Posted on May 4, 2020
While the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has yet to make definitive plans for the placement of dredged material pulled from Pools 5 and 6 near Winona, it is studying potential land — with a hope that beneficial use will help optimize existing land.
Pool 5 is located between Lock and Dam 4 in Alma, Wisconsin, and Lock and Dam 5 in Minneiska. Pool 6 is located at Lock and Dam 5A and stretches down to Lock and Dam 6 in Trempealeau, spanning nearly 15 miles.
As for where the Corps is having luck when it comes to dredged material placement between the two pools, Pool 5 is their shining star.
Bob Edstrom, project manager for dredged material management plans, said the Corps is looking to acquire roughly 950 acres of land for Pool 5 and use it immediately for dredged material placement.
“When we’re talking 950 acres, that’s a considerable amount of property and gives us a great deal of capacity,” Edstrom said. “So we’ll identify the first few acres to be used. Right now, we’re looking at the parcel south (and north) of County Road 84.”
The parcel Edstrom is referring to is the Rolling Prairie site, which is located in Wabasha County, 1.5 miles from West Newton Chute.
According to the Pool 5 Dredged Material Management Plan, the Corps describes the Rolling Prairie site as a multi-parcel mixed agricultural and upland placement site which provides more than 40 years of capacity, amounting to about 18,500,000 cubic yards.
Edstrom added that, if all goes well with land acquisition, a team will subsequently be assembled and look at official wetland delineations and cultural investigations — since the Corps is aware there may be tribal sites in the area — as well as develop site design.
The Corps is looking to meet with locals in the area of the Rolling Prairie site to address concerns about water management on the site and speak with the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Minnesota and Wisconsin Departments of Natural Resources, as the latter two have suggested ideas relating to site restoration opportunities.
In regards to site restoration, Edstrom said there is a creek on the site that could be undammed at a later date.
For Pool 6 in the Winona area, things are a little more difficult, as the Corps is attempting to keep a minimal footprint while keeping in mind the concerns of those within the area.
The current sites the Corps uses for Pool 6 are Latsch Island and its Homer West site that they acquired in 2018.
In a letter submitted to the Winona Daily News on April 5, one Winonan described the sand placement at Latsch Island as an eyesore and suggested that it already undermines the millions of dollars that public and private investors have spent downtown, which has “(spruced) up the riverfront.”
The reason why the Corps is looking for additional placement sites for Pool 6, however, is because the amount of material dredged from the Mississippi River has increased.
Edstrom said the Corps has been looking at potential sites for the past seven to eight years, and in that time the average volume of dredged material has gone up “considerably.”
The Corps said the reason for the increase is due to the area being in a wet cycle where there is more precipitation year-round, meaning more rain and snow. When snow melts, more water goes into the river, bringing excess sedimentation with it.
Due to this increase, new placement sites have been deemed necessary, but the Corps has acknowledged that many people are unwilling to sell their land. To compensate, they’re attempting to optimize the land they already use for dumping and expanding them.
The Corps said its new plan was devised by taking the worst dredging season on record — which is 2014 at 100,000 cubic yards — and adding a buffer of about 20 percent and finding just enough land to store upwards of 170,000 cubic yards of dredged material, amounting to about 12 acres of land.
Corps officials said they believe they can manage this downsize in acreage through what they call “beneficial use,” meaning the materials are available for anybody to take and use them for their purposes.
Primary benefactors of the material are the Minnesota Department of Transportation and contractors who are looking for fill.
Since the mid-1990s, according to the Corps, a little more than a million cubic yards of dredged material has been generated from Pool 6, and all of that sand has gone toward beneficial use projects, such as Fleet Farm, the Winona Middle School, the interstate bridge between Winona and Wisconsin and Industrial Park.
“We really look at those sites (for) beneficial use or restoration opportunities,” Edstrom said. “We try to be good stewards, we try to be good neighbors. We never try to just leave these exposed piles of sand just because.”
While optimizing the current land it has for Pool 6 is its preferred route, the Corps has acknowledged feedback from the community against the idea and is still working with the city to develop a plan that is agreeable for everybody.
Source: winonadailynews
