Backwaters Along The Mississippi and Missouri Rivers

DANIELLE QUIST USD BIOLOGY GRAD STUDENT O C T O B E R 2 1 ST, 2 0 1 0 RIVER STUDIES LECTURE

What are backwaters?

Floodplain aquatic habitats that are usually

connected by a downstream opening to the main channel and seasonally or periodically connected at an upstream opening.

Role of Backwaters
Backwaters Provide Productive and Protective

Habitats for Many Organisms

Lower flows provide protection and decrease turbidity Increase in photosynthesis Higher abundance of food sources for many organisms

Primary Producers, Macroinvertebrates, Zooplankton

An important fish nursery

Protected from flow High amounts of zooplankton

Aquatic Food Web Example

Backwaters as Wetlands

Backwaters
Come in all Different Shapes and Sizes Can Make them Difficult to Study and Compare Lets Look at Some Backwaters Along the Mississippi

River and Missouri River

Mississippi River Watershed

Upper Mississippi Backwaters

Landsat 7 Satellite Images South of Lacrosse, WI

South of Prairie Du Chien, WI

Mississippi River Watershed

Missouri River Backwaters

Missouri River Near HWY 19 Bridge

View from Missouri River Backwaters

1 1

35% impounded 32% channelized 33% unchannelized

2 Graphics Courtesy of Watersheds.org(1) and USACE (2)

Headwaters of Missouri River

Dammed Reaches

Dammed Reaches

500-755 miles of Missouri River were inundated under reservoirs

Dammed Reaches
Missouri River has been

greatly altered by dams

Altered flow regime Channel Incision

This has lead to reduced

connectivity to the floodplain and a decrease in shallow water habitat

Graphics Courtesy of USACE

Decrease in Shallow Water Habitat Along the 59mile MNRR Pre and Post Dam
Shallow Water Habitat Area Changes Post Dam Along the 59-mile Reach of the MNRR
460 ha

500 450 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0

Area (ha)

261 ha

1941 Year

2008

Channelized Reach

Photo courtesy of USGS

735 miles are channelized

(Sioux City , IA to St. Louis, MO) Channelization shortened the river 72 miles, resulting in a loss of 127 miles of river shoreline habitat.

Aquatic habitat was lost as 168,000 acres of sediment accreted behind the wing dikes, forming new land. Nearly 354,000 acres of meander belt habitat were lost to urban and agricultural floodplain development.

Current Backwater (SWH) Restoration Along the Missouri River

Floodplain Connectivity
Many rivers are disconnected to

their floodplain

Loss of floodplain functionality Decreased numbers off-channel habitats

Habitat Restoration
Restoring Shallow Water Habitat along the Missouri

River

USACE has been working to restore shallow water habitat (SWH), including backwaters, along the Missouri River south of Ponca, NE as a response to the reasonable and prudent alternative (RPA) outlined in the 2000 Biological Opinion (amended in 2003). Recent purchase of land by USACE may lead to future backwater and chute construction along the 59-mile MNRR

3 Reconstructed backwaters along the 59-mile

MNRR

Yankton Backwater (RM 806) Gunderson Backwater (RM 777) Ponca Backwater (RM 754)

The Gunderson Backwater RM 777

Photo by USACE 2008

Gunderson Property 1953 Pre-construction of Gavins Point Dam

Gunderson Property 2004

Gunderson Backwater 2009 (Restored 2008)

778

777

Yankton Backwater Pre-restoration 1997 RM 806

Photo by NPS 2005

Yankton Backwater Pre-restoration 2000 RM 806

Yankton Backwater Post Restoration 2010 (Restored 2007-08)

Photo by NDOR 2005

Yankton Backwater June 2011

Ponca Backwater Pre-restoration 1997 RM 754

Ponca Backwater Pre-restoration 2000 RM 754

Ponca Backwater Post Construction 2010 (Restored 2004)

Photo by USACE 2005

River Dike Notching Below the 59-mile

Missouri River Recovery Program ESH and SWH Site Locations, 2010

Chlorophyll a Concentration and Water Quality Trends Within the Main Channel, Reconstructed and Naturally Occurring Backwaters of the 59-mile Reach of the Missouri National Recreational River (MNRR)
USD River Studies Course October 2011
D A N I E L L E Q U I S T 1, T I M C O W M A N 2, D A N S O L U K 1, M A R K D I X O N 1
1

DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH DAKOTA, VERMILLION, S D 2 MISSOURI RIVER INSTITUTE, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH DAKOTA, VERMILLION , SD

