MISSISSIPPI LEVEE BOARD: PROJECTS FOR THE PEOPLE
ENLARGE OUR EXISTING LEVEES?
The levees in place along the Mississippi River are critical
factors in the safety of residents of the Delta. As the last
barrier between many homes and farms and the wrath of flood
waters, it is crucial that these levees be maintained and
improved upon as needed.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) determined during and
following the 1973 flood that the efficiency of the Mississippi
River to discharge the Project Design Flood had declined drastically.
This was evidenced by the fact that comparable volumes of
discharge measured at gauging stations in the Vicksburg and
New Orleans districts were at higher stages than had been
previously noted or predicted.
following the 1973 flood, the Corps completed
studies and prepared what is now known as the Refined 1973
Project Flowline, which required an extensive levee enlargement
program, some up to 8 feet in height in order to provide a
3 feet freeboard above the newly established project flowline.
The project flowline is computed on a volume of water that
would be created by a series of storms, which would provide
the greatest flood having a reasonable probability of occurrence.
The levee enlargement program in the MS Levee Board district
includes 69 miles of deficient levee beginning just below
the Greenville Bridge and extending to the lower end of the
district with a maximum
enlargement being in the vicinity of Mayersville, MS. Some
short reaches of seepage berms located north of Greenville
also remain part of the program.
CHALLENGES While the facts made the need for levee enlargement
abundantly clear, some organizations still stated opposition
to the programs.
Endangered LA Black Bear
the Mississippi Levee Board began acquisition of right-of-way
for two berm jobs south of Fitler, MS in 1995, the U.S. Fish
& Wildlife Services questioned the adequacy of the 1976 Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) for the Levee Enlargement Project,
citing changes in environmental policy and other issues as
their reasons for objecting. The following private environmental
groups, National Wildlife Federation, Mississippi Wildlife
Federation, Sierra Club, through its Delta and Mississippi
Chapters, American Rivers, Arkansas Wildlife Federation, Louisiana
Wildlife Federation and the MS River Basin Alliance retained
the environmental watchdog group Earthjustice Legal Defense
Fund in 1996 to sue the Vicksburg District Corps of Engineers
challenging the adequacy of the levee portion of the 20-year
old Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Mississippi
River & Tributaries Project (MR&T). The Board of Mississippi
Levee Commissioners and the Board of Levee Commissioners for
the Yazoo- Mississippi Delta intervened in the lawsuit on
behalf of the Mississippi citizens protected by the levee.
In 1999, the Vicksburg District and the Levee Boards prevailed
in this litigation held in the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The Plaintiffs-Appellants
appealed this judgment, but the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
upheld the ruling in favor of the Corps and the Levee Boards
in 2000. Thus, the necessity and importance of the projects
for citizens of the Delta was made clear.