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The Upper Mississippi River System includes riverine and palustrine wetlands along the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio Rivers and their tributaries in central Kentucky, central Tennessee, and Missouri. Aquatic habitats associated with the Mississippi River, its major tributaries, and their drainage areas comprise an extensive hydrologic ecosystem that accommodates a tremendous range of human and wildlife use.

Important waterfowl habitats in the region include main river channels, impounded pools, floodplain forests, oxbows, backwater sloughs, ponds, and small streams. In many parts throughout this region, rivers and adjacent floodplains are the only habitat available for waterfowl and other wildlife. The Missouri River historically contained more than 100,000 acres of wetlands extremely valuable to waterfowl. A combination of upstream dams and reservoirs, channelization, and construction of wing dikes have caused most of the change in riverine and floodplain habitat. Scattered wetlands also are present along the Mississippi River in northeastern Missouri.

Projects in the Upper Mississippi River

Missouri