JEFFERSON CITY — Gov. Mike Parson is asking lawmakers for $10.4 million to create a better way to predict and monitor floods and drought in Missouri.
Budget documents released Wednesday show his request for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to launch the Missouri Hydrology Information Center, which could help improve the state’s preparation and response to water-related events.
The call for the new agency is in response to the 2019 floods in the Missouri and Mississippi river basins, which caused an estimated $20 billion in losses.
“The magnitude of this event and the subsequent understanding that we have to approach these events differently, in part by moving from a reactive to proactive approach, has demonstrated the need for a suite of innovative approaches to ensure better flood protection and future flood resiliency in Missouri,” DNR spokeswoman Connie Patterson said.
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Although Patterson didn’t directly attribute the flooding to climate change, she acknowledged the 2019 floods were different from a devastating flood in 1993.
“Duration of flooding well surpassed that of the 1993 flood, with locations on the Missouri River in declared flood state for 279 days and on the Mississippi for close to 100 days. Further, analysis shows that we are seeing and can expect to see more frequent and intense rain events,” Patterson said.
The new office is among a handful of budget requests that have links to Missouri’s major waterways.
Parson also wants to spend $27 million in federal pandemic relief funds on a project at Columbia Bottoms, which is north of St. Louis where the Missouri and Mississippi rivers meet.
That project is designed to secure more than 3,000 acres of forested wetland at the confluence for additional flood storage. It also will relocate a road that was damaged in the 2019 flooding and add other features aimed at maintaining access to the river in the region.
If funded, the new center will attempt to improve the current system of measuring stream depth to provide more real-time stream level data at numerous statewide locations.
That enhanced monitoring will help forecast and communicate flood risks.
“It will also help with the creation of flood inundation maps showing the extent and depth of predicted flood waters for dozens of Missouri communities,” Patterson said.
The maps will be designed to quickly show people flood risk and help them make decisions to ensure their safety and protect property, she added.
The center also will work on drought-related issues by improving the mapping of underground aquifers, particularly in northern Missouri, where water supplies are scarcer.
It also will expand the state’s Missouri soil moisture network to provide a better early warning mechanism for a developing drought.
The proposal is already gaining some support in the Legislature.
Sen. Dan Hegeman, R-Cosby, who is chairman of the Senate’s budget committee, said he was reviewing the request and was encouraged by the governor’s attention to water issues.
Hegeman represents a largely rural northwest Missouri district that was heavily affected by the 2019 drought when the Missouri River topped levees, inundated roadways and kept farmers out of fields for months.
The proposed new office is one result of a special task force formed during the 2019 flood.
The working group was chaired by top state agency officials, as well as representatives of farm groups, levee districts and county officials.
The Governor’s Flood Recovery Advisory Working Group in its final report submitted in May 2020, recommended the state develop an enhanced flood-monitoring system, and that such a system should include and draw upon the expertise of various university and state and federal government partners and be tailored to the specific needs of Missouri.
Patterson acknowledged that some of the information collected by the new office may already be in the hands of other agencies, ranging from the U.S. Geological Survey to the state’s emergency management agency.
But she said the office will attempt to serve as a clearinghouse to give residents and communities user-friendly information.
