Group tackles Missouri River issues
Posted: Wednesday, December 12, 2007
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- Climate change and degradation of the river bed were among issues to be discussed by an association of state and American Indian tribes in the Missouri River Basin.
Scientists already have noted some effects of climate change on the river, said Garland Erbele, a state Department of Environment and Natural Resources official.
The changes include a trend toward precipitation falling more as rain and less as snow, and an earlier melting of mountain snowpack that feeds the river, he said.
The end result is earlier and weaker peak runoff periods, Erbele said, and lower late-summer water levels.
"We're still trying to kind of feel our way along on this issue of climate change," Erbele said. "It's not something we fully understand yet."
The two-day meeting in Pierre of the Missouri River Association of States and Tribes ends Wednesday.
The problem of river bed degradation is a result of the dams and reservoirs on the river. Sediment gets trapped behind the dams, while the water released from the dams is "clean." That clean water, Erbele said, picks up a new load of sediment by scouring and eroding the river bed below the dam.
The flip-side of the river bed degradation problem is "sedimentation" -- the name for the silt and sediment that is piling up behind the dams.
The association also will discuss the spread of the salt cedar plant, which was introduced in the United States as an ornamental plant but now grows wild in some western states and is spreading rapidly. The plant is problematic because it grows to more than 10 feet tall, crowds out native vegetation and draws large amounts of moisture out the soil.
Scientists already have noted some effects of climate change on the river, said Garland Erbele, a state Department of Environment and Natural Resources official.
The changes include a trend toward precipitation falling more as rain and less as snow, and an earlier melting of mountain snowpack that feeds the river, he said.
The end result is earlier and weaker peak runoff periods, Erbele said, and lower late-summer water levels.
"We're still trying to kind of feel our way along on this issue of climate change," Erbele said. "It's not something we fully understand yet."
The two-day meeting in Pierre of the Missouri River Association of States and Tribes ends Wednesday.
The problem of river bed degradation is a result of the dams and reservoirs on the river. Sediment gets trapped behind the dams, while the water released from the dams is "clean." That clean water, Erbele said, picks up a new load of sediment by scouring and eroding the river bed below the dam.
The flip-side of the river bed degradation problem is "sedimentation" -- the name for the silt and sediment that is piling up behind the dams.
The association also will discuss the spread of the salt cedar plant, which was introduced in the United States as an ornamental plant but now grows wild in some western states and is spreading rapidly. The plant is problematic because it grows to more than 10 feet tall, crowds out native vegetation and draws large amounts of moisture out the soil.
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