Environmental impact statements initiated by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1973 (and accelerated to completion by a lawsuit from the state of Wisconsin) suggested that methods used to maintain the Upper Mississippi waterway system were damaging to the environment. In response to a growing public interest over this problem, the Corps established a partnership with the U.S. Fish and.Wildlife Service in September 1974 to develop long-range strategy for the use of the system. In October 1974, this partnership joined with the UMRBC's Dredged Soil Disposal Practices Committee, a task force established a few months earlier also designed to deal with environmental problems of the basin. The resulting organization of federal and state agencies became known as the Great River Resources Management Study (GREAT) and operated under the auspices of UMRBC.
GREAT I studied environmental problems from Minneapolis/ St. Paul to Lock and Dam 10 at Guttenberg, Iowa beginning in 1974. GREAT II was organized in 1976 to study the river from Guttenberg to Saverton, Missouri. Starting in 1977, GREAT III covered the Mississippi River from Saverton to the mouth of the Ohio River. The Ozark Chapter of the Sierra Club closely monitored GREAT III (See Collection #428.) These studies defined environmental objectives necessary for the further development of the basin, including ways to reduce the volume of dredged material removed from the rivers, reopening freshwater flows, identifying sites to be developed for wildlife and fish and outlining the appropriate level of public access for basin areas.
In October 1974, President Jimmy Carter signed into law the Inland Waterways Authorization Act which directed UMRBC to develop a master plan for the management of the Upper Mississippi system. The act also authorized the replacement of Locks and Dam 26 on the Mississippi River. The proposed replacement came in response to increased commercial demands on the river which conflicted with environmental interests and other commercial means of transportation, particularly the railroads. The Inland Waterways Act stipulated that no construction expanding the commerical use of the river system could be undertaken until the commission's master plan was approved by Congress. The plan, which attempted to resolve the problems of competing waterway interests and meet the needs determined by the GREAT studies, was submitted to Congress in January,1982.
The United States Water Resources Council voted in December 1981 to terminate the Upper Mississippi River Basin Commission. The commission's assets and functions were transferred to a cooperative state arrangement and the Upper Mississippi River Basin Commission Association, which still meets regularly, was created to maintain the commission's files and distribute its reports and studies. The governors of Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Missouri, in the form of a public resolution, requested that President Reagan encourage federal departments to cooperate with the new organizations to maintain interstate water resources coordination in the Upper Mississippi River Basin, as recommended by UMRBC's master plan. Congress approved parts of the plan in concept but did not fund any of its recommendations.
The bulk of the Upper Mississippi River Basin Commission, Missouri Commissioner's Records are from 1980 to 1983, with some correspondence with railroads from 1973. The records primarily document the master plan developed by the Upper Mississippi River Basin Commission in 1981 to respond to needs identified by the GREAT studies and to resolve competing interests in the development of the river system. The records contain public statements, reports (including GREAT I, II, III, 1974-1983), studies, testimony, literature, memoranda, meeting minutes, drafts and the final version of the commission's master plan.
ACCESSION: 2465 17 May 82 Al Kerth gift
FOLDER LIST
BOX 1 (046480)
1. Annual Report, 1980
2. Annual Priorities Report, June 1981
3. Biological Issues on the Mississippi River Mainstem, 1973
4. Correspondence, 1981
5. Exploratory Drilling Map of North Dakota, June 1981
6. Great River Resources Management Study (GREAT) I, Main Report, September 1980
7. GREAT II, Main Report, December 1980
8. GREAT III, Reconnaissance Report, July 198o
9. GREAT Studies Memoranda, 1981
10. Institutional Arrangements Study, May-July 1981
11. Institutional Arrangements Study, May-July 1981
12. Institutional Arrangements Study, May-July 1981
13. Legislation, 1981-1982
14. Locks and Dam 26 Replacement, Army Corps of Engineers, 1981
15. Lower Meramec Valley Flood Damage, November 1981
16. Master Plan for the Management of the Upper Mississippi River System, January 1982
17. Master Plan Draft, October 1981
18. Master Plan Draft Memoranda, August-September 1981
19. Master Plan Dredg(@-d Material Disposal Study, 1981
BOX 2 (046481)
20. Master Plan Literature, 1981
21. Master Plan Study, Port Advisory Council, 1980
22. Master Plan Preliminary, January 1981
23. Master Plan, Public Comments, 1981
24. Master Plan, Public Comments, 1981
25. Master Plan, Public Comments, 1981
26. Master Plan, Public Comments, 1982
27. Master Plan, Public Comments, 1981
28. Master Plan, Public Comments, 1981
29. Master Plan, Railroad Correspondence, 1973-1981
30. Master Plan, Review Comments, January 1982
31. Master Plan Review Group, 1981
32. Quarterly Meeting Minutes, May 12/13, 1981
33. Quarterly Meeting Minutes, August 1981
34. Quarterly Meeting Minutes, November 1981
35. Resolutions, May 1975-May 1981
36. Resolutions Transferring UMRBC's Responsibilities, 1981
37. Survey Research for the Public Information, November 1981
38. Upper Mississippi River Mainstem Level B Study, 198o-1981
BOX 3 (046482)
39. Water Resources Management Plan, 1981
40. Water Resources Management Plan, 1981
41. Wetland Values and Management Conference, June 1981
INDEX
Army Corps of Engineers, f. 7-9, 14
Conservation, f. 1-41
Dredged Soil Disposal, f. 19
Ecology (see Environment)
Environment, f. 1-41
Environmental Organizations, f. 1-41
Great River Resource Management Studies (GREAT I, II, III), f. 6-10
Kerth, Al, f. 1-41
Locks and Dam 26, f. 14
Lower Meramec Valley, f. 15
Mississippi River, f. 1-41
Pollution, f. 1-41
Railroads, f. 1-41
Transportation, f. 1-41
Upper Mississippi River Basin, f. 1-41
Upper Mississippi River Basin Commission, f. 1-41
Water Resources Management, f. 1-41
Wildlife, f. 3
STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER-ST. LOUIS
222 THOMAS JEFFERSON LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS
8001 NATURAL BRIDGE ROAD
ST. LOUIS, MO 63121
(314) 516-5143
whmc@umsl.edu