Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway
Encyclopedia
The Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway is a flood control
component of the Mississippi River and Tributaries Project located on the west bank of the Mississippi River
in southeast Missouri
just below the confluence of the Ohio
and Mississippi Rivers. The construction of the floodway was authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1928
and later modified by the Flood Control Act of 1965
. Its purpose is to divert water from the Mississippi River during major flood events and lower the flood stages upstream, notably at Cairo, Illinois
.
The floodway has been the focus of legal opposition by residents and landowners since its inception.
, the engineering policy on the Mississippi River changed from building levees high enough to withstand the greatest recorded flood to include floodways. The Flood Control Act of 1928 authorized the United States Army Corps of Engineers to construct the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway in Missouri and the Morganza Spillway
and Bonnet Carre Spillway
in Louisiana
.
Even before its authorization, the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway was the subject of controversy. In June 1927, President Calvin Coolidge
instructed the Mississippi River Commission and the Army Corps of Engineers to develop a plan to protect the Mississippi alluvial valley from future floods. The Commission recommended four floodways below the mouth of the Arkansas River
and, above, stronger and higher levees set back from the channel. Chief of Engineers Maj. Gen. Edgar Jadwin
rejected the costly plan and submitted one of his own. Jadwin's plan included the Birds Point-New Madrid floodway with a setback levee between 3 miles and 10 miles miles from the existing mainline levee. Eleven miles of the mainline levee were to be lowered by 3.5 feet (1.1 m) to create a fuse plug
levee. At a flood stage of 55 feet (16.8 m) on the Cairo gage, the levee would overtop and creavasse to divert water to the floodway.
The Flood Control Act of 1928 adopted the Jadwin plan for the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway and included a provision for compensation of landowners within the floodway. President Coolidge authorized a one-time indemnity paid to landowners to flood their land and the purchase of the land adjacent to the upper fuseplug of the frontline levee. The authorization stipulated that the fuseplug was not to be constructed until at least half of the flowage rights had been secured.
Construction was scheduled to begin in the summer of 1929, but landowner George W. Kirk filed a lawsuit maintaining that he would be unable to sell his land or secure loans as a result of the floodway. Judge Charles B. Davis
of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri
ruled in favor of the government and denied an injunction. Construction of the setback levvee started in October 1929 and and was completed in October 1932. Acquisition of the required flowage rights was not accomplished until January of 1942.
The Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act of 1954 authorized the construction of a new levee to project grade extending across the 1500 feet (457.2 m) gap at the lower end of the frontline levee. However, the inability of the St. John Levee and Drainage District to obtain the necessary easements has prevented the Army Corps of Engineers from initiating the project.
The Flood Control Act of 1965
authorized the increase of the frontline levee to 62 feet (18.9 m) on the Cairo gage and the fuseplug sections to 60 feet (18.3 m). The MIssissippi River Commission further modified the plan to raise the fuseplug sections to 60.5 feet (18.4 m), the frontline levee to 62.5 feet (19.1 m), and the mainline levee to 65.5 feet (20 m) on the Cairo gage.The plan called for the use of explosives on the upper fuseplug section if the River reached 58 feet (17.7 m) at Cairo and was forcast to exceed 60 feet (18.3 m)
After the floods of 1973, 1975, and 1979, the MIssissippi River Commission again revised its plan to include four artificial crevasses: two at the upper fuseplug, one at the lower fuseplug, and one on the frontline levee opposite Hickman, Kentucky
. The use of explosives was expanded to all four fuseplugs. The Mississippi River Commission and the Army Corps of Engineers later realized that they did not have sufficient property rights to access the levee to place and detonate explosives. In 1981, the MIssissippi River Commission Memphis District commander requested entry permission from the St. John Levee and Drainage District and Levee District No. 3 of Mississippi County, Missouri
, but the request was refused.
Following the 1983 flood, a 2.5 miles (4 km) section of the upper fuseplug and 1.5 miles (2.4 km) section of the lower fuseplug were raised and embedded with sections of polyethylene
pipe to be filled with liquid explosives and detonated when the Cairo flood stage reached 61 feet (18.6 m).
A 1990 Corps of Engineers Study of alternatives to the floodway recommended a number of improvements in the floodway, but these were not authorized by Congress.
and New Madrid, Missouri
and on the west by a 36 miles (57.9 km) setback levee. The area within the floodway is approximately 130000 acres (526.1 km²). The frontline and setback levees end near New Madrid but do not connect, leaving a 1500 feet (457.2 m) gap that functions as a drainage outlet. However, the gap also permits backwater flooding in the lower portion of the floodway.
