VICKSBURG, Miss. – Protecting people, infrastructure, commerce, agriculture and energy are always at the forefront of what we do at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mississippi Valley Division (MVD).
National Weather Service (NWS) analyses indicate a strong high-pressure system located off the United States Eastern Seaboard and a large trough over the western United States. The forecast shows the trough bringing a stalling boundary“ to the heart of the Mississippi Basin as these two features collide.
“A large portion of the Ohio and Lower Mississippi River watersheds will receive widespread rainfall totals of 7-10 inches, with some isolated totals as high as 15 inches. The event is set to begin Wednesday, April 2, with the heaviest rains expected Friday through the weekend. High confidence is held by the NWS in the system stalling over the confluence area, driving up rainfall totals. Drier conditions will return on Sunday,” said Anna Wolverton, senior NWS meteorologist and NWS liaison at the Mississippi Valley Division.
Through Saturday, this axis could bring potentially historic rain totals with moderate to major tributary river flooding and significant localized flash flooding. Stages near the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers are forecast to rise to (above 54-55ft to Major Flood Stage) for an extended period of time with gages along the lower mainstem Mississippi River anticipated to rise to minor/moderate flood stages by mid-April,” said Wolverton.
“The division’s number one priority is to protect the people within the Mississippi River Valley,” said Maj. Gen. Kimberly Peeples, commander of the Mississippi Valley Division. “Pro-active communication is key to being prepared and ready. Right now, our goal is to make communities aware of the possibility that river stages may be on the rise again.” "If model guidance is correct, we could be dealing with significant flooding across a large portion of the greater Mississippi watershed during the month of April,” said Wolverton.
When high-water conditions warrant, MVD maintains daily contact with its sister divisions, the Great Lakes & Ohio River Division (LRD), the Southwestern Division (SWD), and the Northwestern Division (NWD), as well as USACE headquarters. LRD manages the Ohio River system, including the capability of Barkley Lake on the Cumberland River and the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kentucky Lake on the Tennessee River, to ease the flood crest in the Cairo area. SWD monitors the river stages on several rivers that flow into the Mississippi River while NWD monitors the Missouri River that joins the Mississippi just above St. Louis.
“The amount of coordination and communication with other federal and state agencies, our sister Corps’ divisions, and with local communities, is an integral part of our ability to help keep communities safe and to safely pass the high water,” said Peeples. The Mississippi Valley Division’s Watershed Division is responsible for providing day-to-day oversight and coordination of the Mississippi River’s flow and watershed. Hydrologists and hydraulic engineers from MVD’s six districts, St. Paul, Rock Island, St. Louis, Memphis, Vicksburg and New Orleans, keep track of river stages in real-time using satellite links to gages. In addition, they coordinate closely with multiple organizations, including the National Weather Service’s official forecast, to provide a picture of current and expected river conditions.
The Mississippi River & Tributaries (MR&T) project, the comprehensive flood control project on the lower Mississippi River, has provided unprecedented protection during four severe floods in the past decade. Flood control is necessary to achieve energy, economic, food and job security. The MR&T has prevented more than $2.45 trillion in flood damages since 1928, or $114 for every one dollar invested. The MR&T project consists of five major features: a levee system that includes 3,787 miles of levees and floodwalls; four floodways, including Bonnet Carré, Morganza, Birds Point-New Madrid and the Atchafalaya; channel improvement and stabilization; reservoirs; and tributary basin improvements. The Mississippi River drainage basin is the world’s third largest watershed and is home to the largest inland waterway navigation system with more than 12,000 miles of commercially navigable channels.