N E W S L E T T E R

i mp a c t“Where people come first” Fall 2016 • Vol. 15, No. 1

MISSISSIPPI LEVEE BOARD

In the Fall of 2015 we wereexperiencing a Super ElNino weather pattern. It

was the highest El Nino in thepast 100 years. During an ElNino weather pattern the tem-perature of the Pacific Ocean isat least 0.5 degree warmer thannormal. In the Fall of 2015 thePacific Ocean was over 2.5 de-grees above normal. We experi-enced above average rainfalllast Summer and Fall resultingin record setting stages on theMississippi River in July andAugust 2015 and heavy rainfallin December 2015 resulted inrecord setting January 2016highwater stages that ended upbeing 8' above flood stage. Theprevious record highwater forJanuary was back in 2005 whenGreenville reached 50.8'. Thisyear we eclipsed that record by5.4'.By mid-December 2015 all

eleven problem areas from the2011 epic Flood had a perma-nent solution constructed at

each site consisting of reliefwells and/or landside seepageberms. The eleven sites were:Yazoo Backwater (YBW) Levee;Buck Chute; Albemarle; Fran-cis; Above Greenville;Greenville; Avon; Leota; LakeJackson; Ben Lomond and TaraWildlife.

On December 28, 2015 theNational Weather Service pre-dicted that the Greenville Gagewould crest at 60' on January13, 2016. The situation calledfor Mississippi Levee Board ac-tion and on December 29, 2015a Special Board meeting washeld and a state of emergencywas declared with the Chief En-gineer being given full authorityto take all actions necessary tofight the flood event. A Phase IFlood Fight OrganizationalMeeting was held at the LeveeBoard office on January 4,2016. Levee Inspectors fromthe U.S. Army Corps of Engi-neers and the Yazoo-MississippiDelta Joint Water ManagementDistrict started inspecting thelevee on January 4th. All of our 2011 flood prob-

lem areas were closely moni-tored during the 2016highwater event and all of themperformed as designed and nosandboils were found and notemporary corrective action

was needed at any of these lo-cations. The Vicksburg Districtis to be commended for design-ing and constructing each per-manent solution. $11.3M wasspent building a total of 187 re-lief wells and 20,405' of newlandside seepage berms. The Levee Board crew had

to again build a weir in BlackBayou Cut-off north ofGreenville at Sta. 3675. Vale-wood Ditch had just beencleaned out in October 2015and many large sandboils werediscovered in the bottom of thisditch during the highwaterevent from Sta. 6193-6350. The

Levee Board Crew had to blockoff several pairs of 5' dia. con-crete culverts at Sta. 6305 and6330 and an 8' wide concretebox culvert at Sta. 6367. Following the 2011 Flood

the Corps installed relief wells

Record Flooding for January - 5th Highest Flood Since 1927

Levee Inspectors

MS Levee Board Crew Building SandbagRing Around Sandboil at Ben Lomond

Levee Inspectors - Corps, YMD & Levee Board

See HIGHWATER on Page 7 ∫

Above Greenville Relief Wells Flowing Greenville City Front

Sandbagged Sandboil at Ben Lomond

Sandboils in Valewood Ditch Near the Levee Crew Blocking Up Culverts in ValewoodDitch

Aerial of Greenville City Front Aerial of Steele Bayou Structure

2016 Highwater Event

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CORPS CORNER: Meet Col. Michael C. Derosier

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers(USACE) Vicksburg Dis-trict held its Change of

Command Ceremony July 26,2016, at the Vicksburg Conven-tion Center. Col. Michael C.Derosier assumed command ofthe 68,000-square mile Districtfrom outgoing Commander, Col. John W.Cross. Maj. Gen. Michael C. Wehr, Com-mander of the Corps’ Mississippi Valley Di-vision, officiated the ceremony.Col. Michael C. Derosier comes to the

District after having served as the DeputyCommander of Mississippi Valley Divisionfor the past year. He is a graduate of theUnited States Naval War College, Newport,Rhode Island. He was Commander of theCorps’ Detroit District from 2010-2012. Heserved as the military assistant to the Assis-tant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works,the Pentagon, from 2012-2014.

