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CLARKSDALE, Miss., May 13, 2011 – Yazoo-Mississippi Delta Levee Board crews constructed a series of water berms around Eubanks Road near the Rena Lara area in southern Coahoma County. These berms were constructed using clay material trucked in from a borrow pit east of Highway 1 and south of Rena Lara. The purpose of these berms is to minimize the occurrence of sand boils in the natural soils adjacent to the landside berm. Seep water and sand boils are a natural phenomenon during any highwater event, and this is no cause for alarm.
Crews also added a sand blanket adjacent to the landside berm near levee mile 22 and 23 in Tunica County. These native soils off the levee structure have a history of excess seepage. “We were being proactive in our approach,” Greenwood stated. “The addition of the sand blanket minimizes the chance of sand boils occurring.”
Crews continue to patrol and monitor the levee 24 hours per day, seven days a week. This will continue until the water level falls below flood stage. These patrols have identified a few sand boils near levee mile 5 and 15 in Desoto County. These boils were mitigated with sand bag rings on an individual basis.
“This does not constitute a levee emergency, and our levees are safe,” said Kelly Greenwood, Yazoo-Mississippi Delta Levee Board chief engineer and CEO. “This response is a normal, high-water exercise.”
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