WINONA, Minn. – A tiny Mississippi island a mile downriver from Winona is about to grow and grow and grow – after a decade of washing away to a bare dot on navigation maps. The Army Corps of Engineers, which operates the river’s navigation channel, has closed Mosquito Island to begin a a $600,000 dredging project. No camping or boating stopovers will be allowed for eight months. The Army Corps will pump 60,000 cubic yards of sand from the main channel to extend Mosquito Island 600 feet alongside the main channel. On the upper end of what will be a long narrow 900-foot island, the Corps will add 3,300 cubic yards of soil for 12 inches of topsoil.
