News Release

Environmental Assessment of Bow Creek Recreation Area Backwater Restoration

View of a former backwater channel located in Bow Creek Recreation Area.

NPS

News Release Date: November 1, 2018

Contact: Rick Clark, 605-665-0209 Ext 22

The National Park Service is proposing to restore a backwater channel at the Missouri National Recreational River Bow Creek Recreation Area (located near Wynot, Nebraska). The agency is working in cooperation with the Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) which will be seeking a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit for road embankment repairs and mitigation work along Nebraska Highway 12 (Verdel to Santee Spur Project, CN 32093). As part of their mitigation for impacts to wetlands under the permit, NDOT will restore a historic Missouri River backwater channel at Bow Creek Recreation Area. The National Park Service participated in the selection of the mitigation site because of the ecological benefits available through the restoration. Backwaters are parts of a river system not reached by the current, where the water is stagnant. They provide many benefits to aquatic ecosystems including productive spawning and nursery areas for fish, habitat for aquatic organisms away from high river velocities, and warmer water for temperature diversity. Once abundant, backwaters have been lost along the Missouri River due to channelization for navigation and construction of the main stem Missouri River dams. The National Park Service has prepared an Environmental Assessment for this project. It is available for review and download at the National Park Service Planning, Environment and Public Comment website http://parkplanning.nps.gov/bowcreekbackwaterrestoration. Comments may be submitted on the same website or by mail to the Missouri National Recreational River, 508 East Second Street, Yankton SD 57078. This environmental assessment will be open to public review until November 13, 2018.