Water Resources, Infrastructure Restoration, and Protection of the Upper Mississippi River Basin

The Upper Mississippi River flows approximately 2000 km from Lake Itasca, Minnesota to Cairo, Illinois where it is confluences with the Ohio River to form the Lower Mississippi River. North of the confluence, numerous snags, sand bars, rapids, and other obstructions made the Upper Mississippi River travel difficult. This paper highlights how the geological and landscape resources of the Upper Mississippi River and tributary watershed were responsible for the successful economic development of this historically rich region of North America. Environmental challenges include an attempt to keep invasive species such as the Asian carp out of the rivers and lakes north of the Twin Cities. In an attempt to protect the Mississippi River resource, Environmental and Conservation groups have opposed continued navigation through Minneapolis and St. Paul and the planned Upper Mississippi River navigation infrastructure restoration by the United States Corps of Engineers including the upper and lower St. Anthony locks and dams. These Environmental, Conservation and Save the River groups are attempting to mitigate the historic highest and best use of the Mississippi River and adjacent watershed, navigation, and economic development, by having the urban river restored to the natural state.


Introduction
The Upper Mississippi River originates in Lake Itasca and flows 2000 km into the Lower Mississippi River at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers [1]. The Upper Mississippi River drains 7% of the continental United States ( Figure 1). The Native Americans used the Upper Mississippi River for travel and trade. As the seasons changed the Native Americans, the Woodland dwellers (CE 700 to CE 1300), used the river to follow their food supply. These Native Americans were mound builders. They buried their dead in mounds ( Figure 2 and Figure 3). Further to the south, the Mississippians (CE 900 to CE 1300) built even larger mounds at Cahokia Mounds ( Figure 4). These Cahokian mounds are located across the river from St. Louis, Missouri. The Mississippians had a diverse food supply which included cultivated maize, fish, wild game and food plants.

Ancient Mississippi River History and Location
In terms of geologic and hydrographic history, the Upper Mississippi River is a portion of the now-extinct Glacial River Warren which carved the valley of the Minnesota River, permitting the immense Glacial Lake Agassiz (Figure 7) to flow into the Gulf of Mexico. The Upper Mississippi River valley likely originated as an ice-marginal stream ( Figure 8) during what had been referred to as the "Nebraskan" glaciation and is now identified as Pre-Illinoian glaciation. The earliest Pre-Illinoian drift was deposited approximately 2.8 million years before present (YBP) [1]. The Pre-Illinoian drift was covered by more recent glaciations ( Figure 9) [3].
The Driftless Area is a portion of North America demonstrating no evidence of glacial till deposits [1].   Paul the river enters a wide pre-glacial valley.
The Mississippi River is the western boundary of Illinois ( Figure 11). However, before the glacial periods the ancient Mississippi River passed much farther to the east. The ancient Mississippi River was eventually blocked by the Wisconsian glacier and the terminal moraine [4] blocking the drainage with debris about 12,000 to 15,000 years ago. The ancient Mississippi River then moved to Open Journal of Soil Science

The Missouri River
The Big Muddy, the Missouri River (Figure 13), is a great river and longest tributary of the Upper Mississippi River. The confluence of these two great rivers is located at Spanish Lake and north of the St. Louis, Missouri [1]. The longest (3767 km) named river in North America is the Missouri River which is longer  The Missouri River ( Figure 13) was a big part of the Native American culture and provided social, spiritual, physical and economic resources. With the arrival of Europeans the river became a route for trade and adventure. Lewis and Clark traveled the entire length of the Missouri River in search of the Northwest Passage through the Rocky Mountains only to find out later that it did not exist [8]. While Lewis and Clark were at Alton, Illinois winter base camp in 1803 ( Figure  14) they received word from President Jefferson that he purchased the land which drained into the Missouri River and Lower Mississippi River (Louisiana Purchase) [9]. In the spring of 1804 Louis and Clark left the confluence and traveled northwest via the river to the headwaters of the Missouri River a distance of 3767 km. In spring of 1804 Lewis and Clark reached the confluence with the 1690 km Platte River which was not navigable and President Jefferson insisted they stay on the Missouri River.
The Oregon Trail is located adjacent to the Platte and North Platte rivers ( Figure 14) and then goes overland to the Snake River. The wooden wheels had a steel covered rims which cut grooves into any exposed bedrock ( Figure 15) and can still be seen 140 years later. Many American settlers traveled the Oregon Trail using horses and Conestoga wagons. The final destination was the Land of Flowing Milk and Honey which was the Williamette valley in Oregon ( Figure  16) south of the Columbia River and the current city of Portland.

