Missouri River Recovery Program Emergent Sandbar Habitat Complexes in the Missouri River, Nebraska and South Dakota, Draft Project Implementation Report (PIR) with Integrated Environmental Assessment

Authors

Date of this Version

2010

Comments

Published by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (2010) 1-90

Abstract

The Missouri River Recovery Program (MRRP) was developed to address actions included in the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) 2000 and 2003 Amended Biological Opinions (BiOp) on the Operation of the Missouri River System and the Missouri River Bank Stabilization and Navigation Fish and Wildlife Mitigation Project (Mitigation Project) authorized by the Water Resources Development Acts of 1986 and 1999 (WRDA86 and WRDA99). The BiOp and Mitigation Project provide authority and direction to complete projects for fish and wildlife habitat along Missouri River. These actions are being undertaken to address endangered species needs and mitigate for the loss of habitat that resulted from construction, operation, and maintenance of the Missouri River Bank Stabilization and Navigation Project (BSNP).

The 2003 BiOp Amendment found that Corps operations on the Missouri River were not likely to jeopardize interior least tern and piping plover populations if the Reasonable and Prudent Alternative (RPA) set forth in the BiOp was implemented. RPA IV.B.3 includes recommendations for the mechanical creation and maintenance of Emergent Sandbar Habitat (ESH) as nesting habitat for these two species. ESH refers to exposed, inter-channel sandbars. In contrast to islands, ESH complexes are temporary formations and comparatively dynamic in nature. The proposed action involves the restoration of three ESH complexes in the 59-mile segment of the Missouri National Recreational River (MNRR) below Gavins Point dam (River Miles 811-753). This segment forms part of the border between the states of South Dakota and Nebraska.

This Project Implementation Report (PIR) will focus on potential ESH projects located at River Miles (RM) 789.7, 759.4 and 756.7. This PIR includes an Environmental Assessment (EA) consistent with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ) regulations for implementing NEPA (40 CFR 1500-1508), the Corps’ regulations for implementing NEPA (33 CFR 325), and other appropriate environmental laws and regulations, including the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA).