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REPORT FROM NATIONAL AUDUBON ON KEOKUK POOL AND EMBARRAS RIVER 
Apparently the controversy over the preservation of the Keokuk Pool, a major stopping place for waterfowl along the 
Mississippi Flyway, is approaching a satisfactory solution, according to our North Midwest Representative, Edward Brigham. 
In recent correspondence, Colonel Bunch of the Corps of Engineers reports that concurrence was reached with concerned 
federal and state authorities on the manner of disposing of spoils from dredging in the area. Retaining dikes will be 
constructed to hold the spoil prior to dredging and a suitable location for disposal areas has been agreed upon. 
These assurances will protect the Keokuk Pool. The National Audubon Society is establishing a new chapter in Quincy and 
Freeport to aid in the protection of Keokuk Pool and keep an eye on the Mississippi River in other ways. The Mississippi is 
one of the nation’s greatest reservoirs of wildlife habitat and of critical importance to migrating flocks of waterfowl, eagles 
and other birds. 
The National Audubon Society and its chapters have a legitimate concern when the Corps of Engineers talks about the 
construction of deepening the channel in the Mississippi River from 9 ft. to 12 ft. It is a plan that has been in the works for 
some 20 years now, according to the Corps, but conservation organizations have only recently been enlightened in regard to 
the project. The deepening of the Mississippi River channel is to take place from Cairo, Ill. to the Twin Cities — nearly 900 
miles 
According to the Corps, this will be accomplished in one of two manners: dredging the river deeper and constructing a 
series of wing dams or by building new levees and raising the height of the present locks and dams. The first method would 
result in huge tonnages of ‘‘spoil’’. Mountains of sand and rock would be dumped into the backwaters and marshes along the 
river and the wing dams would eventually silt up, turning the Mississippi into a thin, sterile ditch. Its life-giving shoals would 
be choked out. Most of the valuable wetlands that now flank the upper Mississippi would be lost because of the combined 
effect of dredging and wing dams. 
Wetlands valuable to the underground water system would be lost as would invaluable spawning, nesting and resting areas 
for fish and wildlife which furnish a recreational resource for millions. Raising the pool levels will be just as damaging. 
Although there is a possibility that it might rejuvenate some upland areas, the effects of the increased water depth on present 
vegetation and fish are unknown. It is also presumed that the Corps would have to build dikes to contain higher flood waters 
resulting in existing wetlands being cut off and dried up. 
Although the Corps can probably justify the 12 ft. channel through their own economic formulas, in reality it is a 
taxpayer subsidy of a canal system for barges — a benefit to a particular mode of transportation. 
Some controversy has revolved around the proposed impoundment on the Embarras River, near Charleston, Illinois. 
Justifications for the project are water supply for the little city, recreational benefits, augmentation to the river and flood 
control. 
The impoundment has raised strong objections by the Committee on the Embarras headquartered in Champaign. The 
objections center primarily around the fact that city sewage will be entering the reservoir, decreasing water quality, that the 
river already furnishes recreational benefits as well as another reservoir and small tributaries, and that the river may be a 
candidate for a scenic river in Illinois. 
This office has filed a reply to the Environmental Impact Statement of the Corps of Engineers indicating that if indeed it 
would qualify for a scenic river, perhaps another look should be taken at the project since Illinois has so few candidates. 
Investigations to date, however, seem to indicate that the portion of the river affected would not be that area qualifying for 
scenic river status. 
John Franson, Midwest Representative 
National Audubon Society 
1020 East 20th St. 
Owensboro, Kentucky 42301 
