This Fiscal Year 1997 Annual Work Plan for the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program (LTRMP) has been prepared for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Environmental Management Technical Center. This Plan allows the COE, USGS, and Program participants to agree on work to be accomplished. It supports the transfer of funds from the COE' Environmental Management Program budget to the USGS.
The mission of the LTRMP is to provide decision makers with information needed to maintain the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS) as a sustainable large river ecosystem given its multiple-use character. Congress has declared the System to be both a nationally significant ecosystem and a nationally significant commercial navigation system (Public Law 99-662). The long-term goals of the Program include the following:
(1) understand the UMRS ecosystem,
(2) monitor trends and effects with respect to selected resources,
(3) develop resource management alternatives, and
(4) manage information and develop useful products.
The LTRMP was authorized under the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 (Public Law 99-662) as an element of the Environmental Management Program. The original authorization provided for a 10-year program (1987-1997). Authorization was subsequently extended 5 years (to the year 2002) by Section 405 of the Water Resources Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-640; U.S. Congress 1990). A 1988 Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the Departments of the Army and the Interior specifies agency roles and operational responsibilities for the LTRMP. Because the MOA is outdated, the Departments of the Army and Interior will revise the document this fiscal year.
The major goals of the LTRMP as depicted in the Agreement are fully embodied in the above-stated Program goals. The LTRMP is being implemented by the Environmental Management Technical Center, an office of the USGS, in cooperation with the five UMRS States (Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin) and cooperating Federal agencies. The COE is congressionally charged with overall Program guidance and responsibility.
The Annual Work Plan is the framework for defining the fiscal year work effort under the LTRMP. The development process and schedule are illustrated in Figure 1. This Annual Work Plan relates to the Operating Plan for the Upper Mississippi River System Long Term Resource Monitoring Program. The Goals, Objectives, Strategies, and Tasks in this document correspond with those in the Operating Plan. To more specifically delineate the work effort at the Task level, Work Units have been introduced. The funding allocations in the text are in thousands of dollars (K) and represent all costs associated with the work effort being described, including administrative, COE support, and overhead costs. FY 1997 costs are an estimate of efforts while FY 1996 totals are the actual amounts charged to that task.