His previous assignments also includeplatoon leader, company executive officerand assistant brigade engi-

neer, 41st Engi-neer Brigade,Fort Drum, NewYork; (OperationContinue Hope,Somalia and Op-eration Uphold

Democracy, Haiti); companycommander, B Company,62nd Engineer Battalion,Fort Sill, Oklahoma; projectengineer, Far East District,Chunchon, South Korea;resident engineer, SchrieverAir Force Base, Omaha Dis-trict, USACE, ColoradoSprings, Colorado; battalion operations of-ficer and executive officer, 14th EngineerBattalion, Fort Lewis, Washington (Opera-tion Iraqi Freedom).Col. Derosier earned a Bachelor of Sci-

ence degree in civil engineering from theUnited States Military Academy, West Point,

New York. He earned a Mas-ter of Science degree in civilengineering from the Uni-versity of Colorado-Boulderin 2000; a Master of MilitaryArt and Science from theSchool of Advanced MilitaryStudies in 2005; and a Mas-ter of Science degree in Na-tional Security and StrategicStudies from the UnitedStates Naval War College in2015. His military educationincludes U.S. Army Ranger,Sapper, Airborne and Air As-sault courses, the EngineerOfficer Basic and Advanced

courses, and the Command and GeneralStaff College.Col. Derosier is a Registered Professional

Engineer in the State of Missouri. He is mar-ried to Monica of Mentor, Ohio. n

New Vicksburg District Engineer

Col. Derosier

Remembering George C. Grugett

Stephen Gambrell, George Grugett & Rob Rash

MARCH 7, 1925 – JULY 18, 2016

MV George Grugett

A Soldier, Public Servant, Leader & Friend

BY GREGORY RAIMONDO, Vicksburg District

When you remember the greatestgeneration there is one image thatwill flash on the screen of life …

that of George Grugett. He was born in Mc-Connell, TN, attended school in Dyersburg,TN for 11 years and graduated in 1942from Bryars Hall in Covington, TN.George was a WWII bomber pilot,1943-1945 — a soldier that pro-vided freedom for people henever knew and for us at home.He flew 47 missions in a B-25bomber as an eighteen year oldover Italy and Southern Europe.Fano, Italy honored George with akey to the city a few years ago when hevisited and enjoyed the beautiful town!George was a faithful champion of flood

control and navigation that made and savedour nation billions of dollars and protectedour people, their land and homes. He was apublic servant for 35 years with the Corps ofEngineers that paid close attention to people

and the engineering works that have madeus insanely productive and gratefully pros-perous. For the following 33 years Grugettwas an unwavering strong voice of the greatpeople who live and work in the MississippiValley. He was the voice of a system that isthe eighth wonder of the world — The Mis-

sissippi River and Tributaries Project. He was a friend to many — anever boring, always fresh and en-tertaining speaker and a very gra-cious host. He didn’t chase the money …

he had an internal drive to focuson the greater good … people plustheir land that produced a vibrant

economy for seven decades. Grugett was the best in the business …

a servant, a professional, a consistent cham-pion and advocate for soldiers, he was afaithful and loyal friend.George C. Grugett has finished his mis-

sion and he’s home. Our country is a betterplace because of him and his life of service.We are privileged to call him friend. n

BY STEPHEN GAMBRELL, MVFCA

Interior Flooding1,000 year rainfall event hits Greenville, MS

Greenville - Business Flooded

Clarksdale - Lyons Eastgate SubdivisionFlooded

Greenville - Homes Flooded Along Broad-way

Greenville - Bayou Road Underwater and Car Submerged

Leland - House Flooded Along Hwy 82Heads - Prather Headquarters

Freedom Village - Homes FloodedMarks - Hwy 6 & Hwy 3 Leland - Bogue Phalia at Hwy 61Leland - Hwy 82 & Doolittle Road Flooded

Greenville - Hwy 1 North - Meadowood Home Flooded Greenville - Tampa Drive Home Floodedß 3

