SECTION X - SPECIAL PROBLEMS

10.01 CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL PRESERVATION

Wappapello Lake Project has several significant archeological, historical and cultural sites and every attempt is being made to locate and protect these sites. They range from ancient Native American sites to settlement sites abandoned as the lake was constructed and flooded. A historical property plan is being developed for the project and is scheduled for implementation this year.

A major and recurring problem is the illegal taking of artifacts from project lands, specifically Native American relics. Occurrences range from removal of arrowheads in fields to illegal excavation of pottery from burial sites. This problem is more prevalent when the lake is at conservation pool.

Corrective measures to be implemented include more frequent and unannounced patrols, and support from local citizens and law enforcement agencies. Locations of archeological sites will not be publicly disseminated. Inventories are scheduled in areas where new construction and management activities are scheduled.

10.02 PIPELINE

During the existence of Wappapello Lake, ownership of the lands on which the Mississippi River Transmission Corporation's pipeline lies has been in question. On 28 January 1999, the determination was made that Wappapello Lake owns free title to the land on which the pipeline exists. However, the Mississippi River Transmission Corporation has an easement giving them the right to access and use this property.

Problems have developed on the pipeline such as unauthorized dumping, off-road vehicle use, damage to wildlife areas, erosion and other violations of Title 36, CFR. These problems will be resolved by the installation of fences and gates, which control key access points. Hopefully, these actions will reduce maintenance and resolve many of the recurring problems. All actions on this matter will be coordinated with Mississippi River Transmission Corporation and the United States Forest Service.

10.03 BOUNDARY ENCROACHMENTS

To date, approximately 99 percent of the Wappapello Lake Project boundary line is certified. Work is progressing to complete field marking and encroachment resolution. Boundary activities include survey certification and establishment, inspection and maintenance of certified lines, boundary line agreements, fencing agreements and encroachment resolution. Encroachments have posed a significant problem to completion of boundary line certification. An aggressive boundary maintenance and monitoring program is necessary to enforce established boundary lines and prevent future encroachments.

Government surveys have been the major proponent leading to the discrepancies that result in encroachments. Boundary committees are formed when needed to visit problem areas and make determinations for problem resolution. Some encroachments have existed for several years and may require litigation to resolve, while new encroachments that arise from re-surveys should be resolved quickly. Encroachment resolution requires project personnel working closely with the St. Louis District Office elements to facilitate timely and equitable resolution. The goal of the Wappapello Lake Project staff is to resolve and prevent encroachments on project lands through aggressive public education and continued monitoring to prevent future encroachments.

10.04 INHOLDINGS

There are numerous tracts of private land interspersed within the Wappapello Lake Project boundaries that were not purchased when the project was authorized. These areas present several problems, such as inundation from the lake, access via easements for roads and utilities and environmental problems such as habitat degradation and fragmentation. A very prominent reason for purchasing these lands is the prevention of future claims due to flooding and property damage. The acquisition cost of purchasing these areas to prevent future development may be substantially lower than the cost of paying for re-occurring flood damages.

Land donations and purchase for mitigation are potential methods for obtaining these areas. Mitigation from projects, such as new easements for powerlines and widening of existing major highways, could be used to permit the project to have a "no net loss" of habitat. Donations, mitigation, and acquisition of these areas will be accomplished through purchases from willing sellers.

Authority for acquiring inholdings does not exist. Subsequent to identifying acquisition authority, an approved real estate design memorandum would be required to complete acquisition.

10.05 RELOCATION OF STATE HIGHWAYS AND WAYNE COUNTY ROADS

In 1995, a Design Memorandum was prepared to present the plan for remedial action for State of Missouri highways and Wayne County roads that are being adversely flooded by operation of the Wappapello Lake Project. The state highways to be affected are Routes D, BB and FF. The county roads affected are Roads 221, 380, 523, 526, 531, and 538.

The memorandum was prepared in compliance with Engineering Regulation ER 405-1-12 paragraph 17-64 and serves as the plan for remedial action on the above mentioned state highways and county roads, and established the legal obligation of the Federal Government. It was determined that changes in the Water Control Plan for Wappapello Lake from the time of original acquisitions to the present caused the roads to be flooded at greater frequency and to a greater depth. As a result, the following actions will be performed.

