Water high, but ‘nothing critical’

Water high, but ‘nothing critical’

Levee CEO says rising waters no cause for alarm locally

news@theeveningtimes.com

“My heart goes out to those of Pocahontas and the Black River,” said St. Francis Levee District CEO and Engineer Rob Rash.

While rain last weekend produced ongoing flooding in the northern part of Arkansas which Governor Asa Hutchinson declared a disaster, the water moving down river is not expected to be any problem in Crittenden County.

“The St. Francis River on the west side of the district is high, but still no concerns, nothing critical,” said Rash.

While the levee was breached on the Black River, the levees here are built to a higher standard.

The river levee frontage in Crittenden County are part of the Mississippi River and Tributaries Project.

“They are built to a much, much stricter standard than the levee on the Black River,” said Rash.

Rash provided a local forecast for the rising Mississippi. The levee will stand with plenty to spare and a reassuring perspective offered by the expert.

While his heart went out to Pocahontas the district CEO said things here will be well in hand.

“The crest right now is 36 feet, but I expect it to go a little bit higher,” said Rash. “It will get a third to half way up the levee. This 36 feet is twelve feet lower than the 2011 flood.”

It won’t be up and down over night, rain storms continue to add to the amount of high water.

“It will probably be three weeks or so,” said Rash.

“They are still getting 1 1/2 inches of rain in the northern part of the St. Francis basin. I expect it to crest on May 12 and expect it to be up for the next two to three weeks.”

Some of the latest flood control innovations the levee district has installed will serve to further mini- mize local flooding concerns.

“We don’t have any seepage yet and our relief wells have not started flowing,” said Rash, “We will have some of those operate during the flood, but none right now.”

By John Rech