Evaluating Constructed Backwater Habitat and Sandbar Islands on the Missouri River

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers pledged in 2003 to create 20,000 acres of shallow-water habitat along the Missouri River over the following twenty years. The first installments in that effort have been completed, creating several thousand acres of habitat. A variety of methods have been used to create the shallow water habitat thus far, including dredging, dike modification, removal or alteration of wing dams, and purposeful band erosions. Evaluation of the results of those projects can help steer future project designs as the efforts continue toward the 20,000-acre goal. This paper presents an evaluation of the long-term and short-term benefits of backwater habitat and emergent sandbar island creation using constructed projects on the Missouri River as examples.