Flood Control Plan Worries Some Communities

A plan that is supposed to help better control Mississippi River flooding could also make the problem worse for some in our area. Thursday night, hundreds came to Old Monroe in Lincoln County to protest Plan H. Many fearing that the flooding of the summer of 2008 could repeat itself and get worse if Plan H becomes a reality.

That's why so many came out for the meeting against it. Many signed petitions protesting the plan.

"They act like we're second class citizens which we are not," said Winfield resident and Alderman Keith Abernathy.


The plan would raise many of the levees in the upper Mississippi River Valley to 500 year flood levels. Many of them now are at 50 or 100 year levels. But most all of the levees that would be strengthened are north of Hannibal and in Illinois and Iowa.

Very few levees would be raised in St. Charles, Lincoln and Pike counties. That has many worried that flooding in those counties could get worse than it already is. Sod farmer Jerry Keeven fears he could lose his family business, Keeven Brothers Sod Farms.

"When you have so much more flooding, you can't economically do it. All of a sudden you're finally chased out to where you just can't handle that much of a loss," explained Keeven.

"We'll get a lot more flooding more frequently and some towns such as Clarksville, Elsberry, Foley, Winfield, Old Monroe could be totally devastated," added State Representative Ed Schieffer who organized Thursday night's meeting.

The plan has already been endorsed by the Mississippi River Commission and studied by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Bob Anderson, a spokesperson for both agencies, concedes that flooding will indeed increase in St. Charles, Lincoln and Pike counties if Plan H moves forward. But Anderson says people who are impacted will be compensated through buyouts.

Many at the meeting, though, were skeptical of buyouts. They want the same levees as up north.

"If they're going to raise one levee raise them all," said Abernathy.

Anderson says the plan is in the preliminary stages and it will likely be one to two years before anything is finalized.

Representative Schieffer is hoping to get 20 thousand signatures against the plan to take to Jeff City with him.