As Mississippi River crests, St. Louis area could dodge major flood impacts — at least temporarily

April 03-- Apr. 3--ST. LOUIS -- While many eyes remain fixed on the devastation from flooding in Nebraska, Iowa, and other areas along the Missouri River, various officials around St. Louis are casting a nervous gaze in another direction: far upstream in the Mississippi River basin, where melting remnants of major winter snowpack could mean weeks of extended flood risk for communities downriver.

The Mississippi River rose to 38 feet in St. Louis on Tuesday evening -- 8 feet above flood stage -- a level at which it was expected to remain early Wednesday. While the immediate effect on riverfront areas and commercial activities will be limited, experts warn the St. Louis area remains vulnerable.

"We're thinking we're out of the woods for the immediate moment," said Colin Wellenkamp, executive director of the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative. "This is only a lull. ... We've still got 2 1/2 feet of snow sitting up in Minnesota and Wisconsin waiting to melt."

Unlike in Nebraska -- where the disastrous floods were preceded by heavy precipitation from the recent "bomb cyclone" weather event -- the Mississippi River basin faces "three processes coinciding" to produce a potentially greater threat over a longer period of time, Wellenkamp said, outlining concerns about the northern snowpack, rapid melting as warm temperatures arrive, and the timing of spring rain.

Vast parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin, for instance, saw heavy winter snowfall, including the snowiest February on record in places like the Twin Cities and Eau Claire, Wis. Officials around St. Louis worry about when and how that snow melts -- especially if it happens quickly and is accompanied by rain.

"This isn't a single burst of a storm," Wellenkamp said. "This is three processes working together to make this a high-risk spring for the entire corridor.

"We're going to be dealing with it for a while," he added, "certainly through April and maybe into May."

Some riverfront areas near St. Louis are already affected by rising river levels.

Sandbagging efforts are ongoing in river communities throughout the region, according to the St. Louis District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The corps distributed 114,500 sandbags throughout the district on both sides of the Mississippi, said Scott Ross, the district's chief of public affairs.

Areas receiving sandbags included Clarksville, parts of Jefferson County, Ste. Genevieve and Illinois' Preston Levee District, south of Chester.

One agricultural levee was overtopped near Old Monroe, Ross said, while another levee near Elsberry was within 6 inches of overtopping.

High river levels have also exerted pressure on commercial shipping along the Mississippi.

"Operations certainly are impacted," said Dennis Wilmsmeyer, the executive director of America's Central Port in Granite City. Out of the approximately "five public ports and about 40 to 50 private terminal facilities" in the St. Louis area, he estimated that "quite a few" were still active, even though operations had slowed even in those locations. Two locks -- Lock 24 and Lock 25 -- were closed, according to the Corps of Engineers.

From a business perspective, Wilmsmeyer said it was better to have complications from the river surface now, compared to times when agricultural commodities such as corn and soybeans are more commonly shipped.

This spring's unfolding flood fight is a familiar one for regional authorities -- one that some say prompts changes to river management policies.

"Once again, we come back to the conversation that our mayors have continually been trying to have," Wellenkamp said. "We're trying to get to the point where our taxpayer isn't saddled with these multibillion-dollar aid packages. ... We'd rather focus on the mitigation side."

He said investment on mitigation strategies, such as wetland restoration along riverways, "saves the taxpayer 6 to 1" compared to spending for disaster relief. He added that more drastic changes, such as removing levees blamed for worsening flooding elsewhere, could be a part of longer-term solutions as long as farmers and others affected would be fairly compensated for taking on any additional flood risk.

But reform and infrastructure bills that may address those matters are still off on the horizon. For the next month or so, eyes around St. Louis will be on river levels and to see if rain is in the weather forecasts in Minnesota.

"It keeps you on the precipice, whether or not enough rain comes to push you off," Wellenkamp said.

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