| Today, the Wolf River is approximately 86 miles long with a drainage basin of 819 square miles. The river rises in the hills of rural Tippah County, Mississippi, and meanders through bottomland hardwood forests in its length as it flows through Germantown and Memphis, Tennessee. The river basin has been extensively developed, particularly in rapidly developing East Shelby County; however, much of the floodplain remains relatively natural and undeveloped. In many ways, it possesses an almost wilderness quality in an otherwise urban environment.
The Wolf River Riparian (riverbank) Zone contains more acres of forested wetlands per mile within a major metropolitan area than any other river in Tennessee. The upper reaches of the river contain some of the few remaining unchannelized sections of river and some of the last areas of seasonally flooded, bottomland hardwood wetlands in then Lower Mississippi Valley.
These seasonally-flooded wetland areas are considered nationally significant because their unique ecosystem supports a complex variety of plants and animals. The hardwoods provide a home to a variety of wildlife unique to wetlands such as river otters and great blue herons. They are home to deer and turkey in large numbers. Neotropical birds depend on large tracts of bottomland hardwoods to rest, feed and nest after their long journey from South America. This type of forest also provides some of the largest and finest hardwood timber found today.
Another type of wetland often found along the Wolf is the Cypress Tupelo Gum swamp. Here, water stands year round and provides a home to heron and fish alike. Cypress trees are capable of growing to be 1,000 years old. Last but not least, there is a very rare type of wetland found rarely in Tennessee-the wetland marsh. There are many acres of marsh that provide habitat to waterfowl and a home to most species of fish native to West Tennessee.
All these wetlands along the Wolf provide a service to us that is incalculable, |
acting as water purifiers, flood storage areas and a source of aquifer recharge from which Memphis draws its drinking water. There is now a growing consensus among friends and users of the Wolf that this great natural treasure must be rescued.
Answering the call is a diverse group of stakeholders who are working to restore the Wolf River. Local officials along with public interest groups, non-profit conservation groups,
state and federal agencies are working together to not only preserve this river from further degradation but also to restore its natural beauty. By forging new and innovative partnerships, they are searching for solutions and identifying ways to solve the problems of the river. Heading this coalition is the Shelby County Government under the leadership of Mayor Jim Rout and the Chickasaw Authority chaired by Mr. Charles Perkins.
On March 21, 1998, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Memphis District, The Chickasaw Basin Authority (CBA) and Shelby County became partners to fund a feasibility study to address problems along the Wolf. This landmark event, in a long search for a solution to the growing Wolf River dilemma, was a giant step on the road to restoration of the Wolf. The feasibility study will provide a number of critical answers, including ways to stop severe headcutting and river channel instability problems; protection and restoration of wetlands and aquatic habitats; and ways to protect infrastructure and groundwater resources.
Stabilization weirs will be a major feature of the project. These structures, built of bowling ball-size stone material called rip rap, will be used to slow the flow of the river and reduce destructive headcutting. Extending from bank to bank perpendicular to the channel, the weirs will range in height from six to eight feet, and will be about 100 to 300 feet long. As the weirs slow the flow, sediment will accumulate between them, thus stabilizing and restoring the |
scoured-out river bottom to a more natural grade. Most of the time the weirs will be under water; V-shaped notches will be built into the weirs to allow canoes and kayaks to pass, even during low water stages. Other stabilization weirs will also be built near the confluence of tributary streams.
The study will look at weirs to control headcutting, fish weirs on the channel to improve aquatic habitat and increase fish population, additional weirs and elevation control structures on tributary channels, restoration of oxbows, sediment retention basins, a comprehensive trail system which will compliment the County's greenway system, wildlife corridors and public access boat ramps.
Other key stakeholders in this effort include the Wolf River Conservancy, the State of Tennessee's Division of Natural Heritage, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and the Tennessee Nature Conservancy. All these agencies and the Chickasaw Basin Authority have purchased land along the Wolf and are committed to its protection and restoration. The municipalities of Memphis, Germantown, Collierville, Piperton, Rossville, Moscow and LaGrange are involved and enthusiastic in protecting the Wolf. Most have parks and natural areas along the Wolf such as Germantown's Johnson Park.
The cost of the feasibility study is $2.6 million, an amount split equally between the federal government and the CBA. The study should be completed in March 1999. Once the best plan for saving the Wolf River is selected, construction can be expected to begin in 2000 or 2001. The price tag for the construction phrase of the project will be approximately $18 million, 65 percent of which will be federally funded, with remaining funding costs expected to be shared among the various local governments.
While the cost at first glance appears substantial, the greater question to be asked is what will be the price if one of our state's greatest natural resources is lost for future generations.
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