® ENVIRONMENTAL

US ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS  MISSISSIPPI VALLEY DIVISION  BUILDING STRONG®

INTRODUCTION

Environmental sustainability and holistic watershed 

approaches are integral to the ecosystem restoration 

mission and overall project and program environmental 

approach of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The division manages more than 2,363,000 acres of 

public lands and waters. It is also responsible for 

maintenance and protection of more than 3,744 miles of 

boundary and 9,043 miles of shoreline.

In addition, on the upper Mississippi River system, the 

division manages more than 193,000 acres of public 

lands for environmental stewardship and recreation 

purposes in partnership with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife 

Service and state natural resource agencies.

In 2012, the Chief of Engineers issued seven 

reinvigorated Environmental Operating Principles that 

concisely reaffirm the Corps’ proactive commitment to the 

environment and ensure incorporation of environmental 

considerations in all design and decision-making efforts.

NATIONAL

National Ecosystem Restoration Planning Center of 

Expertise: Located in the division, the center focuses on 

technical evaluations and policy reviews associated with 

plan formulation during the preparation of decision 

documents. In addition, the center seeks to strengthen 

planner core competencies by assisting teams in various 

aspects of study execution. The center also plays a 

significant role in certifying models, managing peer 

reviews, helping to develop policy, contributing to 

research and development, improving processes and 

disseminating lessons learned.

The Mandatory Center of Expertise for Curation and 

Management of Archaeological Collections: Located in 

the St. Louis District, the center delivers centralized 

oversight, administration and policy development for 

Corps-wide national compliance with archeological 

collections requirements while supporting a range of allied 

disciplines. The center maintains the Veterans Curation 

Program which trains veterans in archaeological 

collections processing with a focus on transferrable job 

skills while caring for our national collections.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER WATERSHED

America’s Great Watershed Initiative: An 

effort emphasizing a collaborative approach 

to sustainable efforts in the Mississippi River 

watershed. A 2012 meeting in St. Louis, 

Missouri, brought together more than 170 

basin stakeholders, including the Corps. 

Continued work includes monitoring of river 

health including aspects of ecological, 

economic and social importance; as well as 

outreach and partnering. 
Hypoxia Task Force: Led by the U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA), also includes the Corps, other federal agencies, 

Indian Tribes and Mississippi River drainage basin states. The task 

force is developing strategies to reduce the frequency, duration 

and size of a zone of oxygen depletion (hypoxia) in the northern 

Gulf of Mexico. An issue caused by the overabundance of 

nutrients in the water that results in a loss of aquatic habitat that 

displaces, weakens or kills organisms. The Mississippi River/Gulf 

of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force transmitted a report to 

Congress in 2017. The report described the progress made 

through activities directed by the task force and carried out or 

funded by the EPA and other state and federal partners toward 

attainment of the goals in the 2008 Action Plan. 

Upper Mississippi River Restoration 

Program: An important effort to restore the 

vitality, health and resilience of the upper 

Mississippi River's diverse and significant 

fish and wildlife resources. The program 

continues to integrate the long term resource 

monitoring with the habitat rehabilitation and 

enhancement projects to produce substantial 

ecological benefits for this nationally 

significant navigation and ecological 

resource. The recently completed Habitat 

Needs Assessment II (2018) documents the 

current status of the system through critical 

indicators of ecosystem structure and 

function that will be used to identify and 

sequence future habitat restoration efforts. 

The program has restored more than 

106,000 acres of aquatic and floodplain 

habitat through completion of 56 projects. 

Additional projects are underway and will 

result in more than 65,000 acres of restored 

habitat. 

Midwest Natural Resources Group: A forum of 14 federal agency regional senior executives 

established to stimulate collaboration on challenging natural resource issues in the upper Mississippi 

River drainage basin. In 2016, this group continued efforts to coordinate federal activities concerning 

actions focused on protecting and increasing the Monarch butterfly populations in the region. 

UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER

Endangered Mussel Species Conservation: The zebra mussel, 

a non-native invasive species, currently poses the largest threat to 

native mussels in the upper Mississippi River. Since 2000, the St. 

Paul and Rock Island districts have led an interagency effort to reestablish populations of the endangered Higgins eye pearly mussel 

and the winged mapleleaf mussel in the upper Mississippi River 

system in areas where zebra mussels will not be a threat. 

IIlinois River Basin Restoration Program: 

Encompasses the entire Illinois River watershed within 

the state of Illinois, a nationally significant ecosystem. 

