Restored flood plains can reduce flooding and runoff, save wildlife.

Byline: Sara Shipley

LISBON BOTTOM, Mo. _ Cradled in a rare side channel of the Missouri River, a turtle poked its head through water as rich and brown as homemade broth. A great blue heron stalked its prey in calm pools nearby, and a quail whistled from a forest of young cottonwood trees.

Tom Bell stepped from an aluminum boat onto a rump of land cross-hatched with deer and turkey tracks and wondered if Lewis and Clark floated past something like this on their westward journey 200 years ago.

"This is the best place I know of to see what the river used to look like," said Bell, squinting against the sun. "It's not the same as it used to be, but this is the compromise we have right now."

As manager of the Big Muddy National Wildlife Refuge, Bell has a view of the river's past _ and perhaps part of its future.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has purchased 10,000 flood-ravaged acres along the Missouri River since the Flood of 1993 punched holes in corn and soybean fields at Lisbon Bottom, eventually creating a new chute, or side channel. The agency hopes to expand the refuge to 60,000 acres.

The $8 million project exemplifies a growing appreciation for flood plains' natural benefits. Undisturbed flood plains act as a nursery for many types of fish, plants and animals. They also filter water pollutants and reduce flood damages by storing and conveying water.