The floodway is designed to divert 550000 cuft/s from the Mississippi River during the "project design flood
" hypothetical flood event. At this flow the level of the Missisippi River will drop 7 feet (2.1 m) at Cairo. Unlike the Morganza and Bonnet Carre Spillways in Louisiana, the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway does not have floodgates. The floodway is operated by a controlled destruction of the levee, either with explosives or by overtopping. The frontline levee has an 11 miles (17.7 km) fuseplug section of the upper levee and a 5 miles (8 km) section at the lower levee that are loer than adjacent sections. The operation of the floodway is directed by the president of the Mississippi River Commission after consultation with the Chief of Engineers.
The state of Missouri attempted to halt the activation of the floodway by litigation (Missouri v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers), because of the disparate impact of the action upon affected Missouri residents and property owners, but were not able to halt the action.
authorized the St. John’s Bayou-New Madrid Floodway project to augment the 1954 authorization to close the 1500 feet (457.2 m) gap in the frontline levee and construct two pumping stations. The goal was to reduce backwater flooding at the lower end of the floodway. A 2004 lawsuit by the Environmental Defense Fund and the National Wildlife Federation
resulted in an injunction that halted the work.
Flood control
In communications, flood control is a feature of many communication protocols designed to prevent overwhelming of a destination receiver. Such controls can be implemented either in software or in hardware, and will often request that the message be resent after the receiver has finished...
component of the Mississippi River and Tributaries Project located on the west bank of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
in southeast Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
just below the confluence of the Ohio
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
and Mississippi Rivers. The construction of the floodway was authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1928
Flood Control Act of 1928
The Flood Control Act of 1928 authorized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to design and construct projects for the control of floods on the Mississippi River and its tributaries as well as the Sacramento River in California. It was sponsored by Sen. Wesley L. Jones of Washington and Rep. Frank R...
and later modified by the Flood Control Act of 1965
Flood Control Act of 1965
The Flood Control Act of 1965, Title II of , was enacted on October 27, 1965, by the 89th Congress and authorized the United States Army Corps of Engineers to design and construct numerous flood control projects including the Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity, Louisiana Hurricane Protection Project...
. Its purpose is to divert water from the Mississippi River during major flood events and lower the flood stages upstream, notably at Cairo, Illinois
Cairo, Illinois
Cairo is the southernmost city in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is the county seat of Alexander County. Cairo is located at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. The rivers converge at Fort Defiance State Park, an American Civil War fort that was commanded by General Ulysses S. Grant...
.
The floodway has been the focus of legal opposition by residents and landowners since its inception.
History
After the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927Great Mississippi Flood of 1927
The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 was the most destructive river flood in the history of the United States.-Events:The flood began when heavy rains pounded the central basin of the Mississippi in the summer of 1926. By September, the Mississippi's tributaries in Kansas and Iowa were swollen to...
, the engineering policy on the Mississippi River changed from building levees high enough to withstand the greatest recorded flood to include floodways. The Flood Control Act of 1928 authorized the United States Army Corps of Engineers to construct the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway in Missouri and the Morganza Spillway
Morganza Spillway
The Morganza Spillway or Morganza Control Structure is a flood-control structure in the U.S. state of Louisiana along the western bank of the Mississippi River at river mile 280, near Morganza in Pointe Coupee Parish. The spillway stands between the Mississippi and the Morganza Floodway, which...
and Bonnet Carre Spillway
Bonnet Carré Spillway
The Bonnet Carré Spillway is a flood control operation in the Lower Mississippi Valley. Located in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana - about west of New Orleans - it allows floodwaters from the Mississippi River to flow into Lake Pontchartrain and thence into the Gulf of Mexico...
in Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
.
