Army Corps of Engineers, Meteorologists meet to discuss updates to flood and levee plans

Earlier this afternoon, the Army Corps of Engineers and National Weather Service Meteorologists met to discuss the latest flooding potentials and status on levee repairs.

The meeting started out by outlining current conditions within the Missouri River Basin. Precipitation within the last month has been slightly above average across the forecast area. Thankfully, no major changes have occurred, allowing systems to continue to drain.

One of the problems in Missouri is that many of the levees aren't fully federally funded. Many are sponsored and request a 20% cost-share for repairs to be made. This hasn't happened yet for several levee systems in mid-Missouri, including the Capital View levee.

The Corp of Engineers told me that they estimate a final cost for these repairs will run at least $30,000,000. Flooding from across the entire Missouri River Basin may total as much as $100,000,000.

Levee repairs are expected to begin some time in February or March barring inclement weather. Unfortunately the timetable is steep. The Levee District believes it will take until the end of 2021 before all levees across the state are repaired.

In the weather department, things have been OK so far this winter. We haven't added on a huge amount of water, but that's to be expected. We're in one of the driest parts of the year in January-- precipitation only increases from here on out.

Based on current water levels (soil moisture, snowpack and what's in storage) 2020 is already expected to be the 9th highest runoff in Missouri River Basin history.

Hydrologists stress that flooding continues to be a very real threat throughout the rest of the year.