Environmental Management Program reaches 25 years

Walking on water? Not quite. One aspect of the Corps of Engineers not often seen is our Environmental Management Program. Here, a bulldozer moves dredge material to create islands in the Mississippi River. Specifically, the Capoli Slough Habitat Restoration project is located in Pool 9, downstream of Lansing, Iowa, on the Wisconsin side of the river, where erosion from wave action and main channel flows is reducing the size of wetland areas. This has resulted in the loss of aquatic vegetation and the shallow habitats important for the survival of many species of fish and wildlife. The project is broken down into two stages, and consists of creating 12 islands, improving backwater habitat, bank stabilization and other measures to improve the habitability. Once completed, the project will be turned over to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service for day-to-day management.

St. Paul District Corps staff meet with the contractor and project partners Aug. 11, 2015, during the weekly progress meeting for the Harper’s Slough project. The Harper’s Slough Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Project, located within the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, was planned and designed under the authority of the Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program. It will protect five existing islands and construct an additional seven islands using material from the backwater and main channel. The program emphasizes habitat rehabilitation and enhancement projects and long-term resource monitoring. Project component includes dredging backwater areas and channels, constructing dikes, creating and stabilizing islands and controlling side channel flows and water levels. Once the project is completed, the project will be turned over to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who manages the refuge.

District staff gathered near Brownsville, Minn., Aug. 30, to highlight and dedicate the completion of a 3,000-acre environmental project along the Mississippi River in Pool 8. Completed as a cooperative effort among the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Wisconsin and Minnesota Departments of Natural Resources and the public; the Pool 8 project is part of the Upper Mississippi River Restoration - Environmental Management Program.

Resident engineer Scott Baker, center, talks with the contractor and project partners Aug. 11, 2015, during the weekly progress meeting for the Harper’s Slough project. The Harper’s Slough Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Project, located within the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, was planned and designed under the authority of the Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program. It will protect five existing islands and construct an additional seven islands using material from the backwater and main channel. The program emphasizes habitat rehabilitation and enhancement projects and long-term resource monitoring. Project component includes dredging backwater areas and channels, constructing dikes, creating and stabilizing islands and controlling side channel flows and water levels. Once the project is completed, the project will be turned over to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who manages the refuge.

LANSING, Iowa -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District and its federal, state and local partners are in the process of building islands within the Mississippi River near Lansing, Iowa. The program is a part of the Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program, also known as the Environmental Management Program. Created in 1986, the program has restored more than 50,000 acres of habitat within the St. Paul District.