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4. Values of the Missouri River System and Operations
Pages 86-106

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From page 86...
... Of particular relevance in this report are those values associated with operations of the mainstem reservoir system and the links between operations, ecology, and social values. Values involved include those of hydropower distributors and users in the upper basin, floodplain farmers and other property owners, water users from Fort Peck Dam downstream to St.
From page 87...
... Small net population gains in the Dakotas mask the fact that nearly all the population growth has been in the states' cities; most rural areas are experiencing population declines. Many areas in the upper basin are populated by fewer than six people per square mile.
From page 88...
... ECONOMIC OUTCOMES OF PICK-SLOAN During construction of the Pick-SIoan project, it was expected that multiple-purpose water projects would stimulate regional economic and population growth and produce national benefits in excess of their costs. Since Pick-SIoan construction, however, society's faith in large water projects to produce vast benefits has waned.
From page 89...
... WRC, 1983~. System outputs assessed in Corps reports are power, navigation, flood damage reduction, water supply, and recreation.
From page 90...
... North Dakota and South Dakota realize most of the recreation benefits. Irrigation benefits (included in water supply benefits)
From page 91...
... Because in the United States, waterborne agricultural shipments primarily serve export markets, this unfavorable competitive position "likely will continue to constrain Missouri River navigation tonnage" (USAGE, 2000b)
From page 92...
... The Corps has projected its navigation benefits and its operations and maintenance costs at a range of flows or "service levels." The Corps has found that at full-service levels of Missouri River flow of 35,000 cubic feet per second (cis) , there are net benefits of less than $3 million annually from commercial traffic (USAGE, 1998a)
From page 93...
... In proceeding segment by segment, the analysis should discover a point at which it is beneficial to retain navigation to the mouth of the river. Water Supply Benefits Water supply benefits accrue at intakes for thermal power plants and at municipal, irrigation, commercial/industrial, domestic, and public water intakes so long as daily flows exceed minimum elevation requirements for the water intakes.
From page 94...
... Of the total water supply benefits of $541 million, Nebraska receives 44.8 percent, Iowa 16.4 percent, and Missouri 15.9 percent (USAGE, 1998a)
From page 95...
... Because it is concerned with estimating recreation benefits under different operating regimes, the Corps has developed functions relating recreation benefits to lake levels and river flow volumes. Mainstem recreation benefits are apportioned among 10 states, but over 75 percent of the total accrues in three states: South Dakota (36 percent)
From page 96...
... THE MISSOURI RIVER ECOSYSTEM Am- ~.rtd..~] I An; r~~ FIGURE 4.2 Recreational use at Missouri River reservoirs, 1954-2000.
From page 97...
... The value of the hydropower produced is not maximized because releases through the powerhouses or from the dams must satisfy other project purposes like flood-damage reduction, navigation, and certain environmental objectives such as tern and plover nesting and recreational use of the river below the dams. Hydropower benefits are based on the costs of power generated by alternative systems, usually thermal-electric.
From page 98...
... ~ ~ FIGURE 4.3 Hydropower generation from Corps of Engineers Missouri River mainstem dams, 1954-2000.
From page 99...
... . Flood-damage reduction benefits are based upon a simulation of 100 years of hydrologic data, in which damage without the flood damage reduction features of the Missouri River mainstem dams are estimated.
From page 100...
... Flood damage is not proportional to the values of properties exposed to flooding. Simulations of flooding under current operations show that for the entire reach below Fort Peck, crops suffered 20 percent of the damage and residential and commercial properties suffered 80 percent of the damage.
From page 101...
... To a real extent, ecosystem services have been equated with free services of nature without recognizing that certain of these services are becoming so increasingly scarce as to acquire value as economically scarce capital resources (Krutilla, 1967~. An example of lost ecosystem services is provided in a quote from the Yankton Dakotian newspaper, dated Tuesday, August 5, 1862: "Katphish, of fabulous dimensions, are being taken from the placid waters of the Big Muddy about these times.
From page 102...
... The Corps has not evaluated the economics of the flow of ecosystem services per se produced by the current and alternative operating plans for the Missouri aside from water-based recreation. Considerable effort has been devoted to measuring the willingness to pay for these kinds of goods and services in the past three decades, and there has also been progress in characterizing and modeling ecosystem service flows (USAGE, 1996~.
From page 103...
... As a result, the Western Area Power Administration must replace the power generation
From page 104...
... Oahe Dam releases exceed the minimum 3,000 cubic feet per second during weekend daylight hours starting in early April to enhance fishing and boating during the recreation season. Releases are controlled to reduce flood damage in the reach downstream from Fort Randall Dam (Lake Francis Case)
From page 105...
... From these studies, the committee drew the impression that flood damage reduction and water supply benefits would be minimally affected, that navigation benefits would be substantially reduced, but that hydropower benefits could increase considerably because of higher pool levels in the reservoirs. Unquantified ecosystem services would also increase.
From page 106...
... This geographic reality could eventually mean that the cost of channel maintenance could exceed navigation benefits, at least in some upper segments of the channel. Navigation economics are particularly vulnerable to the charge that they ignore the opportunity costs in terms of ecosystem services forgone both in the upstream reservoirs and in the downstream navigation channel.


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