Photos: Challenges remain for Clarksville residents after the flood waters receded
A view of one of the flooded houses on S 1st Street at the corner of Washington Street taken on May, 30, 2019, that shows the height of the Mississippi River. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CITY OF CLARKSVILLE
A view of one of the houses that had been flooded on S 1st Street at the corner of Washington Street on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2019, in Clarksville. Photo by J.B. Forbes, jforbes@post-dispatch.com
A note on the front of the mailbox in front of the post office on Sept. 25, 2019, in Clarksville, announces that the post office is still closed after the flood. To mail a letter or package, Clarksville residents have to drive to one of the two nearest towns: Louisiana, Missouri, or Eolia, Missouri. Photo by J.B. Forbes, jforbes@post-dispatch.com
The Clarksville riverfront is reflected in one of the businesses along 1st Street on Sept. 25, 2019, in Clarksville. The businesses were protected by a sandbag levee, but water seeped in from the sewer and covered the floors. Simpatico is the only business that is not returning. Photo by J.B. Forbes, jforbes@post-dispatch.com
The Clarksville Community Center still has a hose coming out of the building used for pumping water on Sept. 25, 2019, in Clarksville. The businesses were protected by a sandbag levee, but water seeped in from the sewer and covered the floors. Photo by J.B. Forbes, jforbes@post-dispatch.com
A view of the store fronts along S.1st Street on Sept. 25, 2019, in Clarksville. The businesses were protected by a sandbag levee, but water seeped in from the sewer and covered the floors. Simpatico is the only business that is not returning. Photo by J.B. Forbes, jforbes@post-dispatch.com
One sign in front of the Clarksville Veterinary Clinic states that the building is for sale and another states that the building did not flood on Sept. 25, 2019, in Clarksville. The clinic is on Highway 79 in Clarksville. Photo by J.B. Forbes, jforbes@post-dispatch.com
Jennifer Calvin, the Clarksville City Clerk, talks about one company’s flood control product that the city would like to aquire on Sept. 25, 2019, in Clarksville. The company’s model demonstrates the inter-locking properties of the wall. Photo by J.B. Forbes, jforbes@post-dispatch.com
A view of three of the flooded houses on S 1st Street taken on May, 30, 2019, that shows the height of the Mississippi River. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CITY OF CLARKSVILLE
A view of three of the houses that had been flooded on S 1st Street on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2019, in Clarksville. Photo by J.B. Forbes, jforbes@post-dispatch.com
Angi Grossnickle, owner of the Clarksville Antique Center, paints one of the many booths inside the vast center on Sept. 25, 2019, in Clarksville. Grossnickle is trying to get the building ready to open in time for the Clarksville Applefest on October 12th and 13th. “I’ve got to keep smiling,” said Grossnickle. “You can’t let life get you down.” Photo by J.B. Forbes, jforbes@post-dispatch.com
A view of the flooded Clarksville Boat Club on S 1st Street taken on May, 30, 2019, that shows the height of the Mississippi River. FEMA said the building must come down. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CITY OF CLARKSVILLE
A view of the inside of the Clarksville Boat Club next to the Mississippi River after all the flood waters went away on Sept. 25, 2019, in Clarksville. FEMA said that the building has to come down. Photo by J.B. Forbes, jforbes@post-dispatch.com
Roger Dowell, Maintenance Manager for the City of Clarksville, worked on the flood cleanup for weeks on Sept. 25, 2019, in Clarksville. Dowell took away more than 180 dump truck loads of sandbags after the flood waters receded. Dowell’s trailer was damaged by the flood waters even though he did everything flood officials told him to do to protect his trailer before the flood. Photo by J.B. Forbes, jforbes@post-dispatch.com
Angi Grossnickle, owner of the Clarksville Antique Center, talks about how much work it has taken to repair her building after the flood on Sept. 25, 2019, in Clarksville. Grossnickle is trying to get the building ready to open in time for the Clarksville Applefest on October 12th and 13th. Furniture and antiques are stacked in one corner of the building while repairs are done in other sections of the 45,000 square foot building. “I’ve got to keep smiling,” said Grossnickle. “You can’t let life get you down.” Photo by J.B. Forbes, jforbes@post-dispatch.com
A pile of sandbags still remain on S.1st Street on Sept. 25, 2019, in Clarksville. Most of the sandbags have been removed from the downtown area. Photo by J.B. Forbes, jforbes@post-dispatch.com
A view of the iconic Clarksville sign next to the railroad tracks taken from Howard Street on May, 30, 2019, that shows the height of the Mississippi River. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CITY OF CLARKSVILLE
A view looking down Howard Street to 1st Street on Sept. 25, 2019, in Clarksville, after the flood waters had receded. Photo by J.B. Forbes, jforbes@post-dispatch.com
A historic old house on South 1st Street still has black plastic around the doors and windows of the emptied building on Sept. 25, 2019, in Clarksville. Photo by J.B. Forbes, jforbes@post-dispatch.com
The muddy waterline can still be seen on a fence next to a house on South 1st Street on Sept. 25, 2019, in Clarksville. Water got into the first floor of the house. Photo by J.B. Forbes, jforbes@post-dispatch.com
A view of the iconic Clarksville sign next to the railroad tracks and 1st Street taken on May, 4, 2019, that shows the height of the Mississippi River. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CITY OF CLARKSVILLE
A view of Howard Street taken on Sept. 25, 2019, through the iconic Clarksville sign in Clarksville. The street has been cleaned of all the sandbags that helped protect the businesses. Photo by J.B. Forbes, jforbes@post-dispatch.com
