Riverine wetlands along the Mississippi River provide crucial habitats for migratory waterfowl and many ecosystem services. However, frequent flooding along the Mississippi River led to conventional infrastructure implementation to minimize flooding impacts. This strategy augmented wetland habitat reduction and altered the flood frequency of the system. In June 2008, a 25-year flood event led to levee breaches in many areas, including Henderson Creek State Fish and Wildlife Area (HCSFWA) in Illinois. This breach allowed water from the Mississippi River to enter and flood a substantial portion of the agricultural field into an improvised wetland. The buildup of water behind the levee created a second breach that allowed water to leave the site uncontrolledly to Henderson Creek and bypass a Lock & Dam system in the Mississippi River. This project aims to take advantage of this levee failure and work with the seasonal flow patterns of the Mississippi River to reduce flooding and maintain (or boost) the ecosystem services. By using hydraulic modeling tools, we will seek to understand the hydrodynamics of the site by analyzing the residence time of water to create ideal conditions for wetland development, and observe flood depths downstream of the site at nearby cities like Burlington, IA, to gain an understanding of how controlled overtopping impacts flooding. By working with the natural flood patterns of the Mississippi rather than against them, flood risk along the river can be reduced, and important wetland habitats can be restored, providing benefits to both society and nature.