1 1

59-mile MNRR

2 Graphics Courtesy of Watersheds.org(1) and USACE (2)

View of the 59-mile MNRR

Primary Objectives
Spatially and temporally compare various water quality

parameters and Chl a concentrations of the restored and natural backwaters and the main channel of the 59-mile reach of the MNRR
Investigate relationships between Chl a concentrations and water

quality parameters

RM 757 NBW

RM 806 RBW

RM 777 RBW

RM 774 NBW

RM 766 NBW

RM 754 RBW

Methods

Samples were collected monthly in June-Sept. 2010 from the 3 reconstructed (RM 806, 777, and 754) and 3 natural backwaters (RM 774, 766, and 757) as well as adjacent main channel sites Samples were collected at 1/3 depth to bottom with VanDorn bottle and shipped to the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources (SDDENR) Water Quality Lab In situ measurements (e.g., temperature, pH, conductivity, DO, and turbidity) were taken with a compound YSI probe Chl a was determined using EPAs Standard Operation Procedure with Chl a concentrations calculated from measurements taken with a Beckman Coulter DU 640 Spectrophotometer to estimate phytoplankton biomass. Repeated Measures ANOVA and Multiple/Linear Regression analyses were run on SAS 9.2

Water Quality Parameters

In Situ
Temperature Specific Conductivity pH Turbidity Dissolved Oxygen (DO)

Inorganics
Alkalinity Ammonia Nitrate Total Phosphorus Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Total Suspended Solids (TSS)

Results: Spatial and Temporal Comparisons

Results indicate significant temporal trends in nitrate,

ammonia, TSS, phosphorus, TDS, temperature, turbidity, and Chl a concentration (p<0.05).
There were no significant differences between main

channel and natural occurring backwaters.

TSS, TDS, phosphorus, turbidity, and Chl a values for

the reconstructed backwaters were significantly different from the other two habitats (p<0.05).

Results: Spatial and Temporal Comparisons

0.5 Phosphorus (mg/L) 200 150 TSS 100 50 June 40 Chl a concentration 30 20 TDS (mg/L) July Aug Sept Reconstructed Natural Main Channel

0.4
0.3 0.2 0.1 0

0
June 750 700 650 600 550 500 450 400 June July Aug Sept July Aug Sept

10
0 June July Aug Sept

Results: Spatial and Temporal Comparisons

Ammonia (mg/L) 5 Nitrate (mg/L) 4 3 2 1 0.1 0.08 0.06 0.04 0.02 0 June 8.2 8 pH 7.8 7.6 7.4 7.2 June July Aug Sept June July Aug July Aug Sept Reconstructed Natural

Main Channel

0
June 30 25 Temp C 20 15 10 5 0 July Aug Sept

Discussion

Temporal trends in TSS, TDS, and nutrients are linked with seasonal patterns in runoff, discharge, and land use. The restored backwaters show lower levels of TSS, TDS, and turbidity, which is highly likely due to the lower connectivity compared to the natural occurring backwaters

Natural Backwater RM 774

2009
2010

Natural Backwater RM 766

2009 2010

Results: Chlorophyll a Regression Analysis

Fit Plot for Chl a

Chl a Concentration

TSS Fit 95% Confidence Interval 95% Prediction Interval

Figure 12: Linear Regression Plot for Chlorophyll a (Chl a) and Total Suspended Solids (TSS); n = 42 & R-square = 0.3104

Discussion
Evidence points to the possibility of a more light limited then

nutrient limited system, but more samples would be necessary to determine the correlations within the different habitats

Most lake studies have shown phytoplankton (Chl a) to be phosphorus limited (e.g. Dillion & Rigler 1974; Schindler 1977), as well as nitrogen limited (Downing & McCauley 1992). Rivers have also shown positive relationships with nutrients and Chl a (Basu and Pick 1995).

Discharge and turbidity have also been correlated with

phytoplankton abundance more than nutrient concentrations in rivers (e.g. Jones 1984; Krogstatd and Lovestad 1989) which may be similar to what is seen in the 59-mile reach of the MNRR.

Current Project: Long-term Channel Morphology Dynamics of the Missouri River

Mesohabitats:

Backwaters

Natural Backwaters Recreated Backwaters Floodplain lakes/Oxbow lakes Backups Chutes Side Channel Chutes (2) Secondary Channels (2)

Other Channels

Islands Sandbars

Un-vegetated Sandbars Vegetated Sandbars Constructed Sandbars

Wetted Perimeter Displaced Land

Land to Water Water To Land

THE END