Continuing Authorities Program, Lee County, Iowa, Section 204 Project, Pool 19, Upper Mississippi River Miles 375-381

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District, is soliciting comments from the public; federal, state, and local agencies and officials; Native American Tribes and other interested parties in order to consider the impacts documented in the draft Integrated Feasibility Report and Environmental Assessment titled “Continuing Authorities Program, Section 204 Project, Pool 19, Upper Mississippi River Miles 375-381, Lee County, Iowa.” Any comments received will be considered by the USACE to determine whether to modify the draft FR/EA in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act.  

The draft feasibility report with integrated environmental assessment is available for public review from June 11-July 15, 2024. Comments may be submitted via email to: CEMVR_Planning@usace.army.mil, or by writing to the address below with the title of the project. For requesting hard copies, call 309-794-5231, write to the address below, or use the above email.

Address:
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District
Attn: Meden (PD-P)
Clock Tower Building
P.O. Box 2004
Rock Island, IL 61204-2004

Project Information

The Lee County, Iowa Continuing Authorities Program (CAP) Section 204 Project (Project) is located near Fort Madison and Montrose, Iowa in Pool 19 of the Upper Mississippi River (UMR).

The study area for the Project is located immediately downstream from Fort Madison, IA, in Pool 19 between Upper Mississippi River miles 375 and 381. The term “Study area” refers to the broad planning area and comprises approximately 2,500 acres (Figure 1, outlined in red) of submerged land owned by the Project Sponsor, Lee County Conservation Board (LCCB), in Montrose, IA. The LCCB’s goal for these lands is to protect them for public use, restore island acreage, and improve habitat within the study area.

The project purpose is ecosystem restoration under the authority of CAP Section 204 (Section 204, Water Resources and Development Act of 1992, as amended). The four project-specific objectives include 1) Restore topographic diversity to promote emergent wetland vegetation growth as measured by coverage in acres of wetland plants, 2) Restore bathymetric diversity to promote submerged vegetation growth as measured by coverage in acres of wetland plants, 3) Increase fish overwintering habitat acreage, and 4) Increase aquatic plant diversity.

Tentatively-selected Plan: Alternative 6 – Main & Upper Island Restoration with New Breakwater Island

The project delivery team (PDT) estimated habitat values and costs for nine different action alternatives within the study area. On 30 January 2024, the PDT received concurrence with USACE, Mississippi Valley Division (MVD) and LCCB with Alternative 6 as the Tentatively Selected Plan (TSP).

The TSP, described in detail in Section VI of the draft FR/EA, would use approximately 30,000 cubic yards (CY) of dredged material from the UMR Nine-Foot Navigation Channel and approximately 59,000 CY of access dredging to restore around 14 acres of island habitat. Approximately 900 linear feet of rock chevron is also proposed for construction to deflect flow and support establishing bathymetric diversity.

Table 1 displays the tentative schedule for implementing the Project. After finalization of approval from MVD (August 2024), the TSP would likely become the “Recommended Plan.”

Table 1. Tentative Project Implementation Schedule