; steamboat era begins. Snag removal authorized under act of Congress. 2.245 large (TeeS removed from river channel and I ,700 overhanging trees cut from bank in 619 kilometers of river upstream from St. Louis. 1867-1868 Major C. W. Howell's Survey and Report on Improve- ment of Missouri River. Peak of steamboat era; 47 steamboats deliver about 9,000 metric tons of cargo to Ft. Benton, Montana, 3,540 kilometers upstream from St. Louis. Lr. Col. C.R. Suter's report detailing long-range plans for aiding navigation on river. Missouri River Commission established by Congress to improve navigation of river by contracting its width, stabilizing channel location, protecting banks from erosion, and snag removal. 1885-1910 Snag removal systematic and intensive; 17.676 snags, 69 drift piles, and 6,073 overhanging bankline trees removed in 866 kilometers of river in 1901 alone. Repeal of act establishing Missouri River Commis. sian. Railroads dominate freight traffic; steamboat era ends. Congress enacts Redamation Act of 1902 (Public Law (PL) 57-161) to survey, construct, and maintain irrigation works in arid lands of the western United States. Start of reservoir development planning. 1902-1912 No maintenance of Commission structures, most wash out Increase in typhoid deaths in towns along Missouri River. Congress authorizes 1.8-meter-deep, 61-meter-wide channel from Kansas City, Kansas. to St Louis, Missouri (PL 62-241). 1912-1917 Active dike and revetment construction to stabilize channel. U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) report identifies sewage pollution in river as a major factor in typhoid deaths. 1917-1933 Maintenance of channel structures, active period of levee construction. 1920-1958 Records and studies of water suppliers and USPHS confirm bacterial contamination. Treatment by most water suppliers does not meet USPHS stan- dards. PL 68-585 authorizes 2oo-foot-wide channel, Kansas City. Missouri, to mouth. Extension of 1.8-meter-deep channel to Sioux City, Iowa (PL 7!>-560). 1819 1829 1832 1838 1869 1881 1884 1902 1902 1910 1912 1913 1925 1927 Year 1934 Passage of Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act (PL 73-121) requiring that fishes and wildlife receive equal consideration to other purposes of Federal planning in federally funded or approved water- development projects. 1936 Passage of Flood Control Act (PL 74--738) to develop "works of improvement" on more than 50 major rivers throughout the United States. 1937 Construction completed on the first main-stem dam and impoundment on Missouri River, Fort Peck Dam and Reservoir, Montana. to supply water for river navigation. 1944 Flood Control Act of 1944 (PL 78-534) authorized Pick.Sloan Plan to construct six dams on main stem of Missouri River. Missouri River Bank Sta- bilization and Navigation Project authorized for flood control, bank stabilization, land reclamation, hydropower generation, and development and maintenance of navigation channel. 1945 Rivers and Harbors Act (PL 79-14) passed, provided a 2.7-meter-deep, 9IA-meter-wide navigation chan- nel from St. Louis to Sioux City. 1946 Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act of 1946 (PL 79- 732) passed, required Federal agencies to con- struct water projects with a view to preventing loss of and damage to wildlife resources. 1946-1955 Five additional dams and reservoirs constructed on Missouri River. See table 5-4 for details. 1956 Federal Clean Water Act (PL 84--{,60) passage strengthens water-quality regulations. 1958 Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act of 1958 (PL 85- 624) required that project costs must include the cost of water project modifications or land acqui- sition earlier required under PL 79-732 to prevent loss or damage to wildlife. 1960--1981 Replacement ofpenneable pile dikes with impemle- able rock dikes. 1960--1970 Construction of primary wastewater-treatment facili- ties for major discharges on lower river. 1964 Fish kill in Missouri River extending more than 161 kilometers downstream from Kansas City, Mis- souri. 1965 Federal Water Project Restoration Act (PL 89-72) required non-Federal public agencies to adminis- ter fish, wildlife, and recreation on project lands and pay one-half of costs allocated to these resources. 1969 Flavor tests reveal unacceptable taste in fishes from several locations in Missouri River. PCB levels in common carp pose potential threat. 1969 Federal Water Pollution Control Authority, and later, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). establishes requiremellts of downstream minimum daily average flow to maintain federally approved water-quality standards. 1970-1971 25 percent of fishes sampled from a bay in Lake Oahe, South Dakota, contained unsafe levels of methylmercury. Source of mercury was mining operations on a tributary stream.