St. Johns Bayou & New Madrid Floodway Project Memphis Corps of Engineers

St. Johns Bayou & New Madrid Floodway - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Memphis District

OVERVIEW

What is the St. Johns Bayou and New Madrid Floodway Project?

The St. Johns Bayou and New Madrid Floodway Project is a flood control project that has two distinct parts based upon two separate Congressional Acts.

	Flood Control Act of 1954 authorized the closure of the 1,500-foot gap in the Mississippi River Frontline Levee system at the southern end of the New Madrid Floodway.
	The Water Resources Development Act of 1986 authorized improvements to channels within the St. Johns Bayou Basin, the St. Johns Bayou Pump Station, and the New Madrid Pump Station.

The overall project purpose is to protect the region from backwater flooding from the Mississippi River and to reduce headwater flooding in the vicinity of East Prairie. This project also allows for the management of water based natural- and recreational-resources made by the flood control structures and management techniques that are included in the Recommended Plan.

The project utilizes:

	channel improvements to alleviate headwater flooding in East Prairie and the surrounding area
	closure levee/gravity outlet to protect the New Madrid Floodway from backwater floods
	pumping stations to provide an outlet for local runoff during flood stages on the Mississippi River
	gate management to facilitate ponding of local runoff to increase winter waterfowl habitat
	and a gate management approach designed to help maintain the connectivity to the Mississippi during the prime spawning and rearing period for the fishery resource, as well as ensure a fish rearing pool through this season

Where is the St. Johns Bayou and New Madrid Floodway Project located?

The project is in the Southeast portion of Missouri just to the north of the Bootheel region. The counties encompassed by the project are Scott, Mississippi, and New Madrid Counties. Cities and communities impacted by the project include New Madrid, Charleston, Sikeston, East Prairie, and Pinhook. The project area is across the Mississippi River and to the south of Cairo, Illinois.

The region is a productive agricultural area whose main products are corn, cotton, milo, winter wheat, and soybeans. Local farming interests have modified the Floodway over the last 100 years to become a viable agricultural area. The land use in both the Floodway and St. Johns Bayou Basin is mostly agricultural with the economy of the region based on agriculture. The floodway is not a vast region of marsh/swamp wetlands as has been represented by opponents of the project in past years.

Why is it Needed?

Flooding on the Mississippi River usually occurs in the winter and spring, resulting in backwater flooding on almost a yearly basis in the New Madrid Floodway. The flood of record at the New Madrid gage occurred in 1937. Other significant backwater flooding occurred in 1961, 1962, 1964, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1979, 1983, 1984, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, and 2002. During the 1996, 1997, and 1998 years, floodwaters remained through late June, resulting in major agricultural losses. According to recent hydrologic and Geographical Information System (GIS) data, the two-year backwater flood occurrence in the New Madrid Floodway inundates 17,316 acres, of which 11,843 acres are agricultural land. At high Mississippi River stages, the St. Johns Bayou Basin control gates are closed, preventing interior drainage. The two-year headwater flood event under these circumstances inundates approximately 10,056 acres, of which 6,312 acres are agricultural land.

The flooding that occurred in May 2002 had a great impact to the region. This flood covered about 77,400 acres in the St. Johns Bayou Basin and the New Madrid Floodway, of which 61,400 was agricultural. About 48,700 acres of crops had been planted and were lost. If the project had already been constructed, only about 1,900 acres of cropland would have been flooded from backwater.

What will happen without the St. Johns Bayou and New Madrid Floodway Project?

The impact of not completing this project is best demonstrated by the importance placed on the project by the East Prairie Enterprise Community program. The local community has identified, and the U.S, Department of Agriculture concurred, that flooding that destroys crops, isolates citizens, impacts schools, and causes a loss of life is the number one impact to the economic stability of the region.

Simply put, the economic and human hardships of the regions will continue without the implementation of some alternative of this project.

Additionally, an important Missouri Department of Natural Resource (MDNR) park, Big Oak Tree State Park, will fundamentally change and will lose the wet bottomland hardwood characteristics that have led to State Champion Water Oak trees. In fact, the U.S. Department of the Interior has designated the park as a National Natural Landmark. This designation is currently jeopardized and will continue to decline without the mitigation features offered under the project and water management measures planned by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

What significant steps have occurred?

	April 1997 - Corps published Notice of Intent to prepare environmental study
	September 2000 - Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement issued
	October 2000 thru June 2002 - Corps of Engineers coordinated with EPA, Fish & Wildlife Service, the public, and sponsor to resolve environmental concerns
	June 2002 - Corps issues Final Revised Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (RSEIS)
	June 2003 � MDNR issued conditional Water Quality Certification, which was appealed
	August 2003 � Corps signed Record of Decision (ROD) to implement the recommended plan from the RSEIS
	September 2004 � Contract awarded for the New Madrid Closure Levee and Pump Station
	September 2004 � Case filed in Federal Court challenging project and Corps self enjoined construction of the Closure Levee and pumping station
	June 2005 - Corps withdrew ROD for purpose of preparing a Supplemental Revised Environmental Impact Statement No. 2 (RSEIS 2) that will clarify issues and concerns on the project raised during the federal hearing
	July 2005 � Appeal was voluntarily withdrawn and the Missouri Clean Water Commission dismissed the appeal
	March 2006 � Corps issued Final Revised Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement No. 2 (RSEIS 2) which clarified issues and concerns on the project raised during the federal hearing and presented a basic mitigation package that fully compensates all resources impact except the fishery and additional mitigation techniques that will fully mitigate the fishery impacts.
	May 2006 � Corps signed Record of Decision (ROD) to implement the plan from the RSEIS 2

What does the Corps Recommend?

The Corps� recommended plan for flood protection is Alternative 3-1.B from the 2002 RSEIS with additional information and clarification regarding mitigation, which will be presented in the RSEIS 2. This plan includes:

	1,500-foot closure levee at the southern end of the New Madrid Floodway
	pumping stations on both the St. Johns Bayou and the New Madrid Floodway
	channel work on 24.0 miles of streams in the St. Johns Bayou to aid in conveying interior water
	modified gate operations allowing connectivity between the river and floodway during the spring fish spawning/rearing
	avoidance of stream section that is home to an endangered species, the golden topminnow
	one-sided channel work in St. Johns Basin to minimize impact to mussels
	29 instream fishery habitat structures
	riparian buffers on as many as 64 miles of streams and channels in the floodway
	wildlife corridor connecting Big Oak Tree State Park and the Tenmile Pond conservation area
	hydrology restoration to MDNR�s Big Oak Tree State Park
	shorebird easements (765 acres)
	winter waterfowl ponding (6,400 acres)
	Additional fishery mitigation measures developed in the RSEIS 2

Further details regarding the recommended plan, and in particular the various mitigation alternatives are presented in the RSEIS 2.

In keeping with the Corps� environmental operating principles, the St. John�s - New Madrid Floodway Project seeks a balance and synergy among human development activities and natural systems by offering an environmentally sustainable solution that supports and reinforces the needs of both.

June 2005 - Corps withdrew ROD for purpose of preparing a Supplemental Revised Environmental Impact Statement No. 2 (RSEIS 2) that will clarify issues and concerns on the project raised during the federal hearing