Landscape response to the intentional use of the Birds Point New Madrid Floodway on May 3, 2011

Impact of levee breaches, flooding, and land scouring on soil productivity

“…Many of these levees and floodways are financed, built, and maintained cooperatively at the watershed level by local farmers and 1927, 1937, 1993, 2002, 2008, and 2011 floods along the Mississippi River and its tributaries, illustrate the continuing challenges for river communities, industry, and agriculture. These complex issues are related to evolving natural disasters, downstream flooding, and increased water pressure on levee protected bottomlands (Lowery et al 2009;Olson 2009;Olson and Morton 2012a, 2012b, 2013a, 2013bOlson 2013, 2014;Londono and Hart 2013;Goodwell et al 2014). Of particular concern are the vulnerability of low-lying environments that rely on levee protection and the direct impacts of levee breaching on hydrologic patterns, sediment transport and distribution, soil erosion, and land scouring, as well as the indirect impacts on socioeconomic activities, especially agriculture, of flooded areas.…”

“…Waterborne organo-clay sediments often cover plants and soils and fill in road ditches, drainage ditches, and waterways or reenter water in rivers, streams, and lakes. Usually there are crater lakes created by floodwaters either topping or pouring through the levee breach and substantive gully development (Londono and Hart 2013;Goodwell et al 2014). These gullies and land scour areas can extend into the floodplain such as the O'Bryan Ridge field site several kilometers (miles) beyond the breach into fields or along ridges (Olson and Morton 2012a).…”

“…Three major gully fields were created on O'Bryan Ridge as a result of the induced breach (Londono and Hart 2013;Goodwell et al 2014).Two of the gully fields were reclaimed in 2011 and 2012 by the land owners. In this paper we focus on the third major gully field (figures 2, 3, and 4) to assess the effects of gullies on soil properties, soils, soil productivity, land use change, and agricultural production.…”

“…The bottom of the trenches eroded more than 1 m (3.3 ft) below the bottomland surface (figure 4) and 3.6 m (12 ft) below the surface of the O'Bryan Ridge (Londono and Hart 2013;Goodwell et al 2014). A channel was created 1 km (0.6 mi) from west to east (figure 3), which undercut the gravel road (County Road [CR] 310) and extended into the wooded bottomland border area.…”

Addressing Soil Degradation and Flood Risk Decision Making in Levee Protected Agricultural Lands under Increasingly Variable Climate Conditions

“…Extreme flooding events such as the 1927,1937,1993,2002,2008 and 2011 floods along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers and their tributaries illustrate the continuing difficulties facing river communities, industry and agriculture [8] [13]- [15]. Public agencies and private organizations are challenged to anticipate risk and manage emergencies related to evolving natural disasters, downstream flooding and increased water pressure on levee protected bottomlands [3] [11] [16]- [20].…”