RIVER FALLS: FARMERS NEED RELIEF FROM HIGH WATER

The Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau is expected to drop below the 32-foot flood stage this week. It has crested above flood stage here five times in the last month and a half.

The falling river is welcome news to farmers and residents in the water-logged East Cape Girardeau-Clear Creek Levee District, in addition to those living in the other four levee districts located in a basin that extends from the Big Muddy River levee in Union County, southward to the levee near Gale in north Alexander County.

On Saturday, the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau was at 37.9 feet, a fall of one-half foot. It was forecast to drop to 35.4 feet by Tuesday.

On May 22, 1992, the Mississippi at Cape Girardeau was at 15.1 feet, which is considered a low stage for this time of the year.

Unless there is additional significant precipitation between now and Thursday, the National Weather Service expects the Mississippi at Cape Girardeau to fall below flood stage on Friday. That would be the first time the river here has been below flood stage since April 3.

Because of flooding on the Mississippi River, drain gates that normally allow surface water and seep water inside the East Cape levee system to drain into the river have been closed for nearly a month and a half.

Surface water trapped inside the levee system now covers thousands of acres of farmland, preventing farmers from planting corn and soybeans.

In addition, several inches of surface water now covers a portion of the roadway and shoulder on Illinois Route 3 just south of the Route 146-Route 3 junction. The Illinois Department of Transportation placed a warning sign along the highway south of the junction, and north of Gale, to alert motorists of the water on the roadway.

East Cape Levee District officials say the two drain gates along the river, and the 54-inch drain under the levee along Sexton Creek, near Gale, can be reopened when the river at Cape Girardeau falls to around 30 feet.

But they note it will take some time for the water to go down because of the limited number of drain gates. That means it will take more time for the water-soaked farmland to dry out enough to start planting. Farmers inside the levee district now face a mid-June deadline to get soybeans in the ground before yield losses occur at harvest time. Many have already given up hope of planting any corn this year and are concentrating on soybeans.

The river at Cape Girardeau crested at 40.6 feet on April 20, the highest crest her in seven years.

The weather service's 30-day forecast for the Mississippi River calls for the river at Cape Girardeau to drop to 25.9 feet by June 2, 23.1 feet on June 9 and 21.9 feet by June 16.

At Cairo, the Ohio is forecast to drop to 32.3 feet by May 26, 25.9 feet on June 2, 23.1 feet on June 9 and 20.8 feet on June 16.

The falling river means the Themis Street and Broadway floodgates along Water Street will probably reopen this week, allowing residents and visitors to once again get a view of the river.

The Themis Street flood gate has been closed since April 5. The Broadway gate was shut when the river reached 37-38 feet.

The Sloan's Creek flood gate was closed April 16, cutting off through rail service on the Burlington Northern Railroad's River Division between St. Louis and Memphis. However, the BN has been able to maintain rail service to the Nash Road industrial complex from Cape Girardeau.

Both the Mill Street and Merriwether Street pumping stations along the levee and floodwall have been in operation since the first weekend in April.

The Cape Girardeau Wastewater Treatment Plant in south Cape remains off line because of high water. The plant was taken out of service on April 16.

Most of the city streets that were closed in April and earlier this month because of high water have been reopened as the floodwaters on the river slowly recede. The exceptions include Water Street, north of Sloan's Creek, and several streets in south Cape, east of the BN railroad tracks.

Twenty years ago, on May 1, 1973, the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau crested at an all-time high of 45.6 feet, causing widespread flooding and property damage on both sides of the river, and along the north side of the Diversion Channel from the river westward to Allenville. At one point that year, residents of East Cape Girardeau could only get in and out of their community by boat.

Ten years later, on May 6, 1983, the river at Cape crested at 45.1 feet, causing the same problems in the same areas. In May 1983, there were 10 inches of water covering Route 3, south of the Route 146-3 junction.

But the flooding that's occurred on the river here during the past 20 years cannot compare with the disaster that occurred 50 years ago in May 1943 when the Mississippi River broke through the levee in at least two locations near Wolf Lake, according to stories in the Southeast Missourian that month. Many residents of McClure were evacuated as the water continued to rise.

In order to prevent the water from backing up inside the levee district, The Corps of Engineers finally blew up a part of the levee near Gale to allow the water to drain into the flood-swollen Mississippi River.