Shoreline restored after delay

MANAWA – The shoreline restoration project in the City of Manawa finished up last week after having to extend the deadline due to permitting issues.
The City of Manawa officials pursued and received a grant through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which helped to pay for 75 percent of the repairs, with the city responsible for the additional 25 percent.
The grant was set to expire April 25 and the project was starting to hit delays.
Josh Smith, who heads up the department of public works, said the delays were due to the permitting process through the Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
Smith said the permit process to work on the shoreline was lengthy and required multiple pieces of paperwork, saying once they submitted the documentation necessary for the permit that the DNR would ask for additional items.

Once the permit was approved the timeframes narrowed, and it became clear they would not reach the deadline. Smith said they were able to get an extension on the grant, which now is set to expire in July.
An additional month is all that was needed, as the shoreline is officially stabilized to help curb future degradation.
Smith said the river was pulling more and more of the soil away from the shore, which would have damaged fish habitat and travel through the river.
The general contractor of the project was Michels Corporation.
Smith said they did not see any issues pertaining to the runoff from this year despite the project not being fully completed before the snow melt.
Concerns arose about the stability of the shoreline after torrential downpours led to the dam breaching on its north side last July.
With the shoreline continuing to erode as water was pushing past the dam, and further on at Kobussen just beyond the bridge, it was clear the stability would need to be addressed before the thaw came through this past spring.