Biological Evaluation for the City of Bonners Ferry Levee Repairs, Boundary County, Idaho.

摘要

The City of Bonners Ferry, Idaho (City) requested funding from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to repair and stabilize the portions of the Kootenai River in and near to the city, during a flood event in May and June 2011. The high flows during this event caused some erosion of the levees, and caused some structures to be flooded. The Corps responded with an emergency flood-fight, adding rock to one site on the right bank, and two sites on the left bank, all downstream of the Highway 2 and 95 bridge. Upstream of the City, on the left bank, a meander channel was plugged to stem the flooding of structures at that location. It was found after the water subsided that the levee adjacent to the two flood-fight sites on the left bank in the city had eroded, and are in need of repair. Thus, the Corps intends to repair the two left bank sites in the summer of 2012. The project goal is to protect the City's infrastructure and the Kootenai River by protecting the levee and reducing the potential for future erosion. The purpose of this Biological Evaluation (BE) is to examine whether the Bonners Ferry Levee Repairs Project in Boundary County, Idaho will affect fish and wildlife species listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and their designated critical habitat. This BE identifies the potential project impacts of both the flood-fight effort in 2011 as well as the repair work to be done in summer of 2012, including direct, indirect, interrelated, and interdependent effects and specifies conservation measures implemented to mitigate those impacts.