On March 8-11, 2016 there were 16" of rainfall that fell inGreenville over a four-day period — this is the 1,000-year rainfallevent. 14.4" fell in Clarksdale and 14.3" fell in Cleveland over thesame four-day period — this was the 200-year rainfall event. InMonroe, LA they had 10.9" in one day and 20.7" over a four-day pe-riod — this was well above a 1,000-year rainfall event. Newrecords were set on the following interior streams: ColdwaterRiver at Marks and Darling; Big Sunflower River at Clarksdale andLombardy; and the Bogue Phalia at Leland. Over 500 homes wereflooded in Washington County, 338 homes flooded in BolivarCounty, 223 homes flooded in Coahoma County, and 100 homesflooded in Quitman County. Even though there was widespreadflooding due to the magnitude of this storm, our interior streamsdid a good job of evacuating the floodwater from the MississippiDelta. n

OCTOBER 2015The Board took the following action at

the October 5, 2015 regular board meeting:authority was given to advertise for worker’scompensation insurance; November 10, 2015was set as the date for annual levee inspec-tion trip; and received report from the ChiefEngineer on all ongoing projects in the Mis-sissippi Levee District.

JANUARY 2016The Board took the following action at theJanuary 11, 2016 regular board meeting: re-viewed bids and awarded Worker’s Compen-sation Insurance to South Group Insurance;authorized advertisement of bids for Busi-ness Auto/Public Officials & Employees/Li-ability/ Contractors Equipment Insurance,chemicals and vehicles; concurred with per-mits issued to: Mississippi TransportationCommission for right of way needed to con-struct bridge improvements on Hwy. 14

bridge at Steele Bayou and Hwy. 16 bridge atLittle Sunflower River; authorized advertise-ment for a ¾ ton 4 wheel drive pick-up; au-thorized a delegation to the MVFCACongressional Meetings February 28–March2 in Washington, D.C. to discuss FY 2016 Ap-propriations for Corps projects in the Mis-sissippi Delta; and received status reports onall the ongoing projects in the MississippiLevee District and meetings attended.

APRIL 2016The Board took the following action at

the April 4, 2016 regular board meeting: re-viewed bids and agreed to accept low bidson chemical purchases for next 12 months,awarded general liability, automobile andproperty insurance to South Group Insur-ance, and awarded purchase of a 2016 4WD¾ ton pick-up truck to Kossman’s; concurredwith permits issued to: AT&T Mississippi forfiber optic line crossing Mile 46.68 of Steele

Bayou; and received status reports on all on-going projects in the Mississippi Levee Dis-trict and meetings attended.

JULY 2016The Board took the following action at

the July 11, 2016 regular board meeting:adopted 2016-2017 budget; set ad valoremtax rate of 2.90 mils (no change); receivedChief Engineer’s Annual Report; acceptedbid on helicopter application work byProvine Helicopters; concurred with permitsissued; authorized a delegation to theMVFCA Annual Fall Congressional MeetingSeptember 13-14 in Washington, D.C. to dis-cuss FY 2017 Appropriations for Corps proj-ects in the Mississippi Delta; authorized adelegation for the National Waterways Con-ference September 21-23 in Norfolk, VA; andreceived status reports on all ongoing proj-ects in the Mississippi Levee District andmeetings attended. n

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COMMISSIONERS:Fred A. Ballard, Jr., President, Washington CountyKenneth Rodgers, Vice-President, Humphreys CountyJames W. House, Jr., Bolivar CountyNott Wheeler, Jr., Bolivar CountyRoy Nichols, Issaquena CountyHank Burdine, Washington CountyPaul Hollis, Sharkey County

STAFF:Peter Nimrod, Chief EngineerRobert M. Thompson, Assistant EngineerHeath Douglas, AttorneyJudy B. Ross, TreasurerGinger Morlino, SecretaryPatrick Bolls, Maintenance SuperintendentRick Boyd, Engineering Technician

Jimmie Lee Huff, equipmentoperator on the MississippiLevee Board MaintenanceCrew, began working for theLevee Board April 2014.

Jimmie Lee was born inScott, MS and grew up in Lob-dell. He is a 1983 graduate ofNugent Center in Benoit (nowRay Brooks School) where hewas a standout track relay manand basketball player. Duringhis senior season he won theState Championship in the 440yard dash and he was the lead-off runner in several StateChampionship relay races.

