Corps to Begin Lower Mississippi River Resource Assessment
The Corps of Engineers will soon begin work on the Lower Mississippi River Resource Assessment which was authorized in the Water Resource Development Act of 2000. The study will take two years and cost about $500,000. The study area includes the portion of the Mississippi River from Cairo, Illinois which is the confluence of the Ohio River with the Mississippi River to the mouth of the Mississippi River at the Gulf of Mexico. The study area includes 954 miles of the river and also includes 2.7 million acres of the river's natural floodplain (now protected from flooding by levees).
The study will consider aspects of the Mississippi River beyond navigation and flood control. The study will assess ways to enhance recreation, restore flood plain and restore aquatic habitat. The study will also consider some tributaries of the Mississippi River.
What Louisiana really needs is an assessment of the impact of management of the Mississippi River north of Louisiana on coastal wetlands in Louisiana. The scope of this study seems broad enough for such considerations, but will they be included?
The news coverage of this river assessment includes an article in the February 4, 2008 Memphis Commercial Appeal entitled River Resource Assessment will last two years and coast up to $500,000.
Erich.
