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MONITORING ASSISTANCE ON THE UPPER MISSOURI RIVER FROM FORT PECK DAM FACE TO THE NORTH DAKOTA LINE IN SUPPORT OF A TMDL FOR THIS 303(D) LISTED SEGMENT
Impact/Purpose:
During the past two years, the Missouri River segment from the dam face at Fort Peck to the Montana/North Dakota border has received increased interest from a variety of federal, local, state and private organizations. Bank erosion and stabilization, TMDL development, spring rise impacts from proposed flow changes due to altered dam releases, endangered species propagation, and critical habitat designations are a few of the issues these organizations are advocating for the Missouri River below Fort Peck. This segment of the Missouri River has been listed by the State of Montana as an impaired water on the 303(d) list prepared by the Department of Environmental Quality which will require the completion of a Total Maximum Daily Load allocation for the segment. Therefore, a quality data set must be obtained in order to fully evaluate the pollutant loadings on the segment.
The biological and chemical assessment of this segment of the Missouri River will assist the Fort Peck Tribes, State of Montana, USGS, Lower Missouri River Coordinated Resource Management Group (LMCRM), EPA, NRCS is meeting two goals, the TMDL effort and an overall first time monitoring effort for the Tribes' Office of Environmental Protection.
Description:
Working through a cooperative agreement of the United States Geological Survey to obtain quarterly samples for nutrients, major ions, metals (dissolved and total recoverable), and suspended sediment on the Missouri River at three different sites from the dam face to the North Dakota state line. The three sites are also USGS gauging stations. In addition, technical assistance from the EMAP team and others in EPA needs to be provided onsite to ensure proper EMAP sampling protocols are being followed by the local sampling team. The end product is an assessment of a 303 (d) listed waterbody.