Jimmie Lee has 10 children.He and his wife Jennifer have

three children at home.A skilled operator and me-

chanic, Jimmie Lee enjoysworking on cars in his sparetime. n

Mississippi Levee Board Meeting Recaps

Equipment Operator

2016 MISSISSIPPI LEVEE BOARDStaff Profile:Jimmie Lee Huff

COMMISSIONERS RE-ELECTEDLevee Board Secretary Ginger Morlino (right) swears in re-elected Levee Com-

missioners Jimmy House, Roy Nichols and Fred Ballard (left to right). Ballard repre-sents Washington County and has been on the Levee Board for 28 years since firstbeing elected back in 1988. House represents Bolivar County and has been on theLevee Board for 22 years since first being elected back in 1994. Nichols representsIssaquena County and has been on the Levee Board for 20 years since first beingelected back in 1996. n

Ballard, House & Nichols have a combined 70 years of service

FY 2016 & FY 2017 Appropriations

Levee Board Attends Meetings in D.C.

The Mississippi Levee Board traveled to Washington, D. C. andmet with the Mississippi Congressional Delegation during March1-2, 2016. This annual trip provides the delegation with a statusupdate of ongoing flood control projects in the Mississippi Deltaand it is an opportunity for the Levee Board to discuss fundingrequirements for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers flood control proj-ects in the Mississippi Delta. The Board also heard testimony be-fore the House Mississippi River Congressional Caucus on March2nd at the U.S. Capitol. n

Sen. Thad Cochran with Mississippi Levee Board & Port Officials

Sen. Roger Wicker with Mississippi Levee Board &Ports

Annual meeting with the Mississippi Congressional Delegation seeks appropriations for flood control projects and provides ongoing project updates

Cong. Bennie Thompson with Levee Boards & Ports Cong. Trent Kelly with Mississippi Levee Board &Greenville Port

$500M needed for the MR&T Project for FY17The President’s FY 2016 Budget released on

February 6, 2015 included only $225M for the Mis-sissippi River & Tributaries Project (MR&T) Proj-ect. On April 15, 2015 the House passed $275M.On May 21, 2015 the Senate passed $330M. On De-cember 16, 2015 Congress completed negotiationsand provided $345M for the MR&T.

FY 2016 MR&T Project AppropriationsPresident’s Budget $225MHouse Committee $275MSenate Sub-committee $330MConference Report $345M

The President’s FY 2017 Budget released onFebruary 9, 2016 included only $222M for theMR&T Project. On April 12, 2016 the Housepassed $345M. On April 14, 2016 the Senatepassed $368M.

FY 2017 MR&T Project AppropriationsPresident’s Budget $222MHouse Committee $345MSenate Sub-committee $368MConference Report $???Levee Board Request $500M

The MR&T Project is only 89% complete. TheCorps needs a $500M appropriation eachyear to fully fund all of our much-neededflood control projects. The MR&T Project pro-tects over 4 million people living in the MississippiRiver Valley. Since 1928 the MR&T Project hascost $14B and has prevented $612B in damages.The MR&T Project has a 44 to 1 return on eachdollar invested!

A preferred option is for Congress to ap-propriate $7.1B up front to “buy down” theremaining features, recover the system fromthe 2015/2016 flood, and to finish the com-prehensive system of the MR&T Project sothat it will pass the Project Design Flood. IfCongress funds the MR&T Project on an annualbasis at the same rate of the last decade — it willtake over 30 more years to complete and will costthree times that amount. By “buying down” andinvesting in the MR&T Project up front — this ac-tion will solidify the completion of the MR&TProject, get the project done quicker and more ef-ficiently, and will save Americans billions of dol-lars in construction costs and billions in damagesprevented to local land and people. Congress ap-propriates over $20B each year to the Corps tobuild infrastructure in foreign counties — it’s timeto re-invest in America’s infrastructure. n

