Fort Madison Dry Creek Restoration

Dry Creek is a tributary to the Mississippi River located in the eastern part of Lee County, Iowa, and is generally a healthy, wooded, and sandy stream in the upper watershed. Following damage sustained during high flow events; a stream assessment was conducted to investigate potential Dry Creek restoration solutions to the acute damage as well as ongoing stream bank erosion and failure in the lower reaches just inside the Fort Madison city limits.

It was determined that past hydro-modification efforts in the vicinity of the large twin box culverts under Avenue A, as well as the culverts themselves, were unintentionally constricting flow and accelerating stream velocities resulting in multiple synthetic erosion issues. The Dry Creek restoration project involved calming, stabilizing, and restoring Dry Creek downstream of the culverts by implementing a combination of naturalized techniques. In addition to repairing and protecting infrastructure and stabilizing failing banks, a major goal of the project was to restore the waterway to being a natural, enjoyable neighborhood amenity instead of a degraded drainage channel.