OMAHA, Neb. – A draft supplemental environmental assessment for the renovation of a previously constructed backwater habitat at Hole-in-the-Rock is currently available for public review. The draft supplemental EA evaluates the environmental impacts of restoring the shallow water habitat quality and function of the previously constructed Hole-in-the-Rock backwater near river mile 706.0, approximately five miles north of Macy on the Omaha Reservation in Thurston County, Neb.
This draft supplemental EA is consistent with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, the Council on Environmental Quality’s regulations for implementing NEPA (40 CFR 1500-1508), the Corps’ regulations for implementing NEPA (33 CFR 325 and Engineering Regulation 200-2-2) and other applicable environmental laws and regulations.
BACKGROUND: In 2006, under the Missouri River Bank Stabilization and Navigation Fish and Wildlife Mitigation Project, an existing, degraded outlet channel that was mostly silted in and disconnected
from the main channel of the Missouri River was excavated to create a backwater that provided approximately 8 to 9 acres of shallow water habitat along the right descending, or west, bank of the Missouri River at Hole-in-the-Rock. A copy of the final EA that was developed for the project is available for viewing at www.nwo.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/Planning/EnvironmentalPlanning/FinalDocuments.aspx. High water during the 2011 flood event deposited significant amounts of sediment in the constructed backwater which has resulted in a loss of depth diversity and is threatening the connectivity between the backwater and the main river channel.
The public is encouraged to provide comments on the draft supplemental environmental assessment which is available for viewing at: www.nwo.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/Planning/EnvironmentalPlanning/DraftDocuments.aspx. Comments can be mailed to: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District;
CENWO-PM-AC; ATTN: Hole-in-the-Rock 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 May 25, 2013.
Release no. 20130429-001