Posted: 8/2/06
Island projects coming to river
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
The look of the Mississippi River south of Brownsville is going to be changing in the next four years.
Workers from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACOE) St. Paul District explained a $15.28 million project to about 20 citizens at the Brownsville Community Center on July 26.
The entire project contains 17 islands totalling 40,000 square feet or 123 acres. Seven ìseed islands,î four mudflats, and three breakwaters will also be built.
Wind, waves, and changes in the flow of the river have caused islands to erode, USACOE project manager Donald Powell explained. That has brought about a decline in river bottom diversity and aquatic vegetation. Habitat has been lost too, he said.
The plan will be implemented from this summer to 2010. It has three stages in an area below Brownsville and Stoddard, Wisconsin, from Minnesota shore to Wisconsin shore.
ï Stage one will start this month near the Coon Creek delta area south of Stoddard. It covers an area of 700 acres, and will cost $865,018. It could be completed this fall, although the deadline for fall work is September 30 due to the duck hunting season. The work might not be finished until next year, Powell said. Three rockfill breakwaters will be built, and, plus some rockfill to protect East Island.
ï Stage two, west area, is about four miles south of Brownsville and covers 550 acres. It starts just below the five boathouses on Raft Channel. This is the only part of the project located in Minnesota. It calls for construction of six islands and two mudflats. A total of 15,300 feet or 45 acres of islands will be built at an estimated cost of $5,235,000.
ï Stage two, north area, starts about a mile south of Brownsville and covers 470 acres. It will be focused on island restoration with the goal of improving puddle duck migration habitat. Four islands will be built, plus a mudflat, four additional vseed islands. A total of 7,800 feet or 24 acres of islands will be built at a cost of about $3,085,000.
Construction in the stage two, north area, will start this September with the building the seed islands. The rest of the work on the west and north areas is expected to start in the spring of next year and be completed by the fall of 2008.
ï Stage three covers 1,600 acres of deeper water between Brownsville and Stoddard. Seven islands will be constructed, plus one mudflat, for a total of 16,800 feet or 54 acres of islands. The estimated cost is $6,320,000. It will start in the spring of 2009 and be completed by the fall of the following year.
Officials said several times at the meeting that the work is dependant on federal funding.
Dredging Schnickís Bay
Some of the islands will be built using dredged material. Project manager Tom Novak from the USACOE said some of the material would come dredge piles north of Brownsville.
About 120,000 cubic yards of fine material will come from Schnickís Bay just south of Brownsville, Novak said. The bay will be dredged to a depth of 10 feet and width of 80-100 feet.
ìThis is very much appreciated,î Phil Moen, who is president of a boathouse association in the bay, said.
John ìSkipî Hrejsa was happy to hear that too. He has the northernmost boathouse, and has seen the water level in the bay go from a depth of four feet in 1987 to 18 inches now.
Several boathouse owners asked if Wildcat Creek would be changed so that it didnít empty in the bay, which apparently is causing siltation.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) La Crosse District Manager Jim Nissen said that wasnít in the current plans. ìThat really is a project unto itself,î he said. The Root River delta would have a high priority, he added, because flooding there affects the highway and the city of Hokah. He estimated that such a project would be 5-10 years away.
Nissen told The Argus on July 28 that all the agencies looked at rerouting Wildcat Creek as part of this project and selected the no action alternative. People can get copies of that decision by contacting Nissen at (608) 783-8401; or email him at James_Nissen@fws.gov. The agency is attempting to find funding to model the lower Root River and develop ways to reduce flooding, improve habitat, manage sediment, Nissen said. ìWe arenít making much progress on that initiative.î
Moving the fine material from Schnickís Bay will take more finesse because it is contaminated, Jeff Janvrin from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources said. ìItís nothing thatís insurmountable,î he added.
Novak said the material tested positive for a couple heavy metals and some pesticides.
There are permits for 32 boathouses in Schnickís Bay. Another boathouse complex further south has 15 permits. Boathouse permits are issued on a five-year basis, and cost $5 per year.
End of a long process
The island project is officially known as Phase III of the Pool 8 Islands Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Project. Pool 8 runs from the Dresbach Dam to the Genoa Dam.
It is being done under the Environmental Management Program by the USACOE and USFWS.
Phase I was completed in 1993. Horseshoe, Boomerang and Grassy Islands were restored and constructed from 1989-1993.
Phase II, in which several islands near Stoddard were built, was completed in 1999.
A river draw-down was also done in Pool 8 in 2001 and 2002 that river people consider a success both for its plant and bird enhancement.
For more information on the proposed project, contact Don Powell at (651) 290-5402; email him at donald.l.powell@usace.army.mil; contact Nissen
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