RIVER PANEL hears wishes, concerns during stop at Helena-West Helena.

Corps river panel members warn of limits, budget cuts

HELENA-WEST HELENA — The Mississippi River Commission docked in Helena-West Helena on Tuesday morning as part of the seven-member panel’s annual trip down the river to meet with stakeholders and residents in selected cities.

Arkansans made presentations on several proposed projects and concerns related to the river and its tributaries, but commissioners and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials were careful not to raise expectations, citing shrinking budgets.

“One of the most important jobs we have is to be down here on the ground, look you in the eye and tell you what we can do, tell you what we can’t do and really make sure we understand your concerns,” said Todd Semonite, the Corps’ chief of engineers.

The Corps has seen repeated budget cuts under President Barack Obama’s administration in the past several years. Money distributed to the Corps ’ Mississippi River and Tributaries budget, which pays for locks, dams, dredging, and flood control infrastructure, has dropped 20 percent since 2014. And earlier this year, the federal government approved another 2 percent decrease for fiscal 2017, down to $222 million, according to Corps data.

For four hours Arkansans presented to the commission the projects they’d like to see funded through the Corps — including river dredging, flood plain drainage, and levee improvement projects — while officials stressed their thinned budget.

Jim Carroll of the Piney Drainage District showed pictures of flooding that regularly waterlogs homes in several areas of Brinkley that have poor drainage.

“We’re continually looking to work this thing out,” he said, adding that the problem has persisted in the area for decades.

Rob Rash with the St. Francis Levee District in West Memphis emphasized the importance of adequate funding for levee maintenance after a 2011 flood. The district operates and maintains 235 miles of levee system protecting seven counties in northeast Arkansas.

“It’s important, and we’ve got to continue to invest in [levees] because they work,” Rash said.

Ann Cash of the Boeuf-Tensas Region Irrigation District, which supplies water for 800,000 acres of cropland in southeast Arkansas, presented a proposal to channel water from the Arkansas River near Pine Bluff to the dwindling Boeuf River. Her district is currently

commissioning a privately financed 10-month, $300,000 feasibility study.

It’s not just these projects that need Corps dollars, said Commissioner Sam Angel of Lake Village, “everything needs catch-up. We need to make all of our ports more reliable,” he said in an interview.

“We’ve got locks and dams well over 50 years old that need to be replaced. We’ve got funding problems, and we’ve got so many rules and regulations nobody can hardly figure it out,” said Angel, a Chicot County cotton planter and ginner.

But his top priorities, he said, would be dredging any of Arkansas’ navigable waterways, the highest on his wish list being the dredging of a 12-foot channel through the Arkansas River from Oklahoma to the Mississippi River — a project that has been considered for more than a decade.

According to Angel and others, the opening of the expanded Panama Canal earlier this summer adds urgency to dredging projects.

“We have to make the U.S. farmers more competitive, that’s our leverage — we can beat them on freight costs,” Angel said, noting the significantly cheaper costs of goods shipped via barge versus truck or train.

“The only advantage the American farmer has over South America and other areas is transportation,” Commissioner Rickey Dale James said.

Other commissioners maintained measured responses as people conveyed their areas’ needs and concerns.

“We already have too many things that need to be done and not enough money to cover the costs,” said Commissioner Norma Jean Mattei of Metairie, La.

The commissioners’ survey will continue downstream to Natchez, Miss., and Morgan City, La., for a total of seven stops. Afterwards, panel members will review all the collected testimony to help develop a plan of action for the coming years.