[mou] Poole Slough at New Albin, IA, & Upper Mississippi R. Concerns

[fred lesher]

Several years ago I attended a hearing in New Albin,
Iowa on the Poole Slough maintenance operation
proposal. I raised questions about the purpose of the
project, and its effect upon Bullfrogs resident along
Army Rd. in the project, and on resident non-game
birds in the marsh at Poole Slough.

Currently that project has gone ahead. I understood at
the hearing that Winnebago Creek sediments backed up
by the delta of the Upper Iowa River are filling the
marsh east of New Albin, and that the current
operation is designed to allow a channel to flow less
impeded by marsh shallows & vegetation into the
Mississippi. Meanwhile, the village of New Albin has
built its holding ponds from its waste treatment plant
in what looks to me like the River floodplain.

I am not a scientist, engineer or a hydrologist, but
the Poole Slough project looks to me like a futile
attempt to deal with the overburden of sediments and
sands flowing into the Mississippi River from lands
throughout the Upper Mississippi River basin. Army
Road is already close to being below the marsh level,
and is closed currently, in part, even below
"floodstage", however that is determined.

In my short lifetime, I have observed the shallowing
of marshes on the Mississippi R. and more recently
Pool 7 near LaCrosse. Also, I have observed the
diminution of isolated farmland marshes such as
Cardinal Marsh in Winneshiek Co., Iowa, and Goose Lake
in Clinton Co., Iowa, as well as more diking and
filling up & down the Mississippi River. We all know
how the River flows between COE dikes further south
along the Mississippi R. in Arkansas and Mississippi,
and we know about problems getting the Mississippi
River into the Gulf unimpeded by sediments and natural
events.

What is happening at Poole Slough is "tiny", perhaps,
but it is typical of vain attempts to run water off
arable & urban lands as quickly as possible, so as to
continue human activities unrestrained by reason and
driven by "necessary capitalism." (Please read Jared
Diamond, "Collapse," especially about "rational bad
behavior").

As I view Poole Slough through the short lens of my 70
years life & 60 years observing, reporting, and
documenting non-game as well as game birds on the
River & throughout the midlands, I see COE projects
backed by well meaning "sportsmen" and unelected 
chambers of commerce as futile attempts to deal with
what must be uncountable billions of tons of sediments
washing into the River from all sources.  

No, I do not have a solution to the shallowing of
wetlands and filling of rivers. However, ignoring the
core sources and causes of shallowing & filling of
wetlands is not reasonable. Tiling & quickly draining
farm fields is one contributer to sediment run-off.
Tilling hillsides is another. Municipal dikes and
streets and housing on floodplains is another. Visit
the backwaters of the Mississippi River north of
Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin and drive the roadside
sloughs and look up to trailers on 10-12 foor stilts.
And ask where their holding tanks are, and what
happens during a flood if the tanks are empty.

I respectfully submit that we are not dealing with the
Mississippi River in ways that are environmentally
sound, and with a view to the future, short term, let
alone long term.

Meanwhile, who will miss Sora Rails at Poole Slough?

Thank you for reading.

Fred Lesher
509 Winona St.
LaCrosse, WI 54603
1-608-783-1149 



__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com