On Wednesday, the new commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer's St. Louis District used his first visit to Wappapello Lake to present an award honoring the project's staff for meritorious service during this spring's historic flood event.
Col. Christopher Hall was named the 50th commander of the 28,000 square mile area in July, barely two months after the entire region was inundated with excessive rain and the lake experienced the highest crest in its 70-year history.
The award, signed by outgoing commander Col. Thomas O'Hara, commends staff for tireless efforts that helped ensure public safety and maintain operations at the project as water topped the emergency spillway.
"What they did here mitigated much more severe damage," Hall said later, adding the Wappapello Lake project has set the bar high for the district.
No timeline is available yet for when repairs will begin in the area, which saw the greatest damage in the St. Louis District during the April-May flooding.
"Within the district, this was the one that was hardest hit," Hall said. "We consider ourselves fortunate we didn't see the same damage elsewhere."
The force of the emergency spillway overflow left a gaping hole up to 50 feet deep and several hundred feet across, tearing away a 400 foot section of a major road and many vital utilities. Other access roads were also destroyed or damaged.
Looking at the broken ground yesterday from behind a safety fence on Highway T, Hall described the damage as incredible.
"For anyone who has any doubts about the power of water, that was accomplished in a matter of days," said Hall, who visited Lake Shelbyville Tuesday during his tour of the project and will next be at Rend Lake and Mark Twain Lake.
A damage assessment process is underway now to determine the cost, type and timeline of repairs which will take place.
Officials with the Corps of Engineers have previously estimated the damage at the Wappapello Lake project at $20 to 30 million. This does not include the approximately $2 million needed to repair Highway T, which falls under the direction of the Missouri Department of Transportation.
"The biggest question is what the future holds funding-wise," Hall said. "It is going to be difficult."
A recent press release from the Mississippi Valley Division, of which St. Louis is one of six districts, stated initial estimates show as much as $1 billion in damage was done from this flood event.
Hall said the timeline for repairs at Wappapello will be determined after the division's comprehensive report is complete.
"We have to look at how resources will be used across the project," he said.
A total of 74 areas of concern throughout the Mississippi Valley Division had been identified as of Aug. 3, with the possibility that number could increase. The division includes the sections of the Birds Point levee which were destroyed to protect communities in Illinois.
Without supplemental funding, the Corps is looking at internal funding sources to reset and repair the most critical flood control projects, according to the release.
"Budgets are forecast 2-3 years in advance so the additional damage to infrastructure is above and beyond what was budgeted for normal operations, which means other programs won't be maintained in order to ready the system for the spring flood season," it continues, without detailing at this time what programs could be affected.