Restoring the Missouri River Floodplain

The first significant flood of Ryan’s life was in 1993. “The flood of ’93 was bad, and the flood of 2011 was a little worse,” he said.  “But the flood of 2019 was exponentially worse than all the other floods combined. I live right on the bluff, and it was water from bluff to bluff for 200 days—and damage beyond belief."

That’s when he realized that they had to do something different for the community now, and for the future. 

A Different Approach

Ryan is president of the Atchison County Levee District (ACLD) in Missouri, one the largest levee districts in the country. In addition to maintaining 54 miles of levee along the Missouri River, the ACLD now had to develop a workable plan to minimize flood damage and address environmental concerns.

After discussions with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), it was determined that a levee setback—moving the levee to allow the river more room—was possible. The setback was the best longterm solution, but it wasn’t the easiest option.

“We were going to these landowners, many of whom are farming land that’s been in their families for hundreds of years, and telling them we are thinking about a setback, and that their ground would now be outside of the levee,” he said. “It’s not an easy ask.”

Backed by the Community

“Max Peeler is a crucial part of this levee system, and he has been for years,” says Ryan. “He has lived and breathed the Missouri River and levee system all his life. He's a very valuable source of information for us and he's also a landowner and a farmer in the section where we needed a setback."

Max agreed with the plan. "It's hard to give up the land," said Max. "You hate to give up land, but when we started looking at the wetlands it seemed like the right thing to do." Soon after, all the other landowners were on board, as well. 

The setback benefits the local community, those downstream and the whole ecosystem that surrounds it. “It’s about preserving nature and coexisting with it. We both benefit when it’s done correctly,” says Ryan.

“We want this to be a pilot project, to show other communities that it’s possible, and set a precedent so it will be easier in the future,” he says.

"This is an incredible demonstration project that other landowners and levee districts up and down the Missouri River can look to as one of the tools in the toolbox to help with the catastrophic flooding that we're all facing right now on the Missouri River," says Barbara. 

This project is teaching the complexity of this type of system and the pathway forward. "Our intention is to take the information here and work with all of our partners to improve those programs so that it becomes easier for other levee districts to make this choice in the future," she says.

Looking Toward the Future

New levee construction began in August 2020 and is expected to be completed by January. “We couldn’t have done it without the help from our community, our partners and from TNC,” Ryan says.

“This means a lot to me,” said Ryan. “We just had twins, a boy and a girl, and we named our son River James. So yeah, this river means everything to me.”

For Barbara, this project brings a lot of optimism about the future. "There are so many people out there working away in different agencies, and landowners who are willing to take a chance and do something different," she says. "It gives me a lot of hope for the future."

Impacts to the Community

The Missouri River experienced severe flooding in 2019, breaching over 100 levees, inundating 1.2 million acres, damaging infrastructure including farms, railroads, Interstate highways and closing approximately 470 roads. Missouri River levee L-536, in northwest Missouri in Atchison and Holt Counties, was breached in 7 locations and significantly damaged.

The 70-year-old levee could have been at risk for future breaches if reconstructed in the same alignment. The Atchison County Levee District in consultation with the impacted landowners, determined that a levee setback, moving the levee inland to allow more room for floodwater, combined with a modern design, was in the best interest of their community now and for future generations.

Inspiring Change

"Don't think you can't do it." That's Ryan's advice for other levee districts and landowners who are in a similar situation with repetitive flooding. "There are funding mechanisms to get this done. They're not easy but we also hope to help that become easier," he says. 

The group of partners continues to collaborate on this project with a goal to lessen the challenges that can make a project like this seem impossible. 

The factsheet below includes some of the technical aspects of the project along with contacts and representatives from partners who can provide additional information for interested levee districts, landowners and communities.