Corps of Engineers and the Upper Sioux Community partner on shoreline stabilization project study

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, signed a cost sharing agreement this week with the Upper Sioux Community, to study the feasibility of constructing a shoreline stabilization project along 2,000 feet of Minnesota River shoreline in Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota.

The proposed project location, which has experienced overtopping and out of channel flows during six of the last ten years, is actively eroding and deteriorating due to high flows and velocities. This location was identified to have the potential to cut a deep trench directly across existing agricultural lands and create a new river channel. This new river channel would directly impact critical Tribal land resources.

If it were to proceed to construction, this project has an estimated total cost of $700,000, which will be 100 percent federally funded through the Corps of Engineers. It’s anticipated that construction would be complete by the end of 2022.

The Corps of Engineers is authorized to construct bank stabilization and protection projects to protect endangered public and non-profit infrastructure and cultural sites under the Tribal Partnership Program. This program was developed to perform water-related planning activities and activities related to the study, design, and construction of water resources projects located primarily on tribal lands that substantially benefit federally-recognized tribes.