Corps begins scoping process for Mount St. Helens supplemental EIS

The Corps of Engineers is developing a long-term sediment management plan to reduce the amount of sediment depositing in the lower Cowlitz River. The plan’s purpose is to maintain flood risk protection at specified levels for the cities of Castle Rock, Lexington, Kelso and Longview, Wash.

Scoping is the initial stage of the environmental impact statement process used to identify issues, alternatives, and impacts to be addressed in the National Environmental Policy Act analysis. The Corps is proposing four alternative plans for managing long-term sediment management and we are asking the public for input on them:

1. One-time raise of Sediment Retention System and spillway by between 40 and 50 feet.
2. Annual dredging of the lower 20 miles of Cowlitz River.
3. Adaptive approach that would include combination of additional raises of SRS Spillway (up to 23 feet), construction of small scale structures upstream of SRS (similar to grade-building pilot project effort), and infrequent dredging in the lower Cowlitz River, if large events occur.
4. No action. This alternative is required under the NEPA process.

We are asking the public to consider the following questions as they write their comments about our four alternatives:

    A) Is the geographic area to be analyzed in the SEIS sufficient to capture potential effects from the proposed alternatives?