RED WING, Minn. — There are many beautiful sights along the Mississippi River, everything from the water to the landscape around it, and soon, there will be another addition.
A manmade island is currently under construction on the Mississippi River near Red Wing, Minnesota, and Bay City, Wisconsin. Those behind the project said the island will take on a few key roles.
"Lake Pepin is filling in, so, it's continuing to come in, sediment is filling it in, we're losing places to even put that material," Rylee Hince, executive director of the Lake Pepin Legacy Alliance, said. "The corps doesn't know what to do with that material from the channel, this is one opportunity for a beneficial use project."
Hince says this project will benefit the species that occupy the space and rely on it for shelter, acting as a way to boost the ecosystem. There's also an added benefit for the residents living near the lake.
"The campground has, I think, about 300 people that are there every year, and most of them are coming with their boats because they want to get out on the water," Hince said. "I've talked to people who I've ran into randomly in the Twin Cities, who say, 'Yeah, I used to come to Bay City and now I can't get my boat out, so I don't go there anymore.'"
Hince says dredged sand off the bottom of the channel is where the island's materials are coming from, helping lower the floor from near Bay City and giving boats an easier out.
This project is a collaboration between multiple agencies and includes federal dollars as well.
"We're talking big dollars to do a lot of good habitat work, and we're fortunate enough to do it here," Brenda Kelly, the Mississippi River wildlife biologist for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, said.
In total, this project will cost nearly $50 million, with much coming from federal funding. The island is set to finish in 2027.