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Public comments sought for draft PEA for repairs to side channel chutes, backwaters damaged in 2019 floods

USACE Omaha
Published Aug. 13, 2021

Public comments are being sought on a draft programmatic environmental assessment has been prepared to evaluate and document the potential impacts of a suite of proposed repair activities that would occur within previously constructed Missouri River Recovery Program (MRRP) side channel chutes and backwaters in Nebraska, Iowa, and Missouri that were damaged by the 2019 flood event on the Missouri River. The proposed repairs are needed to repair flood damages to MRRP constructed chutes to reduce the possibility of adversely affecting other authorized purposes, or adjacent lands, and to restore beneficial habitat conditions in the chutes that were impacted by the flood.

Proposed repair activities include repairing existing rock structures by placing new rock to original lines and grades, expanding the footprint of existing structures to prevent bank erosion and potential flanking of the structures, modifying the height of existing water control structures, and the construction of new bank protection and water control structures to prevent bank erosion, and control the amount of flow entering the chutes from the main channel of the Missouri River. A majority of site access and construction activities would take place from the river with equipment on barges. However, some of the proposed construction may require land access to reach the proposed construction areas, and in some cases, to access borrow areas.

Repairs are being made under the Corps’ Missouri River Recovery Program, which helps to fulfill the requirements of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2018 Biological Opinion on the Operation of the Missouri River Main Stem Reservoir System, the Operation and Maintenance of the Missouri River Bank Stabilization and Navigation Project, the Operation of the Kansas River Reservoir System, and the Implementation of the Missouri River Recovery Management Plan.

The public is encouraged to provide comments on the draft PEA which is available for viewing at https://usace.contentdm.oclc.org/utils/getfile/collection/p16021coll7/id/18903.  Comments can be mailed to:  U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District; CENWO-PMA-C; ATTN:  Fawn Island Phase II Supplemental EA; 1616 Capitol Avenue; Omaha, NE 68102-4901.  Comments can also be emailed to:  cenwo-planning@usace.army.mil.  Comments must be postmarked or received no later than September 12, 2021.

This draft PEA is consistent with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended, the Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ) regulations for implementing NEPA (40 CFR 1500-1508), the Corps’ regulations for implementing NEPA (33 CFR325 and Engineering Regulation 200-2-2) and other applicable environmental laws and regulations.


Release no. 21-051