Ecosystem Restoration on the Upper Mississippi River System - A Look Back and to the Future of a Pioneering Program

The Upper Mississippi River Restoration - Environmental Management Program (UMRR-EMP), authorized in 1986, is recognized as the first major effort to restore the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS) ecosystem.  Upon inception, it became the first program in the nation to address both large river restoration and scientific monitoring and research.

The UMRR-EMP just celebrated 25 successful years of restoration and research; completing 54 projects and restoring 100,000 acres of aquatic and floodplain habitat, and data and research to support greater understanding of the UMRS.

Currently, an additional 34 projects are in planning, design or construction, which will result in an additional 93,000 acres of restored habitat.  In spite of these successes, the restoration accomplished to date represents only 3.6 percent of the 2.7 million-acre UMRS. 

In addition to restoration projects, the UMRR-EMP has a rigorous science component.  This component collects data on water quality, fish, vegetation and invertebrates, in addition to system-wide data for land use/land cover, bathymetry, and floodplain elevation.  However, the most important contribution of the UMRR-EMP has been to pioneer the development of an effective regional partnership comprised of five states, five federal agencies, numerous NGO’s, and the public.