CORPS TO HOLD RIVER INSPECTION MEETING AT CAIRO

CAIRO, Ill. -- A status report on general conditions of the Mississippi River and its tributaries will be presented during the Mississippi River Commission's high-water inspection trip on river Monday through April 16.

Army Maj. Gen. Phillip R. Anderson, commander of the Mississippi Valley Division and president of the Mississippi River Commission, will issue a "State of the Valley" report at each of four stops during the five-day trip.

The first of four public meetings will be held aboard the motor vessel Mississippi, which will dock at the Eighth Street landing in Cairo Monday for an 8:30 a.m. session.

The Mississippi is the Corps of Engineers' revetments boat used to conduct the Mississippi River Commission inspections twice a year.

District engineers will report on the Mississippi River and Tributaries Project in their respective districts from Cairo to New Orleans. Presentations will also be accepted by public participants at the meetings.

Other meetings scheduled are scheduled for Tuesday at Memphis, Tenn., 8:30 a.m., Wednesday at Vicksburg, Miss., at 3:30 a.m., and April 16 at New Orleans at 8:30 a.m.

The four meetings are scheduled for the selected towns along the river so members of the commission can keep in touch with local citizens and get first-hand feedback from residents.

The Mississippi River Commission usually inspects the lower river and holds public hearings twice each year -- in the spring during high water and in the late summer or early fall during low water.

During each hearing, commission and Corps members meet with citizens, elected officials and members of levee, flood-control and drainage districts to discuss planned or ongoing projects in their areas.

A number of Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois representatives will be on hand for the Cairo meeting.

The Mississippi River Commission, organized in 1879, includes seven members, each nominated by the president of the United States. Three of the members are officers of the Corps, one is from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and three are civilians, two of them civil engineers.

The commission makes recommendations on policy and work programs and studies and reports on modifications or additions for flood-control and navigational projects in addition to making two river inspection trips each year.

The purpose of the hearings is to keep an exchange of viewpoints and ideas flowing between the public and the Corps. Although presentations are made during the hearings, a copy of the remarks must be presented to the commission for the official record.