The Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge has announced that the Spring Lake Management Unit’s recreation area, located off IL Route Highway 84 south of Savanna, IL, will be temporarily closed, to accommodate a levee rehabilitation project. Closure is scheduled to extend from Monday, March 11, through Friday, March 29, 2019. The closure includes the parking area, cross dike, and river access area located adjacent to the parking area.
The Spring Lake Management Unit includes 3600 acres that is bounded by 12 miles of levee. The lower lake area contains 3000 acres of Mississippi River backwater. It is an important area for fish and wildlife, including tens of thousands of waterfowl that gather here annually. The upper lake contains three wetland units that are intensively managed to provide natural foods for wildlife, especially waterbirds.
The levee rehabilitation project is expected to take two years to complete. It will require additional area closures in the future for public safety, due to the parking lot being used as a mobilization area for heavy equipment and workers.
The first phase of the project is tree removal along an 8000 linear feet section of levee. Tree trunks and mulch will be temporarily stored in the gravel portion of the parking lot and will eventually be available for the public to use.
The second phase of the project will be to excavate material from inside of Spring Lake. That will be needed to repair areas of erosion along the levee where the trees were cleared. The final phase will be to place riprap on the levee, to provide for future erosion protection from Mississippi River flows.
The Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge is the most-visited refuge in the United States. The refuge extends 261 miles along the Upper Mississippi River from Wabasha, MN, to Princeton, IA, protecting and preserving habitat for migratory birds, fish, and a variety of other wildlife.