Environmental Management Program (EMP)

Upper Mississippi River Management Act of 1986

"To ensure the coordinated development and enhancement of the Upper Mississippi River system, it is hereby declared to be the intent of Congress to recognize that system as a nationally significant ecosystem and a nationally significant commercial navigation system. Congress further recognizes that the system provides a diversity of opportunities and experiences. The system shall be administered and regulated in recognition of its several purposes."

Within the UMRS the EMP established two programs:

(i) a program for the planning, construction, and evaluation of measures for fish and wildlife Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement (HREP); and

(ii) implementation of a Long-Term Resource Monitoring, computerized data inventory and analysis, and applied research program (LTRMP).

Funding and Activities

Authorization funding for EMP was approximately $20 million from 1990 to 2000 and over $33 million since 2001 but has not been fully funded since 1996. Since 2003 the funding has actually trended lower than during the 1992 to 1996 period.

Through Water Resources Development Acts the US Army Corps of Engineer (USACE) has been tasked with performing environmental studies and habitat restorations along the UMRS, which typically involve the manipulation of hydrology and the restoration of wetlands and riparian habitats. On federal lands all planning, design and construction costs are paid by the federal government but on non-federal land local funding cost sharing at between 25 and 35 percent is required.

Project Locations

72 projects have been identified during the 20 years of the EMP. The USACE map below shows the locations and status of these projects as of June 2006.