Beneficial Use of Dredged Material: Section 1122, Upper Pool 4 – Lake Pepin, Bay City, Wisconsin

This project utilizes dredged material generated from the navigation channel to protect and restore backwater habitat; this is a win-win project for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, our partner agencies, and the environment. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is the nonfederal sponsor.

Beneficial Use of Dredged Material: Section 204, Pigs Eye Lake Islands, Minnesota

The project will beneficially utilize dredge material to create islands that will provide a variety of habitats for fish and wildlife. Pigs Eye Lake is located in Ramsey County, just east of downtown St. Paul, Minnesota, in upper Pool 2 of the Mississippi River.

Marsh Lake Ecosystem Restoration Project, Minnesota

The purpose of this project is to modify the existing Marsh Lake Dam to increase the biodiversity of the Minnesota River/Lac qui Parle/Pomme de Terre River ecosystem without compromising the flood risk management function of the Marsh Lake Dam.

Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program

The Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program (NESP) seeks to provide a safe, reliable, cost-effective and environment-sustainable waterborne navigation system by implementing switchboats at five locks and constructing mooring cells and seven new 1,200-foot locks. NESP will restore the aquatic and terrestrial habitat to a more natural condition on more than 100,000 acres throughout the system through a wide variety of ecosystem projects.

Tribal Partnership Program: Sturgeon Lake Habitat Improvement, Minnesota

The purpose of this project is to address sedimentation, erosion and degradation of culturally significant habitat on the Prairie Island Indian Community’s tribal land in Sturgeon Lake, Minnesota. Priority objectives identified in the feasibility study are to (1) reduce shoreline erosion on Buffalo Slough Island and (2) improve/restore floodplain forest habitat on Buffalo Slough Island; these priority objectives will be carried forward in the design and implementation phase of the project.

Tribal Partnership Program: Upper Sioux Community, Minnesota River, Minnesota

This study addresses erosion issues along the Minnesota River adjacent to Upper Sioux Community tribal lands and makes recommendations related to those issues.

Upper Mississippi River - Illinois Waterway System Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program (NESP)

Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program (NESP) is a long-term program of ecosystem restoration and navigation improvements for the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS). NESP will improve system capacity and reduce commercial traffic delays through construction of seven new 1,200-foot locks, mooring cells, and switchboat implementation.

Upper Mississippi River – Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program: Johnson Island Project, Wisconsin

The Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program is a long-term program of ecosystem restoration and navigation improvements for the Upper Mississippi River System. Johnson Island is located near Trempealeau, Wisconsin, in Pool 6 of the Mississippi River. Island erosion, island dissection, and sedimentation have greatly reduced the quality and quantity of terrestrial and aquatic habitat in the project area. Project objectives are directed at improving conditions for fish, aquatic and terrestrial wildlife, maintaining emergent vegetation, maintaining submersed vegetation and island stabilization and nourishment to restore connectivity, and promotion of floodplain forest regeneration.

Upper Mississippi River – Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program: Sny Magill Project, Iowa

This Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program study is a partnership with the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The study will consider alternatives including riverbank stabilization and protection, floodplain restoration, closure or partial closure structures, and in-channel diversion structures.

Upper Mississippi River – Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program: Systemic Mitigation Island 4 Project, Wisconsin

The primary purpose of this project is to address general degradation of habitat quality due to sediment deposition, wind-driven wave action, declining bathymetric diversity, and a decline in aquatic vegetation. Concerns over habitat deficiencies in Upper Pool 4 include reduced habitat diversity and quality, lack of aquatic vegetation and invertebrates, and reduced abundance of fish and wildlife.

Upper Mississippi River – Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program: Wacouta Bay Project, Wisconsin

Concerns over habitat deficiencies in Wacouta Bay, most resulting from sedimentation and turbidity, include reduced aquatic and terrestrial habitat diversity and quality, lack of aquatic vegetation, lack of protected wetlands, and reduced abundance of fish and wildlife. The Wacouta Bay project is a Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program study that will consider alternatives including island building and enhancement, forest enhancement and creation, backwater restoration and dredging, island and shoreline protection, and use of dredged material.

Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program: Lower Pool 10 Island Habitat Restoration, Iowa

Many natural islands bordering the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-maintained Mississippi River navigation channel and extending into the backwater have eroded and are disappearing. Erosion from wave action and main channel flows reduces the wetland, resulting in the loss of aquatic vegetation and shallow protected habitats necessary for fish and wildlife to survive. The purpose of this project is to reestablish lost habitat and ecosystem health.

Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program: McGregor Lake Habitat Restoration, Wisconsin

The purpose of this project is to support diverse and abundant native fish, wildlife and plants while sustaining a high level of environmental health and promoting recreation opportunities.

Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program: Minnesota/Wisconsin/Iowa Habitat Restoration

This program, authorized by Congress in 1986, emphasizes habitat rehabilitation and enhancement projects (HREPs) and long-term resource monitoring. The HREP component includes dredging backwater areas and channels, constructing dikes, creating and stabilizing islands, controlling side channel flows and water levels, and creating floodplain forest habitat.

Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program: Reno Bottoms Habitat Restoration, Pool 9, Minnesota/Iowa

The objective of this project is to protect, restore or create resilient and diverse bottomland forests. The quality and extent of the unique forest and aquatic habitat in the Reno Bottoms project area has been declining over the past several decades. Human-caused changes in hydrology, land use, and climate have increased water levels within the project area. Without action, the project area will continue to degrade.

Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program: Robinson Lake Habitat Restoration, Pool 4, Minnesota

Sedimentation of the backwater lakes of the Upper Mississippi River, including the lower Pool 4 area, is an ongoing issue. Potential sources of sand are the Chippewa River, historic channel maintenance dredging side-cast islands and the four active temporary placement sites within the study area. The extent of open water has been shrinking in Robinson Lake.