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In 2001 the Lower Mississippi River Conservation Committee (LMRCC) and the Mississippi Valley Division, Memphis and Vicksburg Districts of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, partnered to conduct state-level planning meetings in the states of Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee. The purpose of the meetings was to identify on-the-ground opportunities for restoring aquatic habitat that would increase ecosystem productivity, provide outdoor recreation opportunities and facilitate natural resource-based economic development in local communities. The meetings were attended by federal and state agencies with natural resource management and environmental responsibilities and private and industrial landowners within the 2.8 million-acre Lower Mississippi River (LMR) leveed floodplain.

The meetings resulted in the identification of 239 potential projects. When implemented, the projects promise to increase the biological productivity of the LMR, provide critical habitat for federally threatened and endangered species, such as the pallid sturgeon and interior least tern, and facilitate outdoor recreation. Although most land within the leveed floodplain is privately owned, the waters below the river's top (natural) bank are a navigable waterway and can be legally used by the public for a variety of recreational uses.

These projects are being integrated into locally driven plans to provide a landscape-scale blueprint, titled Restoring America's Greatest River, which promises to increase sustainable economic development at the community and county levels in the LMR Valley.

Outdoor recreation in the United States is a $656 billion industry annually and six (camping, bicycling, trails, paddling, fishing and wildlife viewing) of the seven categories identified as being most desired by the recreating public are abundant within the LMR's leveed floodplain.

In 2005 the LMRCC, the Southeast Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks (MDWFP) and a group of non-governmental organizations, including Wildlife Mississippi, formed a partnership to build the first of the 239 identified projects. Primary funding for the project was provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with assistance from Wildlife Mississippi and three other organizations.

The Island 63 secondary channel is located in Coahoma County, Mississippi, at approximately river mile 640.5. During the flood of 1973 the Mississippi River changed its main channel from the west side (Arkansas) of the river to the east side (Mississippi). After this happened the secondary channel began carrying additional water that was critical to maintaining the Mississippi River navigation channel during periods of low flow. To remedy this ever-increasing problem, the Corps of Engineers constructed a 1,900-foot-long stone dike about one-third of the way down the channel. In reality, the dike is about 1,200 feet long because 700 feet of it was inverted (excavated in). This was done to prevent if from being flanked by water flowing around its far end. Because the Quapaw Landing, owned by the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta Levee Board, provides public access to the channel, the need to restore flow through it was identified by the states of Mississippi and Arkansas in the state-level planning process as a high priority.

Aquatic habitat diversity and water quality in the channel downstream of the dike are very good. Aquatic habitat is a combination of many characteristics such as water current, water clarity, depth, aquatic plants, logs and brush, rocks and the type of substrate. Trees, logs and brush along the bank increase habitat diversity in the channel by providing cover for many species of game and non-game fish. Areas such as this are important to fish because they add escape cover for small fish and ambush sites for larger predatory fish. Typically, fish communities respond quickly to changes in the amount of large woody debris in river channels – it can produce significant changes in fish communities and can aid in their recovery or cause their decline. Complexes of large woody debris provide a variety of microhabitat types that act as a refuge and support a wide range of organisms at different stages in their life cycles. Overhead structure decreases predation by obstructing the ability of aerial predators to see fish, and provides shade, reducing the visibility of fish to aquatic predators. Structure also provides areas of low velocity among swifter currents, thereby minimizing the energy necessary for fish to maintain a favorable stream position.

During the summer-fall period, the secondary channel upstream of the dike often dries into a series of disconnected, shallow (less than 2 feet) pools with poor water quality or dries up completely. Fish that don't abandon this area by returning to the river before they are trapped by falling water levels usually die, primarily due to poor habitat and water quality conditions.

Six steps were required to complete the habitat restoration project in the Island 63 secondary channel. The first step was to conduct an on-site coordination meeting among the interested parties to determine if a project could be developed that would not interfere with the Corps of Engineer's congressionally mandated flood control and navigation missions. The second step required that the Corps of Engineers develop an engineering design compatible with their mission. The third step required seeking construction bids based on the engineering design. The fourth step was to overcome construction problems due to site limitations. The fifth step was to construct the project according to the Corps of Engineers’ design. The sixth step is to conduct an on-site project dedication ceremony.

