Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/11681/36853
Title: Upper Mississippi River System Environmental Management Program Definite Project Report/Environmental Assessment (SP-12) : Spring Lake Peninsula Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Project, Pool 5, Upper Mississippi River, Buffalo County, Wisconsin
Authors: United States. Army. Corps of Engineers. St. Paul District
Keywords: Restoration ecology
Environmental protection
Environmental management
Wetlands
Mississippi River
Publisher: United States. Army. Corps of Engineers. St. Paul District.
Abstract: Spring Lake is a 302-acre backwater area located on the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi River in lower pool 5. The site lies within the Upper Mississippi River Wildlife and Fish Refuge. The lake is triangular in shape, bounded by the Wisconsin shoreline, the dam 5 dike, and a series of islands and a peninsula that partially separates it from the river. The lake was previously a quiet, protected area with much diversity, making it a valuable area for fish and wildlife. However, a natural peninsula protecting Spring Lake has been breached, allowing flow and sediments into the lake that reduces the habitat quality for centrarchids, especially during the winter. The ultimate goal of the project is to improve winter and summer centrarchid habitat in Spring Lake. Specific project objectives to accomplish this goal include decreasing winter flow velocities while maintaining acceptable dissolved oxygen levels and water temperatures. It is also desirable to create additional deep water fish habitat. The plan formulation process considered several alternatives for addressing the project objectives including closing the breach in the peninsula, restoring and creating barrier islands, and dredging. During the planning process it was determined that closing the breach was a minimum requirement to address project objectives and would be a component of any plan. Construction of two barrier islands was also found to be incrementally beneficial and could provide significant habitat benefits, but because of public and agency priorities and current budget constraints, only the closing of the breach was selected for implementation at this time. The Spring Lake islands project has been scheduled in the program for further study. The selected plan includes closing the breach in the peninsula at the upper end of Spring Lake with a 550-foot-long closure constructed of a combination of pervious fill and fine material. Rock riprap would be used to stabilize the 1 vertical on 3 horizontal slope on the upstream side. The top width would be 20 feet at 5 feet above normal pool with a 1 on 10 to 1 on 40 slope on the downstream side. The pervious fill for the closure would be obtained by mechanically dredging from a slough in the backwater and the fine material from the downstream side of the structure within Spring Lake. Total direct construction cost of the selected plan is estimated to be $194,000. Indirect costs for engineering and design work and construction supervision and administration bring the total project cost to $283,000. During the general design phase of this project, $74,000 was expended. Average annual operation and maintenance costs of the project are estimated to be $1,000 and would be the responsibility of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in cooperation with the non-Federal sponsor, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The selected plan would reduce the sediment load into Spring Lake and protect future loss of about 50 acres of centrarchid habitat. The habitat would be enhanced by the elimination of cold water flows into the area during the winter. The rock riprap would improve the value of the area for lithophilic fish species and the dredging would provide additional deep water habitat and improve dissolved oxygen levels for centrarchids. Plans to monitor the project for performance evaluation purposes were designed to measure the attainment of project objectives. The monitoring parameters include measurement of flow in the upper end of Spring Lake, diel dissolved oxygen levels during summer and winter, and winter water temperatures. The estimated average annual cost of evaluation over the 50-year project life is $460.
Description: Definite Project Report with Integrated Environmental Assessment
Rights: Approved for Public Release; Distribution is Unlimited
URI: https://hdl.handle.net/11681/36853
Appears in Collections:Environmental Documents

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat 
SpringLakePeninsulaPDF.pdf8.29 MBAdobe PDFThumbnail
View/Open