“This system has lost its channel-forming flows. Without seasonal inundation, we’re seeing a decline in riparian vegetation like black cottonwood forests and an overall loss of biodiversity.”-Marve Griffith, USACE Walla Walla District

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and Boise state University (BSU) are joining forces to tackle the dying Barber Pool Conservation Area (BPCA), which is part of the Boise River system.

The claim is that the BPCA has lost its ‘natural seasonal inundation’ due to the never ending Boise Metro Area construction of buildings and infrastructure upstream. Also, non-regulated human traffic through the BPCA: “Right now, it’s a warren of little trails. If we establish good, maintained pathways, people will use them, and it’ll reduce erosion and protect wildlife.”-Alan Crockett, local taxpayer

The result is that Barber Pool is not recharging, and that plant and animal biodiversity is rapidly disappearing.  The project is not only about restoring the Barber Pool area, but, by expanding the wetland it could also lower the current level of the floodplain.

On 20NOV2024, the USACE and BSU conducted a ‘Public Scoping’ meeting at the Barber Park Education and Events Center, a fancy way a saying they collected comments about the project from concerned taxpaying citizens.

USACE video report by Marcy Sanchez:

The efforts to restore the BPCA are part of the decades old (Cold War era) National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

USACE Barber Pool project.

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