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Levee Enlargement Projects

Work is progressing on thelevee enlargement and bermprojects in the MississippiLevee District. The Corps hascompleted 35.4 miles of leveeand currently has another 17.4miles under contract of theoriginal 69 miles of deficientlevee. Item 468L, a 4.7 milelevee enlargement project, is98% complete. This item is onthe northern portion of MSHwy 465 to Goose Lake Road.Item 463L, a 2.7 mile levee en-largement project, is currently88% complete. This item goesfrom just above Chotard Resortto just below Laney’s Camp onMS Hwy 465. Item 509L, a 3.9

mile levee enlargement projectis currently 98% complete. Thisitem goes from Lake Jackson tothe completed Item 502L. Item511L, a 3.4 mile levee enlarge-ment project was awarded toMy Company, Inc. of Topeka,KS and is currently 37% com-plete. This item goes fromLeota to Lake Jackson. Item465L, a 2.7 mile levee enlarge-ment and berms project, wasawarded to Carter’s Contract-ing Services, Inc. on September24, 2015 and is currently 10%complete. This item ties Items468L and 463L together be-tween Goose Lake Road andChotard Resort. n

The Corps of Engineers HiredLabor Crew has been busy re-pairing slides in the MississippiLevee District. There are 42 leveeslides scheduled to be repairedthis year.

Lanny Barfield, Chief of Geot-echnical Branch and DistrictLevee Safety Officer for theVicksburg District Corps of Engi-neers said, “While slides alongour Mainline Levee are for themost part shallow and don’t sig-nificantly affect levee integrityduring a high water event, it iscritical these slides are repairedon an annual basis. The pre-ferred repair method includesthe blending of lime with the ex-isting slide material. The lime al-ters the soil’s shrink/swellcharacteristics making it lesslikely to slide from future weath-ering cycles.”

Repairing the slides involves

cutting out the slide and buildinga pad with that slide material.The lime is then added and theblending is done using a road re-claiming machine. After thor-oughly blending on the pad, thesoil-lime material is then used torebuild the levee cross section. n

42 Slides Within the MS Levee District

Levee EnlargementProject Update:

Completed Work – 35.4 miles Items 474L, 477L, 488L, 496L & 502L

On-going Construction – 17.4 milesItem 468L – 4.7 miles – 98% CompleteItem 463L – 2.7 miles – 88% CompleteItem 509L – 3.9 miles – 98% CompleteItem 511L – 3.4 miles – 37% CompleteItem 465L – 2.7 miles – 10% CompleteFuture work remaining – 16.2 miles

465L - Loading Borrow Material 465L - Construction

465L - Unloading Borrow Material

509L - New Limestone Road Surface onCompleted Levee

511L - Topping Out The Levee

509L - Final Grading

Levee Slide Repairs

465L - Construction

There were (12)major problem areas dis-covered during the His-toric 2011 Flood thatneeded attention and re-medial work. In Decem-ber 2011 Congresspassed an $802 MillionSupplemental Appropri-ation for disaster reliefto repair the MR&T Sys-tem following the 2011Flood. The Mississippi Levee

Board and the Vicksburg Dis-trict Corps of Engineers used$11.3M of this money to correct11 problem areas by installing187 relief wells and constructing20,405’ (3.9 miles) of landsideseepage berm. The last relief

well was installed in De-cember 2015 just in timefor the record breakingJanuary highwater in2016. The MississippiLevee Board would liketo thank Congress for ap-propriating the emer-gency money and theCorps of Engineers fordesigning and contract-ing out the work to repair

these problem areas. n

Construction is Complete at all 11 Problem Areas2011 Flood Problems Corrected

Slide at Deerfield Ben Lomond Relief Well Installation Avon Relief Wells

Greenville Relief Well Installation

From DDT

The Steele Bayou Sedimenta-tion Reduction Project wasstarted in 2007 and includes theinstallation of grade/water con-trol structures (flash board riserpipes) at headcut sites alongSteele Bayou. These structureshave enhanced property andkeep Steele Bayou from receiv-

ing too much sediment which isbad for flood control and waterquality. This project does notcost the landowner anythingbut they have to supply borrowmaterial from their spoil bankto cover the structure. Phases Ithrough VI are now completeand include 49 sites on Steele

Bayou, 12 sites on Main Canaland 4 sites on Black Bayou.Phase VII includes 12 more sitesand was awarded to Quinn Con-tracting, Inc. back in October2015 and is now 51% complete.This is a great success story forminimizing erosion and keepingsediment out of Steele Bayou

thereby helping flood controland at the same time improvingwater quality. n

Installing Outfall Pipe

Steele Bayou Sedimentation Reduction ProjectPhase VII Under Construction

Filling in Around Outfall Pipe Final Grading on Levee Embankment Completed Outfall Pipe