Discovery of the Upper Mississippi River and Settlement History
The    The Lower Mississippi River has no locks or dams. The Upper Mississippi River is a series of pools created by a system of 29 locks and dams ( Figure 6). These structures were authorized by Congress in the 1930s and most were completed in 1940s [10]. The primary reason for damming the river was to facilitate barge transportation (Figure 17). The dams regulate water levels for the Upper Mississippi river and impact the water levels on the Lower Mississippi River. About 60 percent of U.S. grain exports travel down the Mississippi River to terminals in Louisiana where corn and soybeans are loaded onto ocean going ships headed to foreign markets. Goods such as coal, road ice, and cement are moved north to Minnesota by barges.
The lock and dam system built more than 80 years ago is aging and at risk of failure. The USACE repairs locks by draining the lock, repairing the gate or other parts and patching the concrete walls. The failure of just one of the 29 locks and dams ( Figure 6) can put the entire waterway system at risk. When a lock and dam is shut down for an extended period of time it can disrupt Mississippi River barge traffic and do serious economic harm. The infrastructure on the Upper Mississippi, Illinois and Ohio rivers are in dire straits [1]. There have been sections of the cement walls slide into the waterways and rivers. Only a few of the 29 locks and dams ( Figure 6) have an auxiliary chamber to allow barge traffic to continue during gate and wall repairs ( Figure 18) which often can take more than 6 months to completed.          with fish and wildlife protection rather than the Mississippi River navigation related costs (historically navigation was the best and highest use of the river).

Dam Removal from North American Great Rivers
Economic benefits can occur from recreational opportunities such as fishing, kayaking, rafting and associate businesses.

Shipping Channel and Fate of Upper Mississippi Locks and Dams
In 1907 a 1.  (Figure 19). There were many reasons for the closure in 2015 including repairs ( Figure 18) and Asian carp migration [5]. It could, however, be the first step in restoring the St. Anthony Falls and Mississippi River gorge. This effort would also require the removal of Lower St. Anthony Lock and Dam and Lock and Dam no. 1 (Figure 6). Environmental and Conservation groups are studying the potential economic benefits of the dam removals. It is anticipated that the number of visitors, size of the waterfalls, river flow data, and visual appeal of a natural river in an urban setting could bring $900 million to Twin Cities annually. In addition, the Mississippi River gorge is in need of restoration to re-create the Mississippi River of 1820s. Before the dredging, damming, and re-arranging the rivers' elevation dropped 33 m from St. Anthony Falls to the Hidden Falls Regional Park. Congress will have the final say in closing Lock and Dam No. 1 and the lower St. Anthony, as it did with the closing of the upper St. Anthony Lock and Dam. However, the public holds the real power and everything that happens on the Upper Mississippi River is because people advocate to make change happen.

Upper Mississippi River Navigation
A number of advancements in the late 20 th Century would bring the river transportation industry back to life. New ideas in lock and dam construction, particularly the roller-gate dam, were tested and proven. Diesel powered river vessels became capable of pushing large numbers of heavily laden steel barges ( Figure  17). A dependable 2.7 m deep channel was needed for the Upper Mississippi River that could accommodate the new towboats and barges being used on the Ohio River and Lower Mississippi River. The creation of this new channel in central United States would form an integrated transportation system.
In 1930 Congress authorized the 2.7 m channel navigation project on the Upper Mississippi River from Minneapolis to the confluence with the Missouri River ( Figure 6) north of St. Louis. This system created what is commonly called a "Stairway of Water" as the Mississippi falls 127 m from the Falls of St. Anthony in Minnesota to Lock and Dam no. 27 in Granite City, Illinois [3]. Slack water pools are created behind the dams allowing towboats, barges and other river vessels to be raised and lowered as they proceed from one pool to the next. This legislation provides for a 121 m wide navigation channel to be constructed in the 1930s and 1940s with a series of locks and dams. Construction resulted in a total of 29 locks and dams on the Upper Mississippi River (Figure 6). On June 9, 2015 the USACE officially closed the lock at upper St. Anthony Falls (Figure 24 and Falls) of the Mississippi River system's 29 locks [12]. The primary reason for the lock closure was the spread of Asian carp into Minnesota [1]; however, others state it was the lock and dam deterioration ( Figure 18) while still others suggested it related to the desire to change the land use (urban development) adjacent to the lock and dam. The barge transportation and agriculture industries have lobbied in the late 20th and early 21st centuries for a multi-billion dollar project to upgrade the aging lock and dam system (Figure 18). Environmental and conservation groups, advocates of budgetary restraint and railroad groups argued that the project lacks economic justification. The effective management of commercial navigation on the Mississippi River has had important economic impacts on the port cities of the Upper and Lower Mississippi and tributaries. The Port of South Louisiana at the Gulf of Mexico was the lead U.S. port in 2011, carrying 224 million metric tons. The domestic total was 114 million metric tons and foreign cargo was 110 million metric tons [13]. This was a 4.3% increase from the prior year. That same year, the port at St. Louis, Missouri was ranked 18 th with a total of 33 million metric tons, an 18.6% increase from 2010. Ports on the Upper Mississippi from Minneapolis, Minnesota to the mouth of the Missouri River recorded a 1.8% increase in ton river-kilometers representing the transport of 56 million metric tons along 1061 river kilometers in 2011. During that same period, there was a 3.9% increase in ton-river kilometers of cargo moving from the mouth of the Missouri River to the mouth of the Ohio River, totaling 97 million metric tons [10]. The agricultural companies get their products to market by trucks, rail and barges but prefer a mixture of all three modes of transportation in part to maintain healthy competition and keep shipping costs down.

