Rep. Smith: Corps needs to proceed with area flood-control project, fix levees

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers should move ahead with a flood-control project along the Mississippi River near New Madrid, Missouri, that has been blocked for years by environmental concerns, U.S. Rep. Jason Smith told Corps officials Monday.

Smith said environmental groups and the regulatory actions of the past presidential administration have hindered the project.

The Environmental Protection Agency had concluded the $165 million project would result in the loss of wetlands and harm fish and wildlife resources.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of Interior and the Missouri Department of Conservation also have voiced environmental concerns.

Southeast Missouri farmers and residents in the area support the flood-control project.

Smith spoke on board the Corps of Engineers’ Motor Vessel Mississippi, which was docked at the Cape Girardeau riverfront.

He addressed the seven-member Mississippi River Commission during the commission’s annual low-water inspection trip.

The commission includes Corps and civilian members.

The Cape Girardeau stop was the first of four scheduled public meetings along the river this month, Corps officials said.

The vessel spent the weekend docked at Cape Girardeau and drew a number of onlookers to the riverfront.

Smith, the 8th District Republican congressman from Salem, said residents in his district have waited long enough for the flood-control project to be completed.

He urged the Corps to close the 1,500-foot gap in the New Madrid Floodway and install a pumping station as originally planned.

He said he is “disappointed” major levees damaged from previous flooding along the Mississippi River in New Madrid, Mississippi and Scott counties have not been repaired.

He urged the Memphis district of the Corps to “address this situation very soon.”

In addition, Smith said the Corps’ St. Louis district should repair the Ste. Genevieve levee system and keep in place rock that was added to build up a Perry County levee near McBride, Missouri, during a previous flood.

Removing the rock piled atop the levee would “cause irreparable harm” and put the low-lying area at risk from a future flood, the Republican lawmaker said.

The congressman told the commission President Donald Trump is committed to maintaining the infrastructure along the Mississippi River.

“It is important that our waterways are protected and maintained,” he said.

The Mississippi River and Tributaries project was authorized by the 1928 federal Flood Control Act in the wake of the devastating 1927 flood.

Corps officials said the massive project involves levees, tributary basin improvements, channel improvements and stabilization and floodways.

Smith said the system has “proved its value time and time again.”

Flooding this spring devastated parts of Southeast and Southern Missouri, but Smith said areas along the Mississippi River saw little flooding because of the levee system.

“It could have been so much worse,” he added.

According to the Corps, the Mississippi River and Tributaries project has prevented $823 billion in flood damage since 1928.

Maj. Gen, Michael Wehr of the Corps serves as president of the Mississippi River Commission.

Wehr said the Corps is committed to flood control and river navigation while protecting the environment.

Addressing these goals requires “a lot of money,” he told the crowd gathered in a spacious meeting room on the vessel.

According to the Corps, $15.1 billion has been invested in planning, construction, operation and maintenance of the Corps’ Mississippi River system since 1928.

There has been a $54 benefit for each dollar spent, the agency said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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