1. The following State of Missouri highways will be relocated/raised at Federal expense:



1. Highway D (Sites D-1 through D-7)



2. Highway BB



2. The following Wayne County roads will also be relocated/raised at Federal expense:



1. Road 221



2. Road 523



3. Road 526



4. Road 531



5. Road 538




Subordination will be used for State Highway FF and Wayne County Road 380. In order to prevent future development of non-Federal lands creating isolation of residences due to flooding of FF and County Road 380, it is proposed to acquire in fee title two 80-acre parcels of land, which require access from FF. Subordination of this area will not leave residences isolated from emergency services, mail, or school buses, but will require alternate routes during times of Highway FF flooding.



The relocation will be accomplished by raising or moving the relevant state and county roads to meet the 100-year flood level requirements. For state highways the elevation is 405 feet National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD), including two feet of freeboard and for county roads the elevation is 397 feet NGVD including two feet of freeboard.



Relocation work has begun and is scheduled to be completed by 2006, provided adequate funding is available.

10.06 U.S. ROUTE 67 UPGRADE

The Missouri Department of Transportation is conducting a location study that will examine transportation improvements to U.S. Route 67 in Madison, Wayne and Butler counties in Missouri. The objective of the proposed U.S. Route 67 improvement is to provide a safe, efficient, environmentally sound and economical transportation facility, while addressing projected traffic demands and congestion. This study will look at multiple corridors and determine the best alternative and is scheduled for completion in the fall of 1999. The St. Louis District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is a cooperating agency on this project. Coordination will continue to be provided on the environmental impacts of the project on Wappapello Lake's land and facilities and required regulatory permits. Coordination is needed to minimize impact and to ensure adequate mitigation and compensation for any land or facility impacted. For lands effected and lost, the acquisition of inholdings as a means of mitigation will be authorized.

10.07 FLOODING OF ADJACENT LANDOWNERS

There are numerous areas around Wappapello Lake where floodwaters inundate U.S. Forest Service (USFS), Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) and private property. Currently eleven separate flowage easements (162.7 acres of private land), are in place. The government has no control over the construction of structural or mineral activity on these flowage easement tracts.

Flooding of adjacent USFS land is permitted through an agreement from the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture to the Secretary of War on July 27, 1940. The current USFS policy of blocking their tracts has and can result in land swaps with private individuals. USFS deeds for these floodable tracts do not contain perpetual rights for the government to flood these tracts in the event they are transferred to private entities.

There are several adjacent MDC and private tracts that flood that are not covered by any type of real estate instrument which gives the government perpetual rights to inundate them with floodwaters of Wappapello Lake.

Change in the water control plan for Wappapello Lake as discussed in paragraph 10-5 raised the 100-year flood level to 405.0 feet NGVD. This elevation will impact other additional land presently without flowage easements. Deed corrections to add flowage easements, land swaps and purchasing additional lands are options to be pursued to address this problem.

10.08 FOREST MANAGEMENT

Wappapello Lake Project has a variety of forest cover types ranging from central upland hardwood forest to bottomland hardwood forest. These forests provide food and shelter for a variety of game and non-game species. Proper forest stocking, adequate understory growth and herbaceous plants provide excellent watershed filters. This filtering of silt and contaminants help maintain good water quality for fish and other aquatic wildlife. Proper forest management techniques and ecosystem management principles will be used to improve forest and wildlife habitats, while minimizing environmental damage. Management activities will be accomplished to meet the Corps objective of total ecosystem management, through following specific forest and wildlife management prescriptions developed for each compartment. Treatments and activities scheduled for Wappapello Lake are found in the Project Operational Management Plan.

1. General Management Techniques.



1. All forests will be managed on a uneven-aged multiple-use, sustained yield and ecosystem management system. Treatments will be based on specific requirements for improvement of forest and wildlife habitats. Timber harvests shall be performed when necessary to promote accepted wildlife and forest management goals and objectives. Forest stands will not be harvested solely for revenue generation.



2. Single Tree Selection is the selective removal of low quality, cull, diseased, over-mature or undesirable trees from a stand to achieve target stocking and wildlife habitat objectives. This technique is a tool used in unevenaged management to encourage wider distribution of tree diameters, dominant species, age class and enhancement of forest reproduction. Because single tree selection promotes denser stands, frequent re-assessments or inventories are required. These re-assessments allow managers the ability to closely monitor compartments, therefore maintaining healthy forest and wildlife habitats.



3. Group selection is a silvicultural technique requiring removal of large groups of trees to enhance regeneration and provide openings for wildlife. Generally, group selections range in size from ¼ acre to five acres. Group selections on Wappapello Lake will not exceed three acres unless adequate justification is provided.



