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Yep, that's an island they're building.
Island project aims to protect fish habitats; sediment mitigation will be part of another phase.

Crossing the McClugage Bridge, particularly in the westbound lanes, it's hard to miss the whitish bag-like things that seem to be forming some sort of chain.

Now that there's dirt surfacing on the western-most part of the chain and that grass appears to be growing, it is more obvious that what is under construction is an island. Soon, perhaps within a year, it will be complete and by then two other new islands could be under construction nearby in Lower Peoria Lake.

More than a decade in the making, this island – formally known as the Peoria Riverfront Upper Midsize Island – and the others are being built to deepen parts of Lower Peoria Lake away from the main navigation channel. But the purpose of the dredging of the silt being used to form the islands is to help save fish species that exist in the Illinois River before they are forever crowded out, said Marshall Plumley, project manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is overseeing the project.

"The fish species have few places to go, especially in the winter except for the main navigation channel. This project is helping to make space for fish habitats so they can survive," Plumley said. "That's the core issue. And, of course, the islands themselves will eventually provide wildlife habitat components themselves."

The first island will be 21 acres, built with material dredged from 55 acres of river bottom. It will take the water depth in that 55 acres from 18 to 24 inches deep to 8 to 12 feet deep, Plumley said.

The other two islands being planned will be between Spindler and Eastport marinas and each will be larger at about 55 acres; silt will come from more than 100 acres to be dredged.

According to agreements between the Corps of Engineers and the state of Illinois, the state will maintain the islands and waters around them once they are completed.

The first island is being built by Midwest Foundation Corp. of Tremont. It has taken longer than originally anticipated, Plumley said, because the river got too high the last two springs for dredging work. The river got high enough to cover the containers.

Plumley pointed out that this project is not intended to take care of the sediment problem that has taken the Illinois River depths outside the main channel from 20 feet or more to as little as 18 inches in the past century. The island project will help reduce the sediment in lower Peoria Lake but not the sediment coming into the river. "It takes a much larger vision to tackle that problem and we are doing a feasibility study on it now that we hope to have ready for public comment within a year," he said.

The sediment problem has to do with how much sediment is coming into the river from creeks and run-off. The island project now underway won't mitigate that, he said. "Congress has appropriated the money to study the best way to do that, so there is progress," he said.

There has been a recent protest lodged against the $25 million island project, which has its roots in a 1998 Congressional directive to study the Peoria Lakes and the sediment growth. A group called River Rescue has started a petition drive to stop the project.

Plumley said the Corps of Engineers sought public input on the project before it got approval. "We welcome public input. There has been a lot of study into ecosystem restoration and we believe this is the best method," he said.

Will the first island or either of the others be named? Plumley said he doesn't know the answer to that and added the Corps of Engineers hasn't taken a position on whether they should be named.

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Email: editor@ThePeorian.com

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