CONCORD, Mass. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District, in consultation with its partner, the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, has released the draft Wolastoq (Saint John River) Watershed Assessment and Management Plan for the Meduxnekeag River Subbasin for public review and comment. The study encompassed Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians (HBMI) tribal lands, and subbasin areas in the state of Maine, and the Canadian Provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec.
The study, conducted under the Section 203 Tribal Partnership authority, will not result in a decision document recommending a Corps project and no National Environmental Policy Act documentation was produced with this watershed assessment. Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Washington, D.C., will conduct policy review of the report and afterwards will coordinate the report with the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works to transmit to Congress for information.
The public notice and Draft Watershed Assessment and Management Plan can viewed at the following link:
https://www.nae.usace.army.mil/Missions/Projects-Topics/Wolastoq-Watershed-Assessment/.
Section 203 of the Water Resource Development Act (WRDA) 2000, as amended, authorizes the Corps to carry out water-related planning activities and studies and determine the feasibility of carrying out water resources development projects that will substantially benefit Indian Tribes and are located primarily within Indian country. A study may include watershed assessments and planning activities. The HBMI requested Corps assistance with preparing an international watershed assessment and management plan for the Meduxnekeag Subbasin focusing on the protection and restoration of native fish habitat.
The Meduxnekeag River, a tributary of the Wolastoq (Saint John River), flows through Maliseet Tribal Lands in Littleton and Houlton, Maine. This tributary begins at Meduxnekeag Lake, Maine and joins the Wolastoq (Saint John River) at Woodstock, New Brunswick, Canada. The purpose of the plan is to apply a systems approach to document existing and historical conditions, identify problems and opportunities and develop action oriented recommendations for the protection or restoration of native fish habitat.
The plan is, by design, dynamic and adaptive, as new information is gained the plan will require modification. The Meduxnekeag Subbasin plan will recommend actions that may or may not lead to additional investigations for Corps projects, actions for consideration by the HBMI, other studies, or additional Saint John River subbasin assessments.
The study objectives are to develop potential strategies to address the various native fishery concerns expressed by the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, federal, state and local agencies as well as the general public. Actions to protect and restore the Meduxnekeag River watershed for native fish habitat are recommended based on the problems, opportunities, scientific data and expert consultation. The recommended actions are detailed to a conceptual level.
The study engaged stakeholders from both the U.S. and Canada to work together to apply a systems approach to solve fisheries issues within the Meduxnekeag River watershed and downstream inter-related resources, and potentially has application in the entire Wolastoq (Saint John) Basin.
The public notice is available for review on the Corps website at: https://www.nae.usace.army.mil/Missions/PublicNotices.aspx. The public notice and Draft Watershed Assessment and Management Plan can be viewed at the following link:
https://www.nae.usace.army.mil/Missions/Projects-Topics/Wolastoq-Watershed-Assessment/.
Public comments on the Draft Watershed Assessment and Management Plan should be forwarded no later than March 22, 2019 to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District, Planning Division (ATTN: Dr. Kristine Reed), 696 Virginia Road, Concord, MA 01742-2751 or by email to nae-pn-nav@usace.army.mil.