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Steele Bayou SedimentationReduction Project Update:

Completed Work:Phases I - IV – 65 sites

On-going Construction:Phase VII – 12 sites – 51% Complete

The U.S. Army Corps of En-gineers began work on the BigSunflower River & TributariesProject in 1947. This project in-cluded channel improvementsto over 700 miles of interiorstreams located within the Mis-sissippi Delta. These streamsprovide the outlet for floodwater in the Delta. In 1950, theMississippi Legislature author-ized the two (2) MississippiDelta levee boards to partici-pate as local sponsors of Corpsof Engineers projects within theYazoo Basin. The MississippiLevee Board is responsible forminor maintenance for 350miles of interior streams withinthe Mississippi Levee District. To perform this much

needed maintenance, the Mis-sissippi Levee Board contractswith a helicopter applicator tospray a portion of the interior

streams each year. A mixture ofaquatic herbicides is sprayed onthe underbrush and privet thatis encroaching into the requiredclear width of the channel. Thisrequired clear width must bemaintained to ensure thestreams have adequate floodstorage and passage capacity.This year the Mississippi

Levee Board treated 168.8 milesof its interior streams. This in-cluded 1,294 acres of interiorstreams located primarily in thesouthern half of the MississippiLevee District. Provine Helicop-ters sprayed on October 15-16,2015 and October 19-21, 2015.Streams treated this year in-cluded the Big Sunflower River,Dowling Bayou, DitchlowBayou, Twin Lakes, Little Sun-flower River, Steele Bayou,Valewood Ditch and the BoguePhalia. n

Helicopter - Loading Chemical & Refueling Helicopter Spraying Steele Bayou

2015 Helicopter Application168.8 miles sprayed in 2015

On November 10, 2015, the Mississippi Levee Board hosted itsAnnual Levee Inspection. This year’s trip inspected the northernportion of the levee system starting at the Bolivar/Coahoma CountyLine and proceeding south to Greenville, MS.Lunch was served at the Greenville Yacht Club. n

Members of the 2015 Annual Levee Inspection take a photo in front of the GreenvilleYacht Club

2015 Annual Bus Inspection

in the ag field north of BenLomond Road but decided notto extend the wells furthernorth into the Anderson-Tully(ATCO) Woods. Needless to saythis became an issue again in2016 when several sandboilswere discovered in the ATCOWoods. The Levee Board Crew

had to sandbag around onesandboil and had to place bar-rels around numerous sand-boils.

The Mississippi Rivercrested on January 13th atArkansas City at 44.3' (141.0’m.s.l.); January 13th atGreenville at 56.2’ (131.1 m.s.l.);and January 15th at Vicksburgat 50.2’ (96.4’ m.s.l.). n

FLOODING from Front Page

any of us are familiar with stone dikes in the MississippiRiver. These dikes are structures placed, usually perpen-dicular to the river flow in a river. According to Freddie

Pinkard, Mississippi River Channel Improvement Coordinator forthe Corps-Vicksburg District, dikes can be categorized as eitherpervious or impervious. Impervious dikes are typically made ofstone and are used to redirect flow away from eroding banks orto constrict a channel for navigation. Pervious dikes, such as tim-ber pile dikes are used to impedeflow. Slowing down the flow re-duces the sediment transport ca-pacity, thus turning erosionalareas into depositional areas.Prior to the construction of

stone dikes, timber pile dikeswere constructed along the Mis-sissippi River. The timber piledike shown here was constructedin the early 1900’s in Bolivar County. This particular structure, withmultiple openings between the piles to allow flow to pass through,was built to slow the velocity of the river at higher stages to pro-tect the levee alignment just downstream. That levee, which wasperpendicular to the dike, has since been setback to run parallelwith the river, but the timber pile dike remains.n

Mississippi Levee BoardP.O. Box 637

Greenville, MS 38701(662) 334-4813

(662) 378-9592 (fax)www.msleveeboard.com

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Visit us online at: www.msleveeboard.com

BACK IN TIME:Timber Pile Dike

Old Timber Pile Dike at Sta. 470

Timber Pile Dike Construction

Old Timber Pile Dike at Sta. 470