Riparian Wetland Restoration Suitability Analysis for the Middle Mississippi River Floodplain, in Monroe County, Illinois
Abstract
Riparian wetlands are unique ecosystems that provide beneficial environmental services
to surrounding communities, but have been replaced by farm fields and human development
throughout history within river floodplains. As a consequence, there are inadequate natural
buffer zones to absorb, filter, and slowly release excess flood water back into the system in case
of levee failure. This became apparent in the Great Flood of 1993 when Southern Illinois towns
became inundated with record river levels rising 6 meters over flood stage near St. Louis. After
this devastating natural disaster, communities started turning towards alternative methods of
flood control like wetland restoration. This study analyzes areas of comprehensive suitability for
wetland restoration within a 15 kilometer reach of the Middle Mississippi River near Valmeyer,
Illinois. Using GIS (Geographical Information Systems) spatial analysis and mapping, the
overlaid layers of elevation, soil type, floodplain zones, land ownership, and existence of
infrastructure, including structures, roads, and levees, revealed suitable sites for wetland
restoration. Findings show that scenarios where wetland sites are proposed directly adjacent to
the river channel without fragmentation from human development or restriction by levees,
though often more costly in restorations, provide the most ecological functionality for flood
water mitigation. In scenarios where wetlands would be restored behind levees in smaller land
portions, restoration would be less expensive, but also less functional in absorbing and relieving
flood water.
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