The first project, which seeks to restore the river ecosystem along 39 miles of the Mississippi River, can get federal approval to move forward, provided it can secure slices of the federal bankroll.

Hatchie-Loosahatchie Mississippi River Ecosystem Restoration The project will restore habitat for endangered species, support the natural culling of invasive carp, and restore the ecosystem of flood plains that have been cut off from the Mississippi River through decades of flood control measures .

The project received legislative approval in January Water Resource Development Lawthe law passed by Congress every two years gives the authority of the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to carry out research and projects for the conservation and development of water resources.

The business will be running for approximately $63.7 million. The largest ecosystem restoration project In the history of the USACE Memphis area.

Rehabilitation efforts touch more than 6,000 acres in Tennessee and Arkansas, extending from the Hatchee River to the Wolf River near downtown Memphis. The project covers parts of the Mississippi River, adjacent to Lauderdale, Tipton and Shelby counties in Arkansas and Tennessee.

The main goal is to reconnect secondary river waterways, plant broad-leaved forests at the bottom, sow wetland plants, and fix bridges to restore habitats that support hundreds of species along the river. is. It also includes trail improvements for Meman Shelby Forest and Wolf River Harbor. The project is not expected to have a negative impact on Mississippi’s navigation or flood mitigation.

The initial efforts to revitalize rivers in the lower Mississippi began about 25 years ago when resource assessments identified eight sections of the river for habitat restoration. The Hatchie-Loosahatchie project is the first project to complete its feasibility study and cross the hurdles of legislative approval.

Jason Allmon, USACE Memphis District Program Manager Hatchie-Loosahatchie Ecosystem Repair Research Three years with supervisory biologist and environment-driven Mike Thron.

“Flood risk management and voyage have traditionally been a major mission area, especially in the Memphis area,” Slon said. “This is the first time we have taken a large-scale approach to ecosystem restoration.”

Allmon said the project serves as a restoration pilot that can extend all the way to New Orleans to the rest of Mississippi.

“This is an important opportunity for the region and the country as well. The Mississippi River is America’s largest river,” Almon said. “Restoring this 39-mile ecosystem could make a huge difference and could lead the way to other projects in the future.

Restores the natural habitat of endangered species

Large-scale flood protection measures have transformed rivers and threatened habitats since the early 20th century. The federal government and corps began securing the river extensively through a system of levees after the 1927 Mississippi flood flooded 27,000 square miles. The embankment cut the river from its flood plains along the state of Mississippi.

Michael Butler, CEO of the Tennessee Wildlife Federation, said decades of change in the Mississippi River and almost every tributary of West Tennessee had major deliberate consequences. The Hatchee River is the last remaining tributary of the main stems that are not channelized, blocking the natural winding flow of the river through the flood plain.

“If you look at that flood plain, it’s a dynamic living system,” Butler said. “I think what the legions we support are trying to do is to restore some of the processes that will help us recover some of the really, really damaged habitats through an early approach. Masu.”

According to a corps investigation, the flood risk management and navigation project removed a bend of about 152 miles from the river. Approximately 80% of the forest habitat along the river has been converted to agricultural use.

The meandering cliffs, the remains of the meandering river channel, were separated from the main channels of Mississippi in the 1930s and 1940s. The remaining few meandering scars connect the flood plains and provide ideal habitat for many species, including federally endangered fat pocket book mussels and their fish’s hosts. Masu.

“Fat pocket book mussels are a good representative species for all freshwater mussels in the river and help with water quality,” Thron said. As a bottom feeder, they filter the water and clean it naturally.

Scarke also provides shelter from dr and barge traffic and becomes a suitable nursery for young pale sturgeons, another federal threatened species. Only 14 meandering cliffs remain along the state of Mississippi, and no longer occurs naturally due to engineering. The Hatchie-Loosahatchie project is about to save three in the project area.

Eric Brinkman is aquatic protection aide for the Arkansas Games and Fish Commission, part of the Mississippi River Conservation Committee, a sponsor of the project’s non-federal forces.

“Hundreds of animals rely on that flood plain,” Brinkman said. He added that flood plains have additional benefits, such as nitrate and phosphorus sequestration and phosphorus flowing downstream, creating a “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico.

Native species face another challenge to their survival: Invasive carp Nursing rapidly breeding and growing species, plankton and reflecting native species for important resources.

Recreation Lower Mississippi has generated $1.3 billion and employs 55,000.

The USACE civil engineering work budget is Multi-Step Federal Budget Compilation Process It is driven in part by political priorities from the presidential administration. Projects can also be funded with supplemental expenditures. USACE has received supplemental funds almost every year since 2017 – except for 2021 – but they are usually given for repairs after a serious storm damage, 2022 Overview of the USACE budget process.

Brinkman said he wouldn’t be surprised if it took decades before the funds were approved, along with the Arkansas Games and Fish Commission.

“Something on this scale hasn’t been achieved before…it’s certainly a slow process,” he said.

Allmon said his team doesn’t know when they don’t know what will be funded.

“If this cycle is not funded, it doesn’t mean that the next cycle is not funded,” he said.

Working with local landowners is another potential hurdle.

Most of the land within the executives, an area of ​​alluvial plains that stretch from river to river to bank, is privately owned.

A project that follows the plan requires the purchase of more than 2,881 acres of private property, and road and construction easements that cost an estimated $17.6 million, according to a project recommendation from USACE engineer Scott Spermon chief.

Of the total 3,044 acres of private and public land wrapped in the project, about half of Tennessee and half of them are in Arkansas.

The Spellman letter lists the real estate acquisition as one of the “major uncertainty drivers” for the project. However, it also notes that the majority of project benefits are expected to be successfully completed on public land and land purchased from aspiring sellers.

“There was some anxiety around it,” Brinkman said. “There’s definitely some negotiations. There’s a lot of discussion that needs to happen before anything happens on the ground.”

This story is a product of Mississippi River Basin AG & Water DeskIndependent reporting network based on University of Missouri Partnership with American Reportmajor funding from the Walton Family Foundation.