A draft supplemental environmental assessment for repairs to the Fawn Island chute in Harrison County, Iowa is currently available for public review. The EA evaluates the environmental impacts of repairing damages that occurred to the chute during the 2011 Missouri River flood.
These repairs are needed to restore the intended habitat function of Fawn Island and prevent it from degrading further.
Proposed repairs include the construction of four stone revetments, totaling approximately 2,612 linear feet. Approximately 7,000 cubic yards of material would be removed in order to securely entrench the revetment toes.
Seventeen spur dikes would be created along these revetments to direct flows away from the bank and relieve pressure on the revetment. Approximately 24,260 tons of new quarried rock riprap would be required. Once the repairs are made, the chute would be reevaluated to determine whether it can be reopened to restore flow through the chute.
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 2003 Amended Biological Opinion for the Operation of the Missouri River Main Stem Reservoir System, Operation and Maintenance of the Missouri River Bank Stabilization and Navigation Project, and Operation of the Kansas River Reservoir System.