Missouri River Master Manual- provided comments on proposed revision in operating plan, each of the alternatives suggested is better than how the river is currently being managed. National Academy of Science study found that the USACOE river management is not beneficial to river species and their habitats or to the river.

University of North Dakota study projects: inventory of streams, fish species and habitat components; larval fish study on the Red River; and tributary contribution to the main stem fish community.

Red River Reconnaissance, USACOE project: investigate extensive water management plan, basin wide; provide hydraulic prediction of flows in the basin.

Dam Modification: Red River- completed rocked fish passageway at Grand Forks dam, in the process of modifying the North Dam in Fargo, and in the planning stage for the South Dam in Fargo. Spring Creek- installed a gabion ladder to allow fish passage over dam constructed by Ducks Unlimited.

Watershed Restoration Projects: Many Federally funded projects are being undertaken. Collecting water chemistry data to determine if a problem exists- has the potential to become a number of 319 projects.

Fish and Wildlife Service:

Missouri River: reviewed the Master Manual and surveyed tribal interest in system management.

Little Missouri River: sturgeon chub monitoring

Missouri River and Yellowstone: Pallid Sturgeon recovery- intensive monitoring program and propagation of the species.

Sheyenne River: assigned tasks dealing with Devils Lake outletting and fish pathogen investigations.

James River: The James River Watershed Development District has completed a $5 million riparian forestry project that removed thousands of dead trees (from flooding) and replanted. Trees growing on the riverbank were cut leaving the root ball. The next phase of the project is to experiment with channelizing eight bends where slumpage backs up water. The channelization work (estimated at $100 million) is in the Lake Dakota plain, which is very flat and has a history of flooding (see attached articles).

Vermillion River: Reconstruction of a 100-yr-old dam in Centerville includes conservation of the endangered Topeka shiner.

Big Sioux River: Water quality problems, primarily nonpoint source problems, are being studied through the TMDL process. Besides water quality monitoring, the first use of biological monitoring is being done in the upper Big Sioux basin. There was recent concern about the number of snags in the river, causing a political request for clearing of 30 miles of river. The project prompted the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks to draft snagging recommendations for the first time. A lowhead dam on the upper Big Sioux has been proposed. The dam would be a flow-through dam that retards flooding but does not impound water permanently. To protest, landowners would not allow hunting, for some reason connecting hunters with flood prone residents of Watertown, South Dakota.

Statewide River Fisheries Database: The Department of Game Fish and Parks is finishing sampling about 80 tributary sites to complete the statewide inventory of fish and fish habitat. The data will be combined with other recent studies into a statewide database.

EMAP (Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program): Both South and North Dakota are included in the Western Pilot Study of the EPA Program to assess regional water quality using chemical and biological protocols.