The U.S. Corps of Engineers is scouting areas to dump material dredged from the Mississippi River, with two areas in Winona already being selected for dumping, in an effort to keep the river channel navigable.
The Dredged Material Management Plan by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Saint Paul was released Tuesday, which outlines the transportation and land requirements to permanently place dredged material removed from the Mississippi River in Pool 6 near Winona for the next 20 years.
Pool 6 is a 14.4-mile stretch on the Mississippi River that covers the expanse of area between Lock and Dam 5A in Fountain City to Lock and Dam 5 in Trempealeau, passing through Winona.
Corps officials are accepting feedback on the plan through March 9 with a public meeting set to be held at the Winona Historical Society on Feb. 11 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Pool 6 is 14.4-mile stretch of the Mississippi from Lock and Dam 5A in Fountain City to Lock and Dam 6 in Trempealeau.
The need for the new plan was brought about due to a change in the availability of storing sites previously used in Pool 6, including the Winona Commercial Harbor Site, which offered a roughly 55,000 cubic yard capacity.
In 2018, the Corps was able to acquire the 50,000-cubic-yard Homer West placement site, which was already used for storing dredged material when the owner elected to sell the property. This acquisition, however, did not meet the Corps projected long-term dredged material placement needs.
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Before the acquisition of the Homer West site, the Corps only had 20,000 cubic yards of guaranteed material placement through the Winona Harbor site — a separate entity from the Winona Commercial Harbor Site.
According to the Dredged Material Management Plan, Pool 6 is expected to produce 1.25 million cubic yards of dredged material during the next 20 years.
With the two sites the Corps has right now, that leaves only a 7,500-cubic-yard cushion that does not factor in material washed up from seasonal flooding and other natural causes.
The plan also states that Pool 6 is different from other dredging sites because much of the material that comes from it has previously been placed at smaller sites and used by the local community for construction fill, road maintenance and cattle bedding.
Because of this, the Corps’ primary goal is seeking just enough available storing sites to operate open beneficial use sites, which are areas where dredged material would be stockpiled and removed as needed by private or local entities for their own use.
Secondary goals would be finding permanent placement sites and one-time beneficial use sites, with the latter being used for specific purposes such as construction fill.
A final report is expected by the end of the summer.
