Corps seeks comments on final Mouse River flood protection project environmental impact statement

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, posted the final Mouse River Enhanced Flood Protection Project Environmental Impact Statement, or final EIS, to its website today, July 13.

The Souris River Joint Water Resources Board, or SRJB, is proposing to construct the first segments of a multiphase flood risk reduction project and have submitted a request to the Corps to alter the current federal flood damage risk reduction project in Minot, North Dakota. The proposed project includes approximately 18.1 miles of new levees, 2.6 miles of new floodwalls, two channel realignments totaling 1.6 miles, 2 high-flow bypass diversions, 20 transportation closure structures, the reconstruction or modification of six bridges, 111.6 acres of overbank excavation and the acquisition of more than 900 properties.

This project is a separate, yet parallel effort, from that of the Corps’ Souris River Basin feasibility study. It is primarily a state and locally funded plan while the Corps’ study will determine if federal participation is feasible in accordance with federal laws and regulations. 

The documents can be found at: http://www.mvp.usace.army.mil/Home/Public-Notices/ and the Minot and Ward County public libraries in Minot. The final EIS public review and comment period ends Aug. 14. Questions concerning the project should be directed to Elliott Stefanik, environmental planning section chief, at Elliott.L.Stefanik@usace.army.mil. Formal comments on the project must be submitted by mail to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District commander, Attention: Regional Planning and Environment Division North, 180 Fifth St. E., Suite 700, St. Paul, Minnesota 55101-1678.   

All comments received will be made available to the public to include the possibility of being posted on a publicly accessible website. Individuals are requested not to include personal privacy information, such as home addresses or home phone numbers, in their comments, unless they do not object to such information being made available to the public.   

The nearly 600 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, employees working at more than 40 sites in five upper-Midwest states serve the American public in the areas of environmental enhancement, navigation, flood damage reduction, water and wetlands regulation, recreation sites and disaster response. Through the St. Paul District Fiscal Year 2016 $78 million budget, nearly 1,250 non-Corps jobs were added to the regional economy as well as $120 million to the national economy. For more information, see www.mvp.usace.army.mil. 

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