Record of decision signed for Mississippi River mainline levees SEIS II

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has signed the Record of Decision for the Mississippi River mainline levees Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement II.

The Record of Decision details USACE’s decisions on conducting remedial measures necessary to control seepage and/or raise and stabilize deficient sections of the existing levees and floodwalls to protect the structural integrity and stability of the MRL system, as well as measures to avoid and minimize adverse impacts and compensate for unavoidable losses to significant environmental resources.

Through evaluation of information and data obtained from levee inspections, seepage analyses, research, studies and engineering assessments, the USACE Memphis, Vicksburg and New Orleans districts collectively identified a total of 143 additional Work Items along various reaches of the Mississippi River mainline levees (MRL) feature of the MR&T project.

These 143 Work Items constitute the proposed action for the Final SEIS II and are located across portions of seven states: Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana.

The Final SEIS II supplements and, as necessary, augments the 1976 FEIS and 1998 Supplemental EIS (SEIS I) to achieve USACE’s primary goals for the MR&T: (1) providing flood risk management from the Project Design Flood; and (2) being an environmentally sustainable project.

The Record of Decision was signed by Maj. Gen. Diana Holland, Commanding General, USACE Mississippi Valley Division.