by Sheila Haar Siegel
Let’s face it. No one wants to see a replay of the Flood of 1993. That’s why I hope you’ll be as excited as I am to learn that the Sierra Club is taking a leading role in stopping poorly planned developments by launching a Floodplain/Wetland Campaign in the St. Louis area. I know you, like me, want to protect our area’s floodplains and wetlands. The intrinsic value of these natural areas is beyond compare. Floodplains and wetlands purify our water, clean our rivers and lakes, control soil erosion, provide fish and wildlife habitat, provide recreational opportunities, protect us from floods, and are an important key to a healthy economy. Working together, you and I will make this campaign a success!
The focus of the Floodplain/Wetland Campaign is to address the sprawling developments in the Missouri River floodplain and wetland areas in St. Louis and St. Charles Counties. First and foremost, the campaign will raise public awareness of the impact of projects, including levee construction and subsequent development, in the Missouri River floodplain. Equally important, the campaign will raise demand for a region wide Environmental Impact Statement by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to address the cumulative impacts of all levee projects along the river corridor. But, time is of the essence!
As you may know, in many cases, levee construction has encouraged floodplain development. Much of the damage from the Flood of 1993 was fully predictable, not from weather, but from public policies that had encouraged intensive land use, such as commercial, residential, and industrial development, along our region’s rivers and streams. Though the product of extreme weather, the Great Flood was also the result of thousands of seemingly unrelated decisions to increase the rate at which water moves off the surface of the land toward towns and cities downstream. By itself, a single decision to drain and till a farm field, fill a wetland or build a parking lot has little measurable impact on flooding. But when combined with thousands of similar decisions over decades, the impact can be devastating.
The Army Corps of Engineers, the federal agency that gives out permits to fill wetlands, have recognized the far-reaching implications of levee construction, wetland destruction, and the subsequent land use changes. A Corps of Engineers official has been quoted as saying, “It is clear to many observers of floodplain management issues that flood protection projects do encourage additional development of floodplains.” Yet, as I’m writing you today, levees are being constructed or raised to a higher level, wetlands are being filled, and floodplains are being developed at an alarming rate in the St. Louis area. Some of the levee projects, happening this very minute, include the Howard Bend / Maryland Heights 500-year levee, Chesterfield / Monarch 500-year levee, St. Peters TIF levee, and L-15 levee.
Throughout the campaign, I will be educating the public about floodplain and wetland issues through media outlets, presentations, community fairs and events. I will also be creating demand for accountability of government agencies and public officials. And, I know you’ll want to be a part of this!
That’s why I’m asking you to do two things right now:
1. Call or write Maryland Heights’ Mayor and City Council members. This is currently one of the most urgent campaign issues is the fast moving Maryland Heights / Howard Bend Levee District and planned commercial / industrial development. Tell them, “The planned, massive development in the Maryland Heights bottoms will heighten the dangers and impacts of flooding in communities along the river, destroy wetlands and wildlife habitat and place innocent residents in harms way. Not only are residents along the Missouri River threatened by this type of development, but inner-city communities are being thwarted by businesses moving to outlying areas, waterfowl groups are left without habitat, and consequently wildlife, for hunting purposes. All of us, as taxpayers, are paying higher taxes due to increased infrastructure costs.”
Contact them at:
Michael O’Brien, Mayor
Richard Goldberg, Ward One
Mike Moeller, Ward Two
Judy Barnett, Ward Two
Mark Mierkowski, Ward Three
Dan Johnson, Ward Three
Norman Rhea, Ward Four
Dan Fitzgerald, Ward Four
Name of elected official
City of Maryland Heights
212 Millwell Drive
Maryland Heights, MO 63043
(314) 291-6550
2. Write a letter to our elected officials asking the Corps of Engineers to conduct a cumulative, or basin-wide, Environmental Impact Statement for the St. Louis region. This small but critical step will help protect area floodplains and wetlands from destruction. (Tip: handwritten letters garner the most attention from public officials and government agencies).
You can include these points in your letter:
· A basin-wide Environmental Impact Statement should be prepared that takes into consideration all the impacts from the various projects proposed within the Missouri River Basin.
· While one levee may make little or no difference in hydrological impacts on a basin-wide basis, levees lined up on each side of the river from the US 40-I 64 bridge to the confluence would have major impacts on the floodplain, riparian zones, wetlands, and the hydrology within the river banks.
· The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers should not be examining the impacts of one levee without ascertaining what the impacts of that levee will be combined with all the other levees under consideration (or under construction) in the St. Charles/St. Louis Counties area.
Send your letter to:
Col. Michael Murrow
District Engineer
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
1222 Spruce Street
St. Louis, MO 63103-2833
Governor Bob Holden
Missouri Capitol Building
Room 216, P.O. Box 720
Jefferson City, MO 65102
(573) 751-3222
Senator Jean Carnahan
Thomas F. Eagleton Federal Courthouse
Suite 23.360
111 S. Tenth Street
St. Louis, MO 63102
(314) 436-3416
Representative Todd Akin
1023 Executive Parkway
Suite 18
St. Louis, MO 63141
(314) 878-0513
Representative Kenny Hulshof
33 E. Broadway
Suite 280
Columbia, MO 65203
(573) 449-5111
Representative Wm. Lacy Clay
625 N. Euclid Street
Suite 220
St. Louis, MO 63108
(314) 367-1970
It’s that simple! You can also help by writing a letter to the editors of local and regional newspapers, attending your city’s planning and zoning meetings and writing or calling county officials about floodplain development in the St. Louis area. If you and I don’t let our officials know what is important to us, who will? In addition, if you are involved with or are aware of community groups, schools, government agencies, business associations, or religious organizations that may be interested in a presentation on floodplain / wetland issues, please let me know. You’ll be so glad you decided to help!
Sheila can be reached at (314) 645-1440 or sheila.haar.siegel@sierraclub.org.