HIGH WATER FORCES RIVER HEARING TO MOVE TO PORT

The first in a series of public hearings to be conducted by the Mississippi River Commission will be held Monday at the SEMO Regional Port Authority's public dock facility on the Mississippi River five miles southeast of Cape Girardeau.

The hearing was scheduled to be held at Cape Girardeau, but was moved to the port authority dock because of a new flood crest that's expected to pass Cape Girardeau on Sunday.

The hearing will begin at 9 a.m., aboard the MRC's $22 million inspection vessel, Mississippi V, which was commissioned this year.

The boat was originally scheduled to dock at the foot of Broadway, in Cape Girardeau late Sunday afternoon after arriving from St. Louis. But a spokesman for the Corps of Engineer's Vicksburg, Miss., division office said Thursday the river at Cape Girardeau will be too high for the boat to dock safely at the riverfront overnight.

The Mississippi River is expected to crest here Sunday at 37.5 feet. At 38 feet, the Broadway floodgate would have to be closed.

The Corps said those who plan to attend the public hearing on Monday should go to the port authority dock instead. The port authority access road is along Route K (Main Street) just east of Scott City.

Four public meetings have been scheduled this month as part of the MRC's annual "low water" inspection trip on the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers. In addition to Cape Girardeau, other public hearings will be conducted by the MRC at Memphis Tuesday, Rosedale, Miss., Wednesday; and Morgan City, La., Sept. 24.

Each meeting will include a State of the Valley report and presentations by public participants. Also, district engineers will report on the Mississippi River and Tributaries Projects in their respective areas. The Corps of Engineer's St. Louis District engineer will make the report at the Cape Girardeau meeting.

The MRC was organized in 1879, and is composed of seven members, each nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate.

The duties of the MRC include recommendations of policy and work programs, the study and reporting upon the necessity for modifications or additions to flood control and navigation projects.

The MRC's area of responsibility extends along the Mississippi River from Cape Girardeau to the Gulf of Mexico. The commission, by law, is required to hold public hearings twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall, at places between Cape Girardeau and New Orleans and Morgan City.