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Corps of Engineers seeks public input regarding master plan

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There were several U.S. Army Corps of Engineers personnel on hand to answer people’s questions regarding the Upper Mississippi River Master Plan the corps will be revising in the near future. The corps held a meeting at the Crawford County Administration Building on Monday to give a brief presentation and to get public input.

 

Upper Mississippi River plan was fully updated last in 1988

By Ted Pennekamp

 

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers held a meeting Monday afternoon in the Crawford County Administration Building regarding the Upper Mississippi River Master Plan, which will be revised in the near future.

Following a brief presentation, several members of the Corps of Engineers were available to answer questions and concerns from numerous members of the public who attended between 4 and 7 p.m.

Corps of Engineers Regional Planner Megan O’Brien said the meeting was a scoping meeting designed to gain public input and give information about the master plan. There were about 30 area residents at any given time in the early stages of the meeting and they were asked to fill out a form giving comments, concerns and opinions about how the corps should conduct its plan.

O’Brien said the master plan hadn’t been fully updated since 1988, although it was updated regarding land classification in 2011.

The revised master plan will address recreation, environmental stewardship, and maintaining the nine-foot navigation channel for commercial purposes for 243 river miles from the Twin Cities to Guttenberg, Iowa.

Most people talked with corps personnel about the high water this spring and summer in Pool 10. The Mississippi River has had three crests well over flood stage this season and another just over the flood stage of 16 feet is predicted for July 26 at the McGregor gauge. Aside from the crests, the river has been quite high all summer and people who have homes on Ambro Road, for example, haven’t been able to get to their homes much. Prairie du Chien area boat launches have been adversely affected as well, as have several area businesses.

Corps of Engineers personnel said they feel for how homeowners and businesses have suffered, but there is little they can do about very high levels of snow melt and rain this spring and summer. When the river reaches certain thresholds of cubic feet per second, each dam must have their gates wide open to let the water go through as fast as possible, the corps personnel said. The river has been way beyond or at those thresholds for much of the spring and summer. A common notion is that the dam at Guttenberg holds water back during floods so that Prairie du Chien and Pool 10 gets the brunt of it. The Corps of Engineers say this is not true, however. They say if they attempted holding water back, huge scour holes would develop on the upstream side of the dam and major damage would result that would take millions of dollars to repair. The dam simply wouldn’t be able to handle the huge amount of pressure.

There are 13 locks and dams within the 243-mile range of the master plan, and none of them were designed or built for flood control. They were built in order to help maintain the navigational channel for commercial barge traffic, say corps officials, which is vital to the national economy.

One person at the meeting asked if tributaries to the Mississippi River will be affected by the master plan because he owns quite a bit of property along the popular stream, Bloody Run near Marquette. O’Brien said Bloody Run and other tributaries are not part of the master plan.

O’Brien and other corps personnel did say, however, that the Upper Mississippi River is a multi-purpose resource, and the corps seeks to balance and enhance fish and wildlife management actions and recreation opportunities while maintaining the river’s navigation system.

It was pointed out that the master plan is a strategic land use and recreation management document that guides the comprehensive management and development of natural, recreational, cultural and man-made resources within the Upper Mississippi River for many years to come.

The corps says the master plan needs to be revised to address changes to the environment, outdoor recreation trends and corps’ management policy. The plan’s primary goals are to establish an overall land use management plan; identify resource objectives; and identify associated design and management concepts. 

“There are several areas where project lands need to be reclassified so that these lands match their intended use,” said O’Brien in citing one example. For instance, campgrounds are permitted in areas classified as “recreation intensive use” but not in areas classified as “wildlife management.”

The corps operates a number of recreation areas along the river, ranging from full service campgrounds and day-use areas to simple boat launches. There are also several leased recreation areas. The river offers many wildlife-oriented recreation opportunities, including fishing, waterfowl observation and hunting, bird watching and trapping.

The corps also grants limited permits for private docks on designated shoreline management areas and limited licenses for the use of its land and water areas for park and recreation purposes to the states, agencies and other local government entities.

There were numerous, large maps on display of the master plan area. There were also various documents, including the 1988 Master Plan and the 2011 Land Use Plan for meeting attendees to peruse. Some people asked about the proposed McGregor Lake project near Prairie du Chien and Marquette-McGregor. Corps personnel at the meeting said they were unfamiliar with that particular project, but specific dredging and land restoration projects will not be revised in the master plan.

The master plan, while conceptual in nature, will serve as the vision for both environmental stewardship and recreation as the corps continues to serve the public in the 21st Century.

Comments concerning the scope of the study may be submitted to: District Engineer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, Attention: Regional Planning and Environment Division North, 180 Fifth Street East, St. Paul, Minn., 55101-1638. Comments can also be submitted via email: UMRMasterPlan2019@usace.army.mil.

Additional information can be viewed online at www.mvp.usace.army.mil/Upper-Mississippi-River-Master-Plan.

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