Long-submerged islands in the Mississippi River off the Lee County shoreline could soon be restored.
The Lee County Conservation Board has approved a memorandum of agreement with the Iowa Ports Association to help fund planning work for an island restoration project.
The project will be carried out by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and aims to restore natural habitat on a group of low-lying and submerged islands downstream from Fort Madison, Iowa and near Montrose, Iowa.
Lee County technically owns the islands, which were once higher ground but were largely submerged after the construction of Lock and Dam No. 19 in 1913.
Current plans call for rebuilding about 14 acres of natural habitat on the islands.