Public Lands, River Ecology, and Recreation
Management of water resources and navigation on the Upper Mississippi River today continues to provide vital social, economic, and environmental benefits to the people of this region and the U.S. Much of the upper river is a series of pools created by a system of 29 locks and dams ( Figure 6) unlike the Lower Mississippi River. A primary reason for these locks and dams on the river is to facilitate barge transportation (Figure 26) which moves raw agricultural commodities, fertilizer, forest products, petroleum, sand, gravel and stone, food and manufactured products from the upper Midwest to ports in the south for domestic and export markets. The dams regulate water levels for the Upper Mississippi River, and also play a major part in regulating levels on the lower Mississippi River.

Health of the Upper Mississippi River
The health of the river and its water quality continue to be a deep concern along the entire length of the river. Runoff, soil erosion and river sedimentation, off field and off farm nitrogen and phosphorous losses from cultivated crops as well as agricultural and industrial chemicals are threats to the river ecosystem. There is a general agreement that nutrient impairment is occurring not just in the main stem river but also in off-channel streams suggesting that the entire Upper Mississippi River basin land uses and practices need re-examined [14]. These nutrients accelerate the growth of algae and duckweed and reduce light penetration to underwater aquatic vegetation that fish and aquatic life including waterfowl feed on. Pharmaceuticals and endocrine-disrupting chemicals in river water are new sources of concern. Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri are working together to find solutions to water impairments that impact local waters and downstream Gulf of Mexico hypoxia conditions. Pool 4 which includes Lake Pepin, Minnesota, a large natural lake is experiencing eutrophication from agricultural runoff.

Invasive Species
The silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) known as flying carp [1] were introduced in 1970 in Arkansas catfish farms in 1970 to control algae. Silver carp have since escaped into the Mississippi River system and migrated into the tributaries and streams. These large carp jump above the water to make their way up stream. As an invasive species, the Asian carp threaten adjacent lakes and the Upper Mississippi River species of filter feeding fish by voraciously consuming the bottom of the food chain [5].

Conclusions
Agricultural runoff, including sediment and excessive nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) and chemicals from agricultural and industrial sources continue to threaten the river resources. New threats include pharmaceuticals and endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri are working together to address the water quality issues.
To address the failing lock and dam system on the Upper Mississippi River and Missouri River, the country as a whole, will need to look at this investment.
There is need for systematic investments in routine maintenance and repairs as well as close monitoring and assessment of locks and dams to pre-empt future failure ( Figure 31). Close monitoring, channel dredging and maintenance of channel control structures such as wing dams, closing dams and bank revetments, snag removal, and accurate channel marking are essential to keep the system operating at peak efficiency. Many of these expenses, shared by USACE, private shipping companies and local port authorities, require substantial public investments and congressional authorization. The public investment for water and waterway improvements is being considered in the current congressional infrastructure bill.
Managing for resilience can best prepare the great river systems to be adapted to future unknown risks and catastrophes [1]. Resilience management can improve capacities to adapt and adjust to system disruptions and change. Con-  sciences alone will fail to reduce vulnerability and unforeseen risks. The diversity of social values, land use preferences, and human relationships with rivers and their floodplains must be better understood and made part of the management processes. A comprehensive Upper Mississippi plan similar to the plan for the Lower Mississippi River with an increase resiliency is needed to address climatic extremes. The landscape and geological resources of the Upper Mississippi River have contributed to the successful water resource and economic development of a historically rich region in North America since the 1830s. We attempted to identify the natural resource and environmental risks to the Upper Mississippi River basin and to evaluate the proposed outline the Environmental and Conservation attempts change the historic highest and best use, navigation and economic development of the Upper Mississippi River and watershed, to having the urban river restored to the natural state.