Longtime MRC member says Miss. River flood control performed ‘admirably’

Clifford Smith, one of seven members on the Mississippi River Commission, said the system of floodgates and levees along the river have performed “admirably” in an unprecedented situation caused by copious precipitation in the northern United States.

For the first time ever, the MRC opened the Bonnet Carre Spillway, the Morganza Spillway and breached a levee in Cairo, Ill., in unison as the swollen river ran its course through the country’s “middle coast.”

“Believe it or not, the system has functioned very well this year,” Smith said. “I often had my thoughts as to whether the thing was ever going to pass the test. Well, frankly, the thing has passed the test.”

A sunken barge in Bayou Chene held back up to 7 feet of backwater and is one example of local officials responding to a potential flood disaster with urgency, the MRC member said.

“I think the officials and those elected and appointed officials have done the right thing in planning for the worst and hoping for the best,” he said. “Frankly, in this area, because of the drought, because of the diversion structures that have been built, we’ve probably had the best.”

The lack of rainfall in southeastern Louisiana also played a role in the lower-than-anticipated water levels. The estimations were already skewed because the MRC and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers couldn’t provide exact elevation levels on the massive system with all its tributaries.

“Knock on wood,” Smith said. “The river is at a flood stage right now from Cairo to the Gulf of Mexico. It has performed admirably, in my humble opinion, but we’ve got to be very vigilant because the traffic in the Mississippi River is unbelievable.”

The MRC holds authority over the Mississippi River, which drains 41 percent of the nation’s water in 32 states, Smith said.

Smith, former president and current chairman of the board over T. Baker Smith, was the keynote speaker at Monday’s Bayou Industrial Group luncheon.