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
