Flood leaves behind a mess at Big Slough

NEW ALBIN - A big flood on the Upper Iowa River made a big mess of Big Slough, and several agencies and organizations are trying to figure out what to do about it.

The late-August flood deposited a half-mile-long clot of debris - including propane tanks, camper parts and large bales of hay, not to mention millions of board feet of logs, trees and stumps - in a flowing backwater channel in pool 9 of the Mississippi River.

The debris is just south of where the Upper Iowa empties into the Mississippi southeast of New Albin, Iowa's most northeastern city.

'We are concerned about the potential for pollutants leaking into the water and about the blockage causing hydrological changes” in the downstream backwater, said Iowa Department of Natural Resources biologist Mike Griffin.

'We have those same concerns,” said Sabrina Chandler, manager of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, which has jurisdiction over the impacted area.

The chief cleanup limitation, she said, is lack of funding for work that is estimated to cost at least $500,000.

Corey Snitker, Allamakee County's emergency management coordinator, said he is working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Environmental Protection Agency to identify potential grants.

Bruce ReVoir of Waukon, president of the non-profit Friends of Pool 9, said a sound plan for removing the debris must be developed in order to obtain grant funding.

John Verdon of Lansing, a director of the friends group, said Big Slough has two major obstructions. The lower one, about 500 feet long, consists of natural material that has clogged the slough for many years, he said.

The upper one, deposited by the recent flood, is about 2,300 feet long and includes all the worrisome non-natural debris, Verdon said.

'The size of the upper blockage is overwhelming. You can't get to it to handpick” the human flotsam, he said.

Big Slough is the main source of flowing water for Big Lake and other important backwaters on the Iowa side of pool 9, according to Verdon.

Those areas could become dead zones if their main artery is shut off, he said.

'My concern is if we leave it, there will be a sore spot on pool 9 forever,” Verdon said.

ReVoir said both blockages need to be removed to open Big Slough to boat traffic and to ensure the continued flow of fresh water into the backwaters.

Cleanup organizers have sought assistance from Living Lands & Waters, an East Moline, Ill.-based non-profit organization that specializes in removing debris from the banks of rivers.

'We're definitely not ruling that out,” said Amber Pribyl, a project manager for the group.

Refuge manager Chandler said she hopes a cleanup plan and funding will be in place by next spring.

With winter closing in on the refuge, 'that is the earliest that work could begin,” she said.