4. Stand composition will be based on site-species relationships. Most of the forestland on Wappapello Lake contains an oak component; therefore, these species will be targeted for propagation. Efforts will be made to prevent monocultures, or single species stands. Exceptions will be made for small plantings of pine stands that do provide a specific habitat type for certain wildlife species. Stands suitable as Pine-hardwood will be encouraged because historically, this type was once common on project lands.



5. Prescribed fire will be utilized for vegetation modification and control where these benefits will promote diversity for wildlife habitats. Examples include old fields, pine stands, glades, and oak savannas. Burn frequency will be dependent on the requirements of the wildlife species, successional stage and fuel loads.



6. Harvesting of forest products will be performed as a method of improving forest habitats. All harvesting activities will be performed in a manner that minimizes damage to residual trees, reproduction, and soils. This may require restrictions on equipment and the season harvesting as scheduled. Existing roads and trails will be utilized when possible or temporary accesses will be used for the harvesting activities. After harvest, all roads will be planted in wildlife cover crops such as wheat, oats or rye grass. Waterbars will be placed at intervals necessary to prevent erosion. Stream courses will be delineated and protected. Harvesting will be limited to single tree selection in stream management zones. All trees selected for removal will be marked with tree marking paint.



7. Den trees or trees that have potential as den trees will be retained in all stands. Where possible, a standard rule will be to retain or develop 6 to 8 den trees per acre. Dead trees and snags when not posing a threat to persons or property, will be left.



8. When wildfire, disease, insects, floods or storms damage extensive numbers or acres of trees, every attempt will be made to remove these trees by salvage sale. Salvage operations will be performed as soon as practicable after the event to prevent deterioration of wood quality.

10.09 FLUCTUATION OF LAKE LEVEL

Wappapello Lake fluctuates throughout each year, depending on rainfall, runoff and water control operations. Because of the nature of the topography of the area, the lake has been known to rise and fall more than 40 feet during a flood event. Rises of 20 feet or more are not uncommon. Many of the lake's recreation areas were developed based on use at the area without consideration of flooding. As the level of the lake rises, portions of the areas are inundated, there-by restricting their use. The degree and length of restriction depends upon the severity of the flood. Annual flooding has at least some detrimental effects on recreation and area businesses at the lake. Major recreational developments must be closed, with swimming, camping and boat launching facilities often inundated. Adverse side effects also include the damage to roads, turf, trees along the shoreline, accumulation of driftwood, reduction of visitation and loss of income to area businesses. The fish populations could be adversely affected if spawning coincides with receding high water. The inundated areas are unsightly once the water recedes, leaving behind piles of debris and driftwood. Flooding results in increased maintenance cost for repair and flood cleanup. Management practices which are planned to reduce the effects of flood on recreation activities include planting of water-tolerant grasses in low lying areas, planting bottomland hardwoods in flood prone fields, raising low portions of access roads to Greenville Campground and widening the road at Peoples Creek Campground to allow access during times of moderate flooding and design of facilities to withstand flooding with minimal cleanup. Future construction activities will be at the highest possible elevation that is practicable.

One major concern that has been identified is the need for a high-water boat-launching ramp in the northern portion of the lake. Two boat launching ramps at the southern portion of the lake, Redman Creek and Sundowner, remain open through elevation 383 feet NGVD and 378 feet NGVD, respectively. The major accesses on the northern end of the lake, Chaonia Landing, Holliday Landing and Greenville, flood at 370 feet NGVD, 369.5 feet NGVD and 368.5 feet NGVD, respectively. These elevations are reached almost on a yearly basis. The northern part of the lake was examined to find a location that would support a boat launching ramp with 50 plus parking spaces that is within an existing recreation area with good road access. No high-water boat launching ramp was identified in this Master Plan Update, this deficiency has been identified and other solutions will be examined.

10.10 RESORT CONCESSION DEVELOPMENT

In the previous Master Plan, three areas were held in reserve for a future concession resort development. These three areas were a portion of the Chaonia Landing Recreation Area, a portion of Possum Creek Recreation Area and the Silva Resort Concession Area. No major interest was shown for these sites. Infrastructure needs appear to be the stumbling block for this type of development. The lack of public water and sewer service and the remoteness from major access roads have negatively affected possible developments.

This plan has identified a portion of the 34 Bridge Recreation Area as an area well suited for a possible resort complex. There is good road access, a large amount of land suitable for development and public water service is scheduled for the area. The area lends itself to an Ozark River theme, including a day use park, lodge, camping, canoeing, horseback riding and/or a hunting/trading post type of resort concession. An invitation for proposals will require a market feasibility study, by interested parties, to verify a genuine need for this type of development being proposed. In the event this area is developed, a cultural resource inventory will be required prior to any development.