A July 2024 article in Wetland Science & Practice, vol. 42, is now available. It focuses on two flood control dams, Saylorville Lake and Lake Red Rock, situated on the Des Moines River above and below Des Moines, Iowa. These dams support extensive wetlands and are managed for multiple uses including flood risk management, low flow augmentation, fish and wildlife management, and recreation, and additionally for hydropower at Lake Red Rock. The Des Moines River reservoir tributary deltas are deemed “Important Bird Areas” by the National Audubon Society that cited its values of rare or unique habitats and significant species concentrations.
Recognition of the passive environmental benefits achieved in these Iowa reservoirs led US Army Corps of Engineers’ lake managers and stakeholders to consider actions to increase the ecosystem services derived from Des Moines River flood control dams, including decreasing nitrate concentrations and increasing wetland distribution and waterbird habitat benefits.
A Sustainable Rivers Program (SRP) environmental flows workshop (Warner et al. 2014) was held in 2016 to consider water management measures to increase ecosystem benefits derived from Saylorville Lake and Lake Red Rock. Where the SRP had previously focused primarily on downstream reservoir releases for riverine habitat improvements, the Des Moines River workshop also considered Environmental Pool Management (EPM) which was first implemented on the Mississippi River in 1994.
The objective of this article is to describe the Des Moines River environmental flows evaluations and recommendations, their codification in new water control regulations, and to introduce the ecological benefits monitoring being conducted at Lake Red Rock.