Even before its authorization, the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway was the subject of controversy. In June 1927, President Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
instructed the Mississippi River Commission and the Army Corps of Engineers to develop a plan to protect the Mississippi alluvial valley from future floods. The Commission recommended four floodways below the mouth of the Arkansas River
Arkansas River
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. The Arkansas generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's initial basin starts in the Western United States in Colorado, specifically the Arkansas...
and, above, stronger and higher levees set back from the channel. Chief of Engineers Maj. Gen. Edgar Jadwin
Edgar Jadwin
Edgar Jadwin, C.E. was a U.S. Army officer who fought in the Spanish-American War and World War I, before serving as Chief of Engineers from 1926 to 1929.-Early Life:...
rejected the costly plan and submitted one of his own. Jadwin's plan included the Birds Point-New Madrid floodway with a setback levee between 3 miles and 10 miles miles from the existing mainline levee. Eleven miles of the mainline levee were to be lowered by 3.5 feet (1.1 m) to create a fuse plug
Fuse plug
A fuse plug is a collapsible dam installed on spillways in dams to increase the dam's capacity.The principle behind the fuse plug is that the majority of water that overflows a dam's spillway can be safely dammed except in high flood conditions. The fuse plug may be a sand-filled container, a...
levee. At a flood stage of 55 feet (16.8 m) on the Cairo gage, the levee would overtop and creavasse to divert water to the floodway.
The Flood Control Act of 1928 adopted the Jadwin plan for the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway and included a provision for compensation of landowners within the floodway. President Coolidge authorized a one-time indemnity paid to landowners to flood their land and the purchase of the land adjacent to the upper fuseplug of the frontline levee. The authorization stipulated that the fuseplug was not to be constructed until at least half of the flowage rights had been secured.
Construction was scheduled to begin in the summer of 1929, but landowner George W. Kirk filed a lawsuit maintaining that he would be unable to sell his land or secure loans as a result of the floodway. Judge Charles B. Davis
Charles B. Davis
Charles B. Davis was a United States federal judge.-Biography:Born in Hannibal, Missouri, Davis received an A.B. from the University of Missouri in 1902 and an LL.B. from the University of Missouri in 1905. He was in private practice in St. Louis, Missouri from 1905 to 1909. He was an Assistant...
of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri is a trial level federal district court based in St. Louis, Missouri, with jurisdiction over fifty counties in the eastern half of Missouri. The court is one of ninety-four district-level courts which make up the first tier of...
ruled in favor of the government and denied an injunction. Construction of the setback levvee started in October 1929 and and was completed in October 1932. Acquisition of the required flowage rights was not accomplished until January of 1942.
The Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act of 1954 authorized the construction of a new levee to project grade extending across the 1500 feet (457.2 m) gap at the lower end of the frontline levee. However, the inability of the St. John Levee and Drainage District to obtain the necessary easements has prevented the Army Corps of Engineers from initiating the project.
The Flood Control Act of 1965
Flood Control Act of 1965
The Flood Control Act of 1965, Title II of , was enacted on October 27, 1965, by the 89th Congress and authorized the United States Army Corps of Engineers to design and construct numerous flood control projects including the Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity, Louisiana Hurricane Protection Project...
authorized the increase of the frontline levee to 62 feet (18.9 m) on the Cairo gage and the fuseplug sections to 60 feet (18.3 m). The MIssissippi River Commission further modified the plan to raise the fuseplug sections to 60.5 feet (18.4 m), the frontline levee to 62.5 feet (19.1 m), and the mainline levee to 65.5 feet (20 m) on the Cairo gage.The plan called for the use of explosives on the upper fuseplug section if the River reached 58 feet (17.7 m) at Cairo and was forcast to exceed 60 feet (18.3 m)
After the floods of 1973, 1975, and 1979, the MIssissippi River Commission again revised its plan to include four artificial crevasses: two at the upper fuseplug, one at the lower fuseplug, and one on the frontline levee opposite Hickman, Kentucky
Hickman, Kentucky
Hickman is a city in Fulton County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 2,560 at the 2000 census. Named for Captain Paschal Hickman, a Kentucky officer who was killed by Indians in the Massacre of the River Raisin during the War of 1812, it is the county seat of Fulton County.Hickman is...
. The use of explosives was expanded to all four fuseplugs. The Mississippi River Commission and the Army Corps of Engineers later realized that they did not have sufficient property rights to access the levee to place and detonate explosives. In 1981, the MIssissippi River Commission Memphis District commander requested entry permission from the St. John Levee and Drainage District and Levee District No. 3 of Mississippi County, Missouri
Mississippi County, Missouri
Mississippi County is a county located in the Bootheel of Southeast Missouri in the United States. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the county's population was 13,427. A 2008 estimate, however, showed the population to be 13,504. The largest city and county seat is Charleston...
, but the request was refused.
