HUMBOLDT - The Humboldt water supply is at risk, along with aquatic life in the Humboldt and Rutland areas, according to a report by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Humboldt residents heard the report's results Monday on the West Branch of the Des Moines River in the Humboldt and Rutland area. The meeting, held at the Oxbow Building in Oxbow Park, was attended by about 35 city and county officials and residents.

Marshall Plumley, project manager with the Corps Rock Island District, presented the study results.

''The purpose of this document is to tell Congress and our higher headquarters in the Army that there is a project here the Army Corps of Engineers should see,'' Plumley said. The study was authorized by a committee of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2007.

The study, which came about as the result of a local inquiry about the river's condition, looked at the dams in Humboldt and Rutland and the municipal water plant in Humboldt.

The primary problems identified were the continued shallowing of the river and its affect on aquatic wildlife. In addition, the municipal water supply is at risk from flooding because the water supply plant is within the flood plain.

Corps representatives have met with Humboldt city officials about the water plant, Plumley said.

Possible ways to improve aquatic wildlife include removal of the dam, construction of a rock ramp or bypass channel to allow the passage of fish, construction of grade control structures to stabilize erosion, or rehabilitation of the gates on the Humboldt Dam. To protect the water plant, the study suggests a floodwall, levees, a flood warning system and the creation of or updating of a disaster assistance manual.

Preliminary cost for a rock ramp at the Humboldt Dam is estimated at $966,000. Preliminary cost for gate renovation at the Humboldt Dam is estimated at $824,000. Preliminary cost for a bypass channel at the Rutland Dam is estimated at $465,000.

The federal government would pay 65 percent of the dam work.

While dams provide recreational opportunities, Plumley said, ''the long-term process of a lot of dams is they become maintenance issues."

The estimated project cost to protect the water plant is estimated at $4.2 million according to the study. The Federal Government would pay 75 percent of the water plant protection, according to Plumley.

Estimated cost for the feasibility study is estimated at $560,000, of which $280,000 would be federal and $280,000 from local sources in the way of cash or in-kind services.

Kay Kollmorgen, a member of the River Development Committee, asked Plumley, ''Will you lay out what we need to do?''

Plumley said the first step is a letter of intent either from the city or the county. The letter has no financial obligations attached to it but is submitted with the report so it can be approved. The letter states that there is interest in looking at the study and to ask the Corps to provide more information, Plumley said.

After the meeting, Humboldt City Councilman LeRoy Jorgensen said, ''There seems to be a lot of money being spent for what value?''

Humboldt Mayor Walter Jensen agreed. He said the city cannot afford its share of a feasibility study.

''The days of the dam are dead,'' Jensen said.

Jorgensen said that if conditions on the river could be improved, it would become a more popular recreation area.

Contact Robert Wolf at (515) 573-2141 or editor@messengernews.net