ST. PAUL, Minn. –The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, is proposing to construct a habitat rehabilitation project at the head of Lake Pepin on the Mississippi River, located in Pierce County, Wisconsin, using material dredged from the Mississippi River.
The Corps released its draft Environmental Assessment for the project today at: www.mvp.usace.army.mil/Home/PublicNotices.aspx and will accept comments on the document through May 11.
In lieu of hosting a public meeting during a national pandemic, the district will make available a presentation on the proposed project on the public notice website April 22 at noon. This presentation will be available through the comment period.
The proposed project was planned in collaboration with the Wisconsin and Minnesota departments of natural resources and other partners and would enhance and restore backwater habitat in Lake Pepin. A complex of four peninsulas, overwintering dredged areas, water level management features and shoreline protection would be constructed to improve habitat for fish and wildlife. Features were designed to reduce the negative impacts of sediment on aquatic plants and fish, as well as to create and protect floodplain forest and wetlands for migratory birds and other wildlife.
The Corps will beneficially use dredged material removed from Reads Landing Dredged Material Placement Site in Lower Pool 4, located just north of Wabasha, Minnesota, to construct the peninsulas. The project could use up to 400,000 cubic yards of dredged material.
This project was selected last year as one of 10 projects Corps-wide to participate in a national Corps of Engineers pilot program to use dredged material to improve habitat.
Questions on the project or comments on the EA can be directed to Steve Clark, project biologist, at
651-290-5278 or Steven.J.Clark@usace.army.mil by May 11. Please address all formal written correspondence on this project to the St. Paul District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ATTN: Regional Planning and Environment Division North, 180 5th St. E., Suite 700, St. Paul, MN 55101.
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