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Page added on May 4, 2011
130000 acres of farmland lost for 2011
With a series of blasts that briefly illuminated the night sky like lightning, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began blowing up a Mississippi River levee overnight, flooding about 200 square miles of rich farmland in an effort to bring down historic river levels and spare the city of Cairo, Illinois and other communities.
The controversial decision to breach the Birds Point-New Madrid levee appeared to be working, said Col. Vernie Reichling, commander of the Corps’ Memphis district.
The Ohio River at Cairo peaked at 61.72 feet just before the blast late Monday — the highest level on record, according to the National Weather Service. By 6 a.m. Tuesday, it had fallen to 60.62 feet, according to river gauge readings provided by the Corps. Even that still exceeds the previous record of 59.5 feet set in 1937, according to Weather Service records.
The breach could cause river levels to fall by three to four feet over the next few days, according to Maj. Gen. Michael Walsh, commander of the Corps’ Mississippi River Valley Division.
Without an intentional breach, authorities had warned of massive flooding that could wipe out the city of Cairo, which sits at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Cairo’s mayor had already ordered the city’s 2,800 residents to evacuate.
Missouri officials took the Corps to court over the plan, questioning the agency’s authority to intentionally breach the levee. The state argued the flood waters would deposit silt on the some 130,000 acres of farmland that Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon described as “literally the most productive part of our continent.”
The silt, he said, would take years to clear, causing long-lasting damage.
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene in the case on Sunday, clearing the way for Walsh’s decision to blow the levee.
Nixon estimated it will take tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars to recover from the intentional flooding.
Walsh said the fate of Cairo was just one of many factors in his decision, saying he hoped the move would alleviate issues throughout the Mississippi River system. Water levels and flooding have hit record highs in many spots, putting severe strains on systems meant to prevent uncontrolled floods and the resulting loss of life and property.
“Nobody has seen this type of water in the system,” he said. “This is unprecedented.”
He called the decision to inundate the farmland and about 100 homes “heart-wrenching.”
“I’ve been involved with flooding for 10 years and it takes a long time to recover from something like this,” he said.
The initial series of blasts happened late Monday. Engineers then set the second charges overnight and planned to detonate them early Tuesday. A third series of detonations will follow, according to the Corps.
The governors of Illinois and Missouri said authorities in both states are prepared for the blast and subsequent flooding, according to prepared statements.
“I urge Missourians to continue to cooperate fully with state, county and local law enforcement, as they have at every stage of this process,” Nixon said. “Together, we will ensure that Missouri families stay safe in the coming days. And together, we will recover and rebuild.”
A statement released by Quinn’s office called the decision to breach the levee “an important step to ensure public safety as we respond to this crisis.”
Even as the river was falling, Walsh did not rule out similar moves elsewhere along the Mississippi and its tributaries, saying the levee system is already under unprecedented pressure and warning water levels could rise again.
“This doesn’t end this historic flood,” he said.
6 Comments on "130000 acres of farmland lost for 2011"
Rick on Wed, 4th May 2011 12:35 am
Over the years, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have done more harm then good.
Don S on Wed, 4th May 2011 1:29 am
I thought that rivers flooding was good for the land, spreading nutrient-rich silt around. These articles make it sound like the silt is toxic waste or something. Can anybody enlighten?
DC on Wed, 4th May 2011 2:34 am
I suspect Don your correct, annual flooding for example, was a key, no the component that made the nile delta\river so productive for well…1000s of years. Once the high-aswan damn was built however, all that started to change. No doubt it is a similar situation down there. However whats different now is that the missipi river is extremely polluted by run-off from barely regulated industry and agriculture. Any silt that in past times would be a benefit, now is probably mostly toxic sludge.
Really, damned if they do….
SSLL on Wed, 4th May 2011 3:14 am
Floodwaters accessing floodplains is a natural river process – the farmland in question is productive BECAUSE the Mississippi over millenia deposited rich alluvial soils/silts through flooding. The levee system provides a sense of false security to landowners and land users in the Missisippi floodplain – when flooding gets bad, they expect the river will be contained within the levee system. The area flooded was designated as a “floodway” by congress after the 1927 Missisippi floods – no one seems to remember this.
Kenz300 on Wed, 4th May 2011 9:24 am
As a society we need to quit building in flood plains. These 100 year floods seem to be coming every few years. Local, state and federal governments need to set aside more land for flood storage areas. When the national flood insurance policy pays out a flood victim they should be relocated to higher ground and helped to get back on their feet. What we should not do is pay for flooding on a specific piece of property more than once. Once the property is flooded the policy should require that the land goes into a flood control area that includes parks and farm land open space. No structures should be allowed to be built. We need to spend the money once, increase the flood water storage areas and improve the situation for the next time.
Topcat on Wed, 4th May 2011 10:26 am
Don –
This will not be a situation like a flood on an uncontrolled river. Back almost 100 years ago they build levees along the whole river. At the area in question (Mississippi County, MO) the river makes a series of “180” degree bends, which creates a large ear shaped salient into the river. This salient is Mississippi county. The floodway provides a shortcut across the salient, rather than going the long way. The floodway is a channel, pre dug, and prepared with its own levees which allow this shortcut. The floodway normally has no flow, as it sits behind the main levees on both its upstream and downstream ends into the river. To activate the floodway you blow the levees on both ends of it, and a portion of the river takes the shortcut. The openings on each end of the floodway are about 2 miles wide, and the floodway is close to that width. So what this produces is a temporary river bottom, not the stagnant water of flooded bottomland. There will be significant current which may wash away some productive topsoil, and perhaps sand will be left in the floodway after it is reclosed. The last time the floodway was activated was 1937.
If you do Google maps for Mississippi county, MO, you will see the floodway.
This is a record flood since the levee system was built. It’s probably worth it to have the huge agricultural area protected by the levee system (not just this little floodway, but up to tens of miles on each side of the whole Mississippi drainage area) if once every 50 – 75 years we have to open up some extra land to the river.
Prior to the levee system and the land drainage work, this land was part of a swamp approximately 50 miles by 70 miles, and was not suitable for much of anything, including parks, or open space. It is now nearly all farmland.