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Carterville Fishery Office Submits Final Report for Dredge Material Placement Studies
Midwest Region, September 15, 2004
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The Carterville Fishery Resources Office recently submitted the final report for a three year study of the effects of dredged material placement on fish to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Rock Island District. Environmental impacts of channel maintenance dredging on the Upper Mississippi River System have long been a concern of river resource managers. Under the terms of a recent Clean Water Act-Section 404 permit to discharge dredged or fill material into the waters of the United States, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers agreed to assess the ecological impacts of dredged material placement. Representatives of the Fish and Wildlife Interagency Committee, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Corps - Rock Island District agreed to assess the impacts of dredged material placement on several key biotic components (i.e., fish, benthic macroinvertebrates, shoreline vegetation) over a period of several years at a location where dredged material placement was anticipated in the near future (i.e., experimental site) and at a similar location where dredged material placement had not occurred recently nor was planned for the near future (i.e., control site). A three year evaluation of fish community response to dredged material placement at Island 241 in the Upper Mississippi River Pool 12 was completed by the USFWS's LaCrosse Fisheries Resources Office in 2001. The interagency 404 study team selected additional investigation sites at Hogback Island (RM 331.7 - 333.5 L) in the Upper Mississippi River (Pool 21) and at Senate Island (RM 130.0 - 133.1 L) in the Illinois River (La Grange Pool) to determine if the results from the Island 241 investigation apply in other parts of the system. Carterville Fishery Resources Office collected monthly fish community samples at both additional sites spring through fall over a three-year period (2001-2003). Final analyses for the Hogback and Senate Island data sets indicate that there were no significant changes in species richness, evenness, or diversity at either study site. These results, combined with the results of the Island 241 study, indicate that there are no short-term negative impacts to the fish community as a result of dredged material placement at existing placement sites. Carterville FRO is currently preparing a manuscript summarizing the project to submit for publication in a scientific journal.

Contact Info: Midwest Region Public Affairs, 612-713-5313, charles_traxler@fws.gov



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