RAIN TO ELEVATE THE RIVER; PLANTING PROBLEMS PERSIST IN THE AREA

The National Weather Service says more wet weather is in store this week in Missouri, Illinois, and other northern states that border the Mississippi River. The rain could push the river up again between St. Louis and Cairo.

Thunderstorms are forecast each day through the end of the week for Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois.

The weather service said Monday the Mississippi at St. Louis was expected to drop to 23 feet by Thursday, fall to 23.8 feet at Chester, and fall to 27.1 feet at Cape Girardeau.

But hydrologist Jack Burns warned additional heavy rain north of St. Louis later this week would either slow rate of the river's fall, or actually result in another crest of high water.

The river at Cape reached 31.7 feet on April 24, and 31.3 feet on May 10. Flood stage here is 32 feet.

Since April 1, 7.41 inches of rain has fallen at the Cape Girardeau airport, including 5.97 inches in April and 1.54 inches during the first 10 days of this month.

More rain fell Monday, when thunderstorms dumped more than three inches of rain in the Farmington area. Heavy rains also fell near Advance.

While the wet weather and high river level has been welcome news for barge line operators with vivid memories of three years of record low water conditions, area farmers along the river say enough is enough.

The wet weather and high river level are particularly troublesome for farmers who work the unprotected bottomland along the Mississippi and the Diversion Channel near Cape Girardeau. It's also a growing problem for some farmers in the East Cape Girardeau-McClure area.

"It would be nice if it would stop raining for a while so the river would go down so the water would drain out of the fields so we could get our planting done," said Martha Vandivort, who owns a large tract of bottomland along the river north of Cape Girardeau.

Between the wet weather the past 45 days and near-flooding conditions on the river, Vandivort said she hasn't been able to plant on any of her bottomland this spring. The prospects of getting it planted soon are not encouraging.

Vandivort said the river hasn't been high enough to actually cover the fields with water, but it's high enough to back up into the creeks and sloughs that normally drain the surface water from the fields. She said the high river level also keeps the water table high, which hinders the drying process.

While Vandivort and other landowners watch the weather maps for signs of dry weather, they're also keeping an eye on the calendar. She explained corn and soybean seeds must be in the ground no later than mid-to-late June so the crop will mature before the first killing freeze this fall.

That deadline is still 30-40 days away, but the weather service's 30-day outlook through the end of this month calls for continued above-average rainfall in the area.

Bill M. Colyer farms the protected fertile bottomland inside the Clear Creek-Mississippi River levee but he's also got wet weather problems.

Rain that falls inside the "Big Five" levee district flows southward to Gale, Ill., where it normally drains through levee in large drain pipes.

But Colyer says they can't open the drain valves until the river drops below 27 feet on the Cape river gauge. The river at Cape hasn't been below 27 feet since April 16.

"We tried to open them last week at a little over 27 feet, but here was still three inches difference," he said. That means surface and seep water is starting to back up onto the fields at the southern end of the levee district.

Colyer said most of the land on the east side of Route 3, from McClure to the levee at Gale, has not been worked this year because of wet ground. "We can't open the drain valves so the water can drain into Clear Creek," he said.

Colyer said some planting was done in some fields on the west side of the highway, toward East Cape. "Everybody was out planting on Mother's Day until the rain started around dinner time, and then we all went back in the house with Mom," Colyer said.

But Colyer said he's still better off now than he was at this time last year. "Last year at this time, there was very little groundwork or planting done because of the wet spring. This year, I've been able to plant about 1,500 acres because of the warm, dry weather in March," he said.