<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/5/1589298932070.jpeg" alt="Repair work on Levee 550 near Watson/Photo courtesy of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers" />
 <figcaption>Repair work on Levee 550 near Watson/Photo courtesy of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers</figcaption>
 </figure>By BRENT MARTINSt. Joseph PostMost of the Missouri River system levees have been repaired
from last year’s floods, but complications have arisen to delay the repair of
some significant levees along the river.Civil Engineer Geoffrey Henggeler with the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers Kansas City office says while finishing touches remain to be done,
many levees from Holt County south along the Missouri River provide the
protection they did before the 2019 floods heavily damaged them. “Level of protection is in place for 39 of the 61 levees that
have been approved for repairs,” Henggeler reports during a Corps conference
call.That phrase – level of protection – simply means the levees
have been restored to the height prior to the damage left by last year’s
floods. Not everything has been completed, though. Erosion from the floods must
be repaired, side cover established, riprap replaced, and drainage structure
repaired.Two significant levees in northwest Missouri remain vulnerable
to flooding. A major agricultural levee in Atchison County, suffering from five
big scour holes, has yet to be repaired. And, it might take all summer to
repair the Rushville levee, which protects Lewis and Clark Village as well as Highway
59 and access to the Missouri River bridge at Atchison, Kansas.The Rushville levee cuts through wetlands, complicating
repairsHenggeler says land must be purchased before repairs can
begin.“There’s some coordination that they’re doing with the NRCS
(USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, which has an easement in an area
where the levee is being proposed to be set back and the sponsor is
coordinating that. The Corps of Engineers is participating in that as
appropriate to finalize what the alignment of the repair will be.”Repair of the levee will take a while.“We hope that that would be under contract or at least
advertised sometime this summer,” Henggeler says.Civil Engineer Matt Krajewski with the Corps Omaha office says
the Corps has made good progress on the levees damaged from Atchison County,
Missouri north to Omaha.“Thanks to a mild winter, we’ve made incredible progress restoring
the levee systems along the Missouri River and its tributaries that were
damaged in the 2019 flood,” Krajewski tells the conference call.The Omaha District has jurisdiction over the Atchison County
agricultural levee. Krajewski says the levee, which is on the mainstem of the
Missouri River, suffered significant damage from last year’s floods. Right of
way is being acquired.Corps officials insist the Missouri River system is in better
shape now than last year to handle any potential flooding this summer.

Levee repair plugging along; some major levees still broken