Following the 1983 flood, a 2.5 miles (4 km) section of the upper fuseplug and 1.5 miles (2.4 km) section of the lower fuseplug were raised and embedded with sections of polyethylene
Polyethylene
Polyethylene or polythene is the most widely used plastic, with an annual production of approximately 80 million metric tons...
pipe to be filled with liquid explosives and detonated when the Cairo flood stage reached 61 feet (18.6 m).
A 1990 Corps of Engineers Study of alternatives to the floodway recommended a number of improvements in the floodway, but these were not authorized by Congress.
Design and operation
The purpose of the floodway is to reduce at and above Cairo, Illinois, and along the east bank levee opposite the floodway during a major flood. The floodway is between 3 miles (4.8 km) and 15 miles (24.1 km) wide and is bounded on the east by the 56 miles (90.1 km) frontline levee between Bird's Point, MissouriBird's Point, Missouri
Bird's Point is an unincorporated community in Mississippi County, Missouri. It lies on an island or former island in the Mississippi River, near the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and is situated directly across from Cairo, Illinois. This is the point where the U.S...
and New Madrid, Missouri
New Madrid, Missouri
New Madrid is a city in New Madrid County, Missouri, 42 miles south by west of Cairo, Illinois, on the Mississippi River. New Madrid was founded in 1788 by American frontiersmen. In 1900, 1,489 people lived in New Madrid, Missouri; in 1910, the population was 1,882. The population was 3,334 at...
and on the west by a 36 miles (57.9 km) setback levee. The area within the floodway is approximately 130000 acres (526.1 km²). The frontline and setback levees end near New Madrid but do not connect, leaving a 1500 feet (457.2 m) gap that functions as a drainage outlet. However, the gap also permits backwater flooding in the lower portion of the floodway.
The floodway is designed to divert 550000 cuft/s from the Mississippi River during the "project design flood
Project design flood
The project design flood is a hypothetical "maximum probable" flood of the Mississippi River used by the United States Army Corps of Engineers to aid in the design and execution of flood protection in the Mississippi Valley....
" hypothetical flood event. At this flow the level of the Missisippi River will drop 7 feet (2.1 m) at Cairo. Unlike the Morganza and Bonnet Carre Spillways in Louisiana, the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway does not have floodgates. The floodway is operated by a controlled destruction of the levee, either with explosives or by overtopping. The frontline levee has an 11 miles (17.7 km) fuseplug section of the upper levee and a 5 miles (8 km) section at the lower levee that are loer than adjacent sections. The operation of the floodway is directed by the president of the Mississippi River Commission after consultation with the Chief of Engineers.
Flood events
1937 activation of the floodway
The first activation of the floodway was in January 1937. The river over-topped the levee, but did not erode it enough to activate the floodway. Dynamite was used to destroy the levee and activate the system. The Corps rebuilt the levee back to the original standards and it was left untouched until 1983. In 1983 they upgraded the levee to what is known as a "fuse-plug design." They laid 11000 feet (3,352.8 m) of pipe that they can fill with liquid explosives and detonate to open the levee and activate the floodway.2011 activation of the floodway
The second time the floodway was activated was on May 2, 2011. Both the Ohio and Upper Mississippi rivers were experiencing an unprecedented amount of flooding. The gauge at Cairo on May 2 was over 61.5 feet (18.7 m), the level at which the floodway is to be activated. The river levels had already prompted a mandatory evacuation of all but 100 citizens in Cairo due to the extreme high water and concern that the flood control system protecting Cairo would fail. The first of three detonations took place in the late evening of May 2, and the following detonations were planned for May 3.The state of Missouri attempted to halt the activation of the floodway by litigation (Missouri v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers), because of the disparate impact of the action upon affected Missouri residents and property owners, but were not able to halt the action.
St. John’s Bayou-New Madrid floodway
The Water Resources Development Act of 1986Water Resources Development Act of 1986
The Water Resources Development Act of 1986 is part of , a series of acts enacted by Congress of the United States on November 17, 1986....
authorized the St. John’s Bayou-New Madrid Floodway project to augment the 1954 authorization to close the 1500 feet (457.2 m) gap in the frontline levee and construct two pumping stations. The goal was to reduce backwater flooding at the lower end of the floodway. A 2004 lawsuit by the Environmental Defense Fund and the National Wildlife Federation
National Wildlife Federation
The National Wildlife Federation is the United States' largest private, nonprofit conservation education and advocacy organization, with over four million members and supporters, and 48 state and territorial affiliated organizations...
resulted in an injunction that halted the work.