Oct. 25, 2011
The Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee (MRRIC) met for the fifteenth time on October 18-20 in Denver, Colorado. The 70-member Committee is comprised of stakeholders and representatives of Tribal, state, and federal governments throughout the Missouri River Basin and provides recommendations to federal agencies on existing and future federal programs for Missouri River recovery.
The meeting was highlighted by an announcement by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) that it would suspend its management action of conducting a man spring rise on the River in 2012.
During the meeting, the Independent Science Advisory Panel charged in February 2011 with providing advice to MRRIC on topics of scientific uncertainty, presented its evaluation of the managed spring rise on the River. The panel indicated that within its current design, the rise was not achieving the intended outcomes defined in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Biological Opinion. The distinguished panel included Dr. Margaret A. Palmer, University of Maryland; Dr. Martin W. Doyle, Duke University; Dr. Adrian H. Farmer, Wild Ecological Solutions; Dr. Christopher S. Guy, Montana State University; Dr. Steven M. Bartell, E2 Consulting Engineers, Inc.; and Dr. Dennis D. Murphy, University of Nevada, Reno.
In addition, a substantial portion of the MRRIC meeting focused on information and project updates from the Committee’s working groups. These working groups focus on a congressionally authorized restoration study of the River (the Missouri River Ecosystem Restoration Plan), and on incorporating adaptive management into decision making on the river. A guest panel provided additional technical background supporting the strategy for the restoration study.
Presentations were also provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regarding water management strategies prior to and throughout the 2011 Missouri River flood, and post flood actions the Agency will undertake to prepare the river for next spring. Additional assessment efforts were provided by the Bureau of Reclamation, Natural Resources Conservation Service, the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Park Service.
MRRIC forwarded consensus recommendations to the USACE regarding their FY2012 Missouri River Recovery Program Work Plan includin g a provision that they continue to focus on developing off-channel emergent sandbar habitat. The committee also reached consensus for renewing the terms of the MRRIC Chair, Dr. Michael Mac and Vice Chair, David Sieck. The committee approved continuation for the subcommittee on Tribal participation and recommended that a future MRRIC meeting would be coordinated with the Great Plains Tribal Chairman’s Association meeting.
The Missouri River Ecosystem Restoration Plan (MRERP) is a congressionally authorized, study conducted by the USACE in consultation with MRRIC and others that will determine the actions required to mitigate losses of aquatic and terrestrial habitat, recover federally listed species under the Endangered Species Act, and restore the ecosystem to prevent further declines among other native species.
MRRIC was authorized by Congress in the 2007 Water Resources Development Act and was established in 2008 by the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Ci vil Works). In addition to its duties on the MRERP, MRRIC advises the Secretary of the Army and other federal, state, and Tribal governments on the existing Biological Opinion and associated mitigation programs. MRRIC is supported by the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution and RESOLVE, a Washington, DC dispute resolution firm, and federal agency staff.
The Committee, now in its fourth year, meets quarterly at different locations throughout the Missouri River Basin. The next MRRIC meeting will be in the greater Kansas City/St. Joseph, MO area on February 7-9, 2012. For more information on MRRIC, please contact Dr. Michael Mac, Committee Chair, at info@mrric.org. Additional links related to the Missouri River recovery effort are: http://www.mrric.org and http://www.moriverrecovery.org.