Two more years to go on McGregor Lake Project
Above is a view of the McGregor Lake Project so far. The green areas indicate where floodplain forests will be. The orange areas indicate rock structures. The blue areas indicate dredging areas. At the southern tip of the east leg is a wetland restoration protected by a rock structure.
This is one of the four fish structures created in McGregor Lake. (Photos submitted)
Fine material has been placed upon the sand. The material will be graded and smoothed out.
By Ted Pennekamp
Dredging and construction for the McGregor Lake project has been underway for two years and is set to begin again in the spring. It is expected that it will take two more years to complete the $17 million project.
During the first year, sand was placed at or near the “top” or north end of McGregor Lake. During the second year, sand was placed on the “legs” or edges going down and around McGregor Lake.
Assistant District Manager for the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge’s McGregor District, Wendy Woyczik, said sand was dredged and placed first and fine material was placed on top of that during the first and second years of the project.
Willow trees will be planted along both legs for erosion protection. Swamp white oak and other species will also eventually be planted on both legs in order to help create a flood plain forest. Plans call for approximately 45 acres of new flood plain forest.
“We will hopefully get some trees established before beavers can do too much damage to the trees,” said Woyczik. “The ground will be higher and dryer and hopefully will help deter beavers from going up there. If we have to, we will hire a trapper.”
Woyczik noted that rock has also been built up in various areas to help stop erosion. One area is upstream on the Iowa side north of the Marquette-Joliet Bridge. This rock structure can be seen from Highway 76. Another rock structure has been built to the south tip of the eastern leg of McGregor Lake. A small rock structure has been built near the east side of the top of McGregor Lake. This structure is designed to act as a pressure release valve, like a small spillway, for when the water gets high, said Woyczik.
Woyczik said a wetland has been created along part of the east leg for erosion protection. Fine material was dredged from what is locally known as “Lover’s Lane” along the west side of McGregor Lake to be used in various portions of the project.
The fine material will be graded and smoothed out this upcoming spring, said Woyczik who noted that these areas look rough now but are not finished yet.
This past summer, four “fish structures” were created in McGregor Lake. These structures include dead trees placed vertically. Root balls are also part of these structures which should attract a variety of fish. One of the trees at each structure sticks out of the water much higher than the others so boaters can more easily see the structures. Woyczik said red reflectors are attached to the highest trees so that boaters can see the structures at night.
“It was a way to put some of the dead trees to a good use out there,” said Woyczik about the fish structures.
Woyczik said she also wanted to clear up an untrue rumor that some sand areas were built up just for turtles. “Nothing was specifically designed just for turtles,” said Woyczik. “The project is to create better habitat for everything, for all fish and wildlife.”
The project is also designed for restoration of flood plain forest, and there are two more years to go in order to get land more elevated.
Woyczik said there might be more dredging to the northwest of McGregor Lake and also another small rock structure added to reduce flows into Lover’s Lane, which is on the west side.
Unfortunately, there won’t be any dredging in the lake itself. Woyczik explained that the original plan was to dredge 35-40 acres of McGregor Lake, but when sampling of the bottom was attempted, the bottom of the lake was too “soupy.”
“It is very difficult to dredge it,” said Woyczik. “The bottom is like pea soup. It’s also difficult to dry it out when it’s placed, it just runs. You can’t work with it.”
Woyczik cautioned boaters this upcoming spring to not step out of their boat onto the west leg because the west leg is not solid yet and people will sink into the muck.
The McGregor Lake project, located near Prairie du Chien, was designed to restore and protect island habitat, protect shorelines from erosion and create overwintering fish habitat. The goal of the project is to provide habitat, food and resting places for river wildlife, such as migratory waterfowl, shorebirds, turtles, frogs and fish.
The first phase of the project began in late March of 2020 and consisted of transferring 70,000 cubic yards of dredged sand from the nearby McMillan Island dredged material site to McGregor Lake.
The McGregor Lake project was planned and designed as part of a cooperative effort between the Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Iowa and Wisconsin Departments of Natural Resources, and local interests.
The project is part of the Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program. Approximately 580 acres of habitat, food and resting places for river wildlife will be restored by dredging sediment from backwater areas and by restoring islands and floodplain forests.