A site visit by the engineering and environmental branches of the Memphis District and Mississippi Valley Division of the Corps of Engineers, the MDWFP and the LMRCC was conducted in June, 2005. Ron Garavelli, chief of the Fisheries Division for the MDWFP, and Garry Lucas, Mid-Delta Fisheries Biologist for the MDWFP, discussed fisheries concerns associated with blocking the channel and what was needed from a biological standpoint to resolve those problems. Steve Ellis and Jim Gutshall, both of the Mississippi Valley Division of the Corps of Engineers, Mississippi River and Tributaries Team, Darian Chasteen of the Memphis District River Engineering Team Leader and John Rumancik of the Memphis District Environmental Branch, were of the opinion that a workable design to restore flow in the channel could be jointly developed. The Corps of Engineers committed to designing a project by the fall of 2005 that would restore flow in the 5.47-mile long secondary channel. Dr. Ron Nassar, the LMRCC Coordinator, agreed to assume project financing and contracting responsibilities, with the assistance of the Southeastern Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Fisheries Division.

The project design was developed in September 2005 by the Memphis District River Engineering Branch under the supervision of Darian Chasteen, Jim Gutshall and Steve Ellis. The design calls for a notch with a top width of 300 feet, bottom width of 200 feet and stepped bottom width depths of 14 feet (100 feet wide) and 19 feet (100 feet wide). The bottom elevation of 19 feet is equivalent to +5 on the low water reference plane, which means that there will be flow through it 95 percent of the time. Construction of the notch required pulling 10,000 tons of rock downstream from the dike to form an apron to absorb the energy of the water flowing through it. The apron will prevent formation of a plunge pool that might threaten the structural integrity of the dike. This design will provide flow through the notch during all but the lowest river stages.

Memphis District Corps of Engineers personnel marked the location of the proposed notch on the dike with flagging and fluorescent paint prior to the beginning of construction.

Mississippi Limestone was the preferred contractor for the project because their headquarters is located at River Mile 652, approximately 13 miles upstream of the construction site. Low water stages on the Mississippi River during the fall of 2005 and the spring of 2006 prevented construction of the project, which was to be built with a barge-mounted dragline. This equipment required a river stage of 15 feet for greater than 7 days on the Helena, Arkansas, gauge to provide access through the secondary channel outlet. This river stage was never maintained for a sufficient period of time during the spring/summer 2006 construction season. On November 30, 2006, Mississippi Limestone moved their equipment through the outlet of the secondary channel and began construction of the project.

Construction was accomplished in 5 days with a Bucyrus Erie 71-B dragline mounted on a spud barge that was positioned using a 400 horsepower shallow draft towboat and a 1,500 horsepower towboat. Due to the volume of stone to be pulled downstream (10,000 tons), the barge had to be repositioned numerous times during construction to enable the dragline to reach the far side of the dike and dig to the specified bottom depth within the notch.

The Corps of Engineers, the MDWFP and LMRCC personnel were on site throughout the construction process to ensure that the project was constructed to Corps of Engineers' specification and remained within budget.

As the notch was deepened, increased flow rates began cutting through the silt that had accumulated in front of the dike over a 33-year period. Depending on river stage and duration, significant removal of silt from upstream of the dike is expected to occur over the next several years. Flow rates during the later stages of construction were estimated at 10 feet/second.

The LMRCC was responsible for coordinating the efforts of this group of partners to design, fund and construct a notch in a dike in the Island 63 secondary channel. Funding for the project, which was completed on December 6, 2006, at a cost of $36,000, was primarily provided by the Southeast Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the purpose of restoring fish passage through the channel. Other additional partners provided funding; engineering design and construction monitoring services; and technical, logistical and aircraft support services.

This project restored 5.47 miles of fish passage through a blocked secondary channel; provided off-channel habitat for the federally listed pallid sturgeon; improved habitat and enhanced water quality for numerous species of sport and commercial fish; improved recreational fishing and other outdoor recreation opportunities for the general public; and provided public relations benefits for the partners.