U.S. Army Corps of Engineers releases draft report on Quincy Bay

1 year, 1 month ago by Scott Hardy

$45 million plan would dredge Quincy Bay, modify the cut-through and Cedar Creek

A draft feasibility report on a plan to restore Quincy Bay on the Mississippi River at Quincy, due to be publicly presented next week, has been released. 

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released the draft report Thursday, a week before an open house February 15th at the Oakley-Lindsay Center from 5:00 to 7:00 P.M.. The four objectives of the plan are to reduce sediment deposits into the Bay, increase backwater habitat quantity and quality for native fish species, increase the amount of emergent and submerged aquatic vegetation and to enhance and restore the coverage of the floodplain's forest vegetation and habitat.

The Corps says it plans to meet the objectives by planting aquatic vegetation, improving timber stands, dredging the bay to lower sediment, stabilizing the bank line and modifying the cut through channel and nearby Cedar Creek. The Corps says that the project's goals are to restore quality habitat for native plant, animal, and fish species and to restore what it calls natural river processes, structures and functions for a sustainable ecosystem.

The Corps blames years of silt deposits for degrading both aquatic and wetland habitats, and higher water levels during growing seasons and frequent flooding for negatively affecting the flood plain habitat. The Corps estimates the total cost of the Quincy Bay project to be over $45 million.