River Basin Studies

INTRODUCTION

Cooperative river basin studies are conducted under the authority of Section 6, Public Law 83-566, the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act. These studies are for appraising water and related land resources and formulating alternative plans for the conservation, use, and development of these resources. Plans may include management and land treatment measures, nonstructural measures, structural measures, or a combination of these measures that will address present and project resource problems.

Cooperative river basin studies deal with needs as specified by the requesting agency and these needs must be consistent with the mission and responsibilities of the USDA. Generally, the studies are of limited scope and short duration to provide specific information needed for planning. Such studies should meet the immediate needs of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and cooperating agencies. Short duration studies could include:

1. Special studies needed for project planning, such as project potential or the cumulative impact of several projects.
2. Local studies for erosion reduction and/or flood prevention.
3. Studies for ground water mining reduction and/or potential for water conservation.
4. Localized studies of rural and agricultural nonpoint source pollution problems.
5. Analysis of special problems.
6. Other national conservation problems.

River basin studies are oriented toward problem solving. The final report should be useful to resource managers and decision-makers in understanding their resource problems and alternatives for solutions. Ordinarily, study products should lead to implementation decisions.

TYPES OF COOPERATIVE RIVER BASIN STUDIES

There are three types of river basin studies. They differ, mainly, in the extent of planning and amount of detail included. Most of Minnesota has been included in at least one of these studies (see Map A and Map B below).

These documents requires Adobe Acrobat.
Map A (386 KB)
Map B (370 KB)

A brief explanation of each type of study and status follows:

1. Framework Studies and Assessments (Level A)

Framework studies and assessments are merged into the first and broadest level of planning. They are the evaluation or appraisal, on a broad basis, of the needs and desires of people for the conservation, development, and utilization of water and related land resource. Regions (hydrologic, political, economic, etc.) with complex problems will be identified which require more detailed investigations and analyses, and may recommend specific implementation plans and programs in the areas not requiring further study. They will consider federal, state and local means for solving resource problems and will be multiobjective in nature. These studies will not involve basic data collection, cost estimating, or detailed plan formulation. Completed studies include (See Map A above) :

a. Great Lakes Basin
Authorized-1967
Status-Completed 1976
Prepared by the Great Lakes Basin Commission

b. Upper Mississippi River Basin
Authorized-1962
Status-completed 1972
Prepared by the Upper Mississippi River Basin coordinating Committee

c. Souris-Red-Rainy Basin
Authorized-1967
Status-completed 1972
Prepared by Souris-Red-Rainy River Basin Commission

d. Missouri Basin
Authorized-1965
Status-completed 1971
(updated 1973)
Prepared by Missouri Basin Interagency Committee
e. Strategic Water Management Plan/Hydrologic Unit Atlas
(Statewide Plan and Atlas)
Authorized-1993
Status-completed 1997
Prepared in the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.

2. Regional or River Basin Plans

A regional (political, economic, etc.) or river basin plan (hydrologic region) is a preliminary or reconnaissance level water and related land plan for a selected area. These are prepared to resolve complex long-range problems identified by framework studies and the national assessment. They will vary widely in scope and detail, will involve federal, state, and local interest in plan development, and will identify and recommend plans and programs to be pursued by individual, federal, state, and local entitles. They will be undertaken only where problems are interdisciplinary and of such complexity that an intermediate planning step is needed between framework and implementation level studies.

Regional or River Basin Studies (Type 2, 4, and Level B) completed include: (All are located on Map A  except c, d, i and k which are located on Map B, above ) .

a. Minnesota River Basin
Authorized-1970
Status-completed 1977
Prepared by Southern Minnesota Rivers Basin Board

b. Southern Minnesota Tributaries Basin
Authorized-1970
Status-completed 1980
Prepared by U.S. Department of Agriculture

c. Minneapolis-St. Paul Regional Area
Authorized-1973
Status-completed 1978
Prepared by Upper Mississippi River Basin Commission

d. Upper Mississippi Main Stem
Authorized-1976
Status-completed 1980
Prepared by Upper Mississippi River Basin Commission

e. Bois de Sioux-Mustinka Subbasin
Authorized-1970
Status-completed in 1972
Prepared by Souris-Red-Rainy River Basin Commission

f. Des Moines River Basin
Authorized-1977
Status-completed 1984
Prepared by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture

g. Iowa Cedar River Basin
Authorized-1970
Status-completed 1976
Prepared by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture

h. Big Sioux River Basin
Authorized-1965
Status-completed 1970
Prepared by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture

i. Red River Basin
Request made-1976
Request withdrawn-1980

j. Upper Ottertail River Basin
Authorized-1987
Status-completed 1991
Prepared by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture

k. GREAT I
Authorized-1976
Status-completed 1980
Prepared by Corps of Engineers and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

l. South Central Minnesota River Basin
Request made-1989
Status-completed 1993
Prepared by the U.S. Department of Agriculture
m. Leech Lake River Basin Study
Request made-1991
Status-completed 1993
Prepared by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture

n. Nemadji River Basin
Authorized-September 1993
Status-study completed 1996
Being prepared by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture

o. Thief/Red Lake River Basin
Authorized-September 1993
Status-completed 1996
Prepared by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture

3. Implementation Studies (Level C)

Implementation studies encompass the broad spectrum from preservation to full development of the resources. They can include administrative, legal, other non-development action programs, structural programs or a combination thereof to meet the study objectives. Plan formulation for implementation studies include multipurpose and multi-objective considerations, benefit and cost determinations-including all intangible aspects and cost allocation, and cost sharing and repayment analysis. Studies were completed for:

Upper Minnesota River Subbasin Study (PL 87-639)
Authorized-1975
Status-completed in 1989
Prepared by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture and Corps of Engineers (Map B above)
 

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