Flood debris clean-up effort in Big Slough being coordinated by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, awaiting response on FEMA funding request
Tuesday, December 20, a joint meeting was held in Lansing to discuss the ongoing issue of the debris field on the Mississippi River in the Big Slough area resulting from the flooding on the Upper Iowa River this past August and September. The meeting was coordinated by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) as follow-up to an initial meeting held in September to address the current status in the cleanup effort.
Representation at the meeting included the following agencies and organizations: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, United States Coast Guard, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Iowa DNR, Allamakee County Emergency Management, Allamakee County Board of Supervisors, Allamakee County Conservation, Allamakee County Economic Development, Friends of Pool 9, Northeast Iowa Resource Conservation and Development, and Congressmen Rod Blum’s office.
Even though Allamakee County had two disasters declared as a result of the August and September flooding events, the County was unable to request funding from FEMA as the Big Slough area lies within U.S. Fish and Wildlife jurisdiction. Therefore, the County would not receive any Federal or State funding if it had moved forward on the clean-up effort by itself, and would have been responsible for 100% of the cost.
Therefore, the clean-up effort is being coordinated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is currently working on a proposal to FEMA on procuring potential funding for the clean-up. The primary focus of the clean-up would be the removal of the man-made garbage from the slough, with any natural woody debris left behind as habitat. A response from FEMA on this request is anticipated to be known by the end of January or early February.
If funding from FEMA is not available, another meeting will be conducted to discuss several alternate funding scenarios brought forward during the December 20 meeting to include potential grant options and also various clean-up possibilities as presented by Friends of Pool 9. The current intent is to utilize the FEMA funding option, if available.
