MISSISSIPPI RIVER COMMISSION PLANS INSPECTION

The Mississippi River Commission and the Army Corps of Engineers will conduct their spring high-water inspection trip on the Mississippi River -- from Cape Girardeau to New Orleans -- later this month.

Four public hearings will be held aboard the commission's inspection boat, the Motor Vessel Mississippi, in four cities along the river.

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

The first public hearing will be held April 25, at 9 a.m., at Cape Girardeau.

Other public hearings will be held at 9 a.m., April 26, at Memphis; 3 p.m., April 26, at Vicksburg, Miss.; and April 29 in New Orleans.

During each public hearing, the president of the commission will present a State of the Valley report, along with presentations by public participants. Also, district engineers will report on the Mississippi River and Tributaries Projects in their respective districts at Cape Girardeau, Vicksburg, and New Orleans.

Bob Anderson, public information officer for the Corps' Memphis District, said current plans are to dock the Mississippi at the Cape Girardeau waterfront for the public hearing.

However, Anderson said if the river is too high for the boat to safely dock at the city front, the public hearing will be moved to the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority's public dock, east of Scott City. In 1933, high water forced the commission to hold its spring hearing at the port authority.

The Mississippi River Commission was organized by an act of Congress in 1879. It is composed of seven members, each nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Three of the commission's members are officers of the Corps of Engineers; one is a member from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and three members are civilians, two of whom are civil engineers.

The duties of the commission include recommendation of policy and public works programs, the study of and reporting upon the necessity for modifications or additions to flood control and navigation projects along the river.

The commission's area of responsibility extends from Cape Girardeau to the Gulf of Mexico.

Each year, the commission makes inspection trips that are mandated by the congressional act that created the panel. One trip is held in April during the river's traditional "high water" period, and again in September, during normal "low water" conditions on the river.

River conditions permitting, the Mississippi will stop briefly at the Cape Girardeau waterfront late next Friday afternoon, April 22, to pick up St. Louis officials for the trip to St. Louis.

The boat will leave St. Louis the next Sunday morning, and arrive at Cape Girardeau later that afternoon.