Batchtown Hillside Sedimentation Project

The Batchtown Waterfowl 3,327 acre management project is an area located along the Mississippi River, just upstream from the Winfield Lock and Dam 25 in Calhoun County, Illinois. The Batchtown Waterfowl area provides for migratory birds, wintering and spawning fish, mussels and other wildlife using the river corridor. However, sediment coming from the watershed of 7,600 acres will continue to fill the Batchtown wetlands. At this time it is estimated that around 29,000 tons of sediment reach the Waterfowl area from the watershed each year.

The Batchtown Waterfowl Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Project is a major component of the Corps of Engineers Upper Mississippi River System - Environmental Management Program (EMP). Through a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), between the United States Department of the Army and the United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) an upland land treatment project was initiated in the fall of 1998. This project is scheduled as a four-year initiative for hillside sediment reduction. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' provides money for cost share and administrative costs. The Natural Resources Conservation Service provides the technical assistance and the Calhoun County Soil and Water District is the sponsoring group.

The goal of the project is to reduce the sediment load by 26% annually through the hillside sediment control program. The reduction is being accomplished by changing farming practices in the watershed and construction of projects that reduce or trap sediment. These practices will include but are not limited to ponds, grassed waterways, critical area seeding, terraces, water and sediment control basins and constructed wetlands.