ABOUT THE BOARD

OPERATIONS

The Yazoo-Mississippi Delta Levee Board Operations accomplish the maintenance, upkeep, and minor repair of the levees within the District. In addition, minor maintenance is performed on 330 miles of interior rivers and streams that make up the Big Sunflower River and Tributaries (BSR&T) Project.

Maintenance

The Operations and Maintenance Department of the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta Levee Board performs a wide range of physical tasks associated with flood emergencies, maintenance, and protection of the 98 miles of mainline levee, and minor maintenance and flood protection on interior rivers and streams. In addition, YMD Levee Board crews provide necessary maintenance work on approximately 18 miles of backwater levees in the southernmost portion of the District. The Operations and Maintenance Department is comprised of two full-time foremen and crews under the leadership of a Superintendent of Operations. YMD Levee Board crews include well trained, heavy equipment operators capable of making maximum utilization of the YMD Levee Board's inventory of heavy and light equipment such as draglines, excavators, bulldozers, tractors, etc. The YMD Levee Board has a long standing, proud tradition of superior maintenance of its levees and flood control works as a testimony of the commitment and dedication of these levee crews.

Big Sunflower River and Tributaries

A major responsibility of the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta Levee Board is to provide minor maintenance on approximately 330 miles of rivers and streams within the Sunflower River drainage basin. This work includes controlling the growth of woody vegetation within these streams and removal of isolated obstructions, both of which can contribute to unacceptable loss of channel capacity. The Big Sunflower River and Tributaries Project (BSR&T) was first constructed by the Corps of Engineers in the 1960s. Major rehabilitation and maintenance of these streams remains the responsibility of the Corps of Engineers. Initiation of a major channel rehabilitation began on the lower half of the Big Sunflower River basin in 1999. In conjunction with the extensive efforts by the YMD Levee Board to provide minor maintenance to the streams, this major maintenance work will assure an adequate drainage outlet for interior water within the Mississippi Delta.