Basin Information

Approximately 30 million people live in the UMR basin, whose dominant land use is agriculture (66 percent). The UMR system serves as a source for drinking water, irrigation, manufacturing processes, and power generation. The navigation infrastructure constructed over the last century supports a transportation industry that ships more than 100 million tons of cargo through the UMR system each year. Recreational uses - fishing, hunting, boating, birding, etc. - along the UMR system are also heavy. The UMR attracts an estimated 12 million annual visitors who spend approximately $1.2 billion and support roughly 18,000 recreation-related jobs.

• About the Upper Mississippi River System (USGS, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center)
  • List of USGS Fact Sheets on the Upper Mississippi River Basin
• Map of the Upper Mississippi River (USGS, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center)
• Mississippi River Information (American Rivers)
• Upper Mississippi River Information (American Heritage Rivers Program)
• Upper Mississippi River National Water Quality Assessment Study (USGS)

Habitat Restoration and Protection

• Army Corps of Engineers
  • Environmental Management Program:
    • Rock Island District
    • St. Paul District
  • Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Projects:
    • Rock Island District
    • St. Louis District
    • St. Paul District
• Farm Bill Information (Northeast Midwest-Institute)
  • Conservation Information, Including USDA Programs (Northeast-Midwest Institute)
• River Restoration: Practices and Concepts, a Hands-On Workshop in the Latest Techniques for Dam Removal, Workshop Summary (Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant, Purdue University Calumet, and Chicago Wilderness, 2002)
• Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee
  • Estimate of Habitat Restoration Costs for the Upper Mississippi River System (2002)
  • Preliminary Description of Habitat Objectives (and Estimated Costs) Needed to Achieve a Desired Level of Ecosystem Integrity on the Upper Mississippi River System (2002)
  • A River that Works and a Working River (2000) (large PDF)
• USGS Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
  • HNA Summary Report
  • HNA Technical Report
  • List of Projects on the Upper Mississippi River
  • Reports and Publications:
  • Science Programs:
    • Aquatic Sciences
    • Ecosystems and Habitats
    • River Inventory and Monitoring
    • Science Applications to Resource Management
    • Terrestrial Sciences

Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico

• American Rivers' Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone Information
• EPA's Overview of Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico
  • Gulf of Mexico Program
    
• Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act of 1998
• Integrated Assessment for Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico (NOAA)

Navigation and Transportation

• How Does Commercial Navigation Affect the River? (American Rivers)
• National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Inland Navigation System Planning: the Upper Mississippi River--Illinois Waterway
• Study of the Upper Mississippi and Illinois River Navigation Project (Northeast-Midwest Institute)
• Trade and Transportation Information, focus on Upper Midwest/Northern Great Plains (Northeast-Midwest Institute)

Riverfront Revitalization

• Riverfront Revitalization (American Rivers)
• River of Renewal: a Vision for Reconnecting Rivers to a Living Upper Mississippi River (American Rivers)

Water Level, Flow, and Discharge

• Evaluation of Water Level Reduction as a Habitat Management Tool for the Upper Mississippi River (USGS, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center)
• Investigating the Changing Relation Between Water Levels and Discharge on the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers (USGS, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center)

Water Quality and Nutrient Management

• The Changing Face of the Upper Mississippi River: Selected Profiles of Farming and Farming Practices (National Audubon Society)
• Fertile Ground: Nutrient Trading's Potential to Cost-Effectively Improve Water Quality (Paul Faeth, World Resources Institute)
• Four Steps to a Cleaner Mississippi River (American Rivers)
• Nutrients in the Upper Mississippi River Basin (USGS)
• Nitrogen in the Mississippi River Basin--Estimating Sources and Predicting Flux to the Gulf of Mexico (USGS, 2000)
• Reducing Polluted Runoff in the Upper Mississippi River Basin (American Rivers)
• Sediment-Contamination Database for the Upper Mississippi River System and Selected Tributaries (USGS, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center)
• Sediments and Nutrients in the Mississippi (American Rivers)
• Upper Mississippi Sediment and Nutrient Loading Database (USGS, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center)
• Water Quality Issues (USGS, National Water Quality Assessment Study)
• Water Quality in the Upper Mississippi River Basin, MN, WI, SD, IA, ND, 1995-1998 (USGS)