FLOOD03889

• County: Statewide
• Community: Harrison County, Iowa
• Stream Name: Missouri River Miles 651-64905
• Basin: Statewide
• Title: California Bend Habitat Restoration/Preservation Project Volume 1
• Date: 10/1/1994
• Prepared For: US Army Corps of Engineers
• Prepared By: Greenhorne & O'Mara, Inc.
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Project

I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I

or easements to construct the project are discussed in Section 13. A tentative schedule for
planning, design, construction, and completion of the selected plan is shown in Section 14.
Section 15 describes implementation responsibilities and coordination. Public and agency
coordination is discussed in Section 16. Conclusions and recommendations are summarized in
Section 17. Sections 18 and 19 provide a list of the DPR preparers and a draft Finding of No
Significant hnpact (FONSI), respectively. An evaluation in accordance with EPA's Guidelines
for Specification of Disposal Sites for Dredged or Fill Material (40 CFR 230) is contained in
Section 20. Section 21 provides literature cited. Attached to the DPR are technical appendices,
which include detailed design and cost studies. Appendices are included in a separate volume
(Volume 2).

2. SITE SELECTION PROCESS

a. General Eligibility Criteria: The Reaffirmation Report (U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, 1990) describes the various aspects of the mitigation project, including the general
criteria to be used in selection of non-public sites for acquisition and development. These
criteria are as follows: (1) sites in private ownership will be acquired on a willing seller basis
to the extent possible; (2) sites will generally have a minimum size of 100 acres; (3) the total
acreage acquired and/or developed in each State will be approximately 28,950 acres in Missouri,
9,600 acres in Iowa, 7,200 acres in Nebraska, and 2,350 acres in Kansas; (4) areas selected
must be compatible with the authorized purposes of the Missouri River Bank Stabilization and
Navigation Project and will have no adverse effects on navigation, on the carrying capacity of
the existing levee systems, or on the flood-carrying capacity of the existing floodway; (5)
emphasis is to be given to acquiring remaining larger contiguous tracts of bottomland timber,
wetlands or former wetlands that can be restored, areas suitable for development of terrestrial
forest and grassland, and areas where chutes and backwaters can be restored; (6) acquisition of
agricultural land should be limited, except where the area has high potential for development or
where a willing seller is available; (7) acquisition will be confined to the meander belt; (8) sites
for chute and backwater restoration will undergo an engineering, economic, and environmental
feasibility determination; (9) public access to areas will not be a determining factor in
acquisition; (10) sites chosen for chute, backwater, or wetlands restoration will include enough
adjacent land to allow establishment of perimeter habitats; (11) sites chosen for acquisition
and/or development will be based upon State and Federal agency input and support; and (12)
estimated operation and maintenance costs will also be considered in the site selection process.

In addition to these criteria, the States provided an initial screening and prioritization of
their recommended acquisition and development sites. The Kansas City (CEMRK) and Omaha
(CEMRO) Districts evaluated the engineering feasibility of developing certain State-owned lands
and ranked the sites according to the potential for success or failure. Proposed projects are
investigated on a case-by-case basis for their technical feasibility, and may be modified as
further planning and design occurs.

7