Ecosystem restoration proposed for the Mississippi

MEMPHIS — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is looking at a new Mississippi River restoration project, starting with a 39-mile stretch near Memphis, that could help save threatened and endangered aquatic animals.

The river’s levee system has disconnected much of the lower Mississippi’s main channel from the flood plain — an unintended consequence of the Army Corps of Engineers’ flood control and navigation projects, which have transformed the behemoth river to a more managed flow.

Now, the Corps is proposing a sprawling ecosystem restoration project for about one-third of the lower river, starting with a 39-mile stretch near Memphis.

The Mississippi River has historically changed course as it seeks the path of least resistance to the Gulf, but the Corps said the rapid changes in the past century have disrupted the once-dynamic ecosystem. It’s diminished the connections between the river and the flood plain, while reducing habitat diversity and increasing the presence of invasive species, the agency said in a report.

Less than 25% of original forested wetlands remain in the lower Mississippi River Valley.

“Although the levee system has reduced the footprint of the historic plain, its ecological value reflects a complex mosaic of diverse aquatic and vegetative habitat,” the Corps said in its recent project proposal.

The seed for the project was planted more than two decades ago with the passage of the Water Resources Development Act of 2000, a biannual legislative package that authorizes the Corps’ activities.

A follow-up assessment in 2015 identified eight areas of highest priority for ecosystem restoration on the lower Mississippi. A few years later, the Corps launched a study near Memphis — one of the eight priority areas — to explore the possibility of a largescale restoration project.

When the study — the largest of its kind on the lower river — ended last year, the Corps used its findings to propose a restoration project for a 39-mile stretch of river that will benefit more than 6,000 acres, spanning from the Lower Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge to the mouth of the Wolf River near Downtown Memphis.

“This is really a significant study because of the size of it,” said Jason Allmon, project manager at the Corps’ Memphis District.

The project has a few aims: increase vegetative habitats; optimize connections between the river and the flood plain; and give the public more access for recreation.

The initial costs to get the project off the ground total about $50 million.