Building upon the Upper Mississippi River’s deeply rooted partnership and successes in effective multi-purpose management, UMRBA’s FY 2024 funding priorities include:
- $120 million for the Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program (NESP)
In 2024, NESP will initiate construction of a second 1,200-foot lock chamber at La Grange L&D, construct mooring cells on the Mississippi River to improve navigation efficiency and fish passage at L&D 22, and advance planning and design on six to ten ecosystem restoration projects. In addition, NESP will advance strategic planning and adaptive management of its ecosystem restoration program.
- $55 million for the Upper Mississippi River Restoration (UMRR) Program
In FY 2024, UMRR will construct 9 habitat projects and advance planning and design on 14 to 16 habitat projects. These projects integrate a broad range of restoration techniques that strive to use or mimic the river’s natural processes to enhance and protect important fish and wildlife habitat, restore the river’s floodplain structure and function, and counteract the factors degrading the river’s ecological health. UMRR will continue its long term resource monitoring and research, providing a much clearer understanding of the complex, dynamic relationships among various ecosystem components and watershed drivers.
- $1.2 million for renewed flow frequency probabilities and water surface profiles for the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers
In FY 2024, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will compete the hydraulic routing model and associated flow and climate assessments. Flood risk assessments and forecasting capabilities will help to reduce damages and loss of life associated with increasingly frequent and extreme flood events in the Upper Mississippi River. Accurate and accessible information will improve our ability to develop a systemic flood plan and improve management capabilities.
- Full capability for operations and maintenance of the Upper Mississippi River System 9-foot navigation channel
- $25 million for the Gulf Hypoxia Program
In FY 2024, the funding request would support the implementation of state nutrient reduction strategies and modeling tools to understand the cumulative effects of these strategies on mitigating hypoxia.
UMRBA's funding requests letters submitted to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees are found on UMRBA's website by clicking here.
UMRR Constructing Islands in Pool 8
Jeff Janvrin, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