The effort’s purpose was the development of a 

comprehensive plan (completed in 2007) for the 

restoration of the Illinois River Basin. It also directs the 

evaluation and construction of critical restoration 

projects within the basin; 16 have been identified to 

date. Three have been constructed and four have 

completed feasibility and are ready for construction.
Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study: The Rock Island and Chicago districts worked 

with regional stakeholders to identify a plan that would prevent the upstream transfer of aquatic nuisance 

species from the Mississippi River Basin to the Great Lakes Basin through the Chicago Area Waterway 

System in the vicinity of the Brandon Road Lock and Dam in Joliet, Illinois. The Chief of Engineers’ report 

for the GLMRIS-Brandon Road study was signed May 2019 recommending the Technology Alternative –

Acoustic Fish Deterrent with Electric Barrier, which includes the following measures: nonstructural 

activities, acoustic fish deterrent, air bubble curtain, engineered channel, electric barrier, flushing lock and 

boat launches. The Corps is continuing to work with the state of Illinois (the project sponsor) to implement 

the recommended plan through the Preconstruction, Engineering and Design phase of the project. 

LOWER MISSISSIPPI RIVER

Louisiana Coastal Area Study: The $100 million 

Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA) Beneficial Use of 

Dredged Material (BUDMAT) program was authorized 

by the Water Resourced Development Act of 2007. 

Louisiana is losing coastal wetlands at an alarming rate. 

Restoring these wetlands is imperative to protecting the 

state’s abundant resources from devastating storms 

and hurricanes. A very promising option for restoring 

coastal wetlands and reducing land loss is the beneficial 

use of dredged material. 

The Corps’ New Orleans District has the largest annual 

channel operations and maintenance program in the 

nation and dredges an average of 64 million cubic yards 

of material annually during maintenance dredging of 

navigation channels. The overall LCA BUDMAT 

program, which aims to restore and create coastal 

landscape features such as marshes, ridges and 

islands that provide wildlife and fisheries habitat, reduce 

the loss of existing coastal landscape features and 

provide risk reduction to Louisiana’s coastal 

infrastructure. The program has placed 4.1 million cubic 

yards of dredged material and is currently dredging 

another 1.6 million cubic yards in 2019, creating nearly 

130 acres of marsh and ridge habitat. A current contract 

is projected to construct another 400 acres of marsh. 

Coastal Wetlands Planning Protection 

and Restoration Act (La.): Since 1990, the 

purpose of the program is to plan, design, 

construct, maintain and monitor coastal 

wetland restoration projects in coastal 

Louisiana. 90,000+ acres of wetlands are 

projected to be created, protected and/or 

restored via the approved 28 Priority Project 

lists. The program is managed by a task 

force composed of the state of Louisiana 

and five federal agencies and is chaired by 

the New Orleans District commander. In 

February 2019, four new projects were 

selected and approved for engineering and 

design funding. Two existing projects 

received construction approval and funding. 

As of May 2019, 222 CWPPRA projects 

have been approved, 112 have been 

constructed, 30 are in the engineering and 

design phase, 15 are under construction, 

five are support projects and 60 have been 

inactivated, deauthorized or transferred to 

another program. 
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers  1400 Walnut Street, Vicksburg, MS 39180  www.mvd.usace.army.mil

July 2019

Lower Mississippi River Resource 

Assessment: This is a comprehensive 

watershed assessment to identify 

information needed for river-related 

management, natural resource habitat 

needs and recreation access in a large 

part of the lower valley. The study area 

was the Mississippi River from Cairo, 

Illinois, to the Head of Passes in 

Louisiana. An information assessment 

was completed in 2013, recreation 

assessment in 2014 and habitat 

assessment in 2015. The 

comprehensive plan was completed in 

2015 and was delivered to Congress in 

spring 2016. The plan recommends a 

variety of projects and programs 

including: a science center and 

program for the lower river, watershed 

studies of major tributaries, restoration 

of eight 30- to 40-mile reaches of the 

river, 200 small ecosystem restoration 

projects and a wide variety of projects 

to enhance recreation; e.g. boat ramps 

and bicycle trails. The plan identifies a 

variety of federal, state and local 

agencies, commercial enterprises and 

nongovernmental organizations to 

implement the recommendations. The 

Nature Conservancy - Great Rivers 

Partnership was the study sponsor.

Lower Mississippi River Museum and Riverfront 

Interpretive Center: Located in downtown Vicksburg, 

Mississippi, the museum opened to the public in Sept. 2012. 

It was created to provide an understanding of the risks and 

benefits for life surrounding the Mississippi River. It 

showcases the federal government’s role in the Mississippi 

River’s past as well as the collaborative efforts from all 

stakeholders in maintaining a healthy river system. The 

museum features displays regarding the devastating 1927 

flood. Also, the decommissioned Motor Vessel MISSISSIPPI 

IV is land-docked alongside the museum; it has been 

restored and is open to the public.