Big River headed up..........

[levi127]

Levi127,

A good question you ask. The law is a longstanding one, but one that rarely has to be enforced during deer/duck/small game seasons, so you don't hear much about it. The MDWFP hits all the regular news sources (newspaper, TV, radio, etc.) with press releases plus FaceBook, Twitter, and the MDWFP web site. Word of mouth spreads this type of news quick. When the forecast came out of going above the flood stages for all the reference points, hunters started calling the MDWFP Jackson office trying to separate fact from fiction.

Thanks,

Thank you sir! I've been traveling all month with work and not much hunting or paying attention to a lot. I've been watching Facebook and stuff and couldn't find anything. Then went to their website and saw the PDF file stating it all. But like my dad and many others, they don't have the smart phones and still use flip phones and stuff. So they a little lost and news hadn't reported it yet.

Not trying a big debate or something. But the weather is weather and Mother Nature taking care of the animal population and the circle of life like one old man explained to me. He lives down there and has no internet or anything able to read it all. So it'd make it nearly impossible to relay the info to the public. Just didn't know their ability to relay it to as many as possible without word of mouth. You know how that goes, real story then gets more and more added to it or taken out.

I just hate the OOS people that paid 450.00 to hunt and now taken away from them for year basically right in the heat of things.

[davidees]

From what I heard the river is posed to fall fast.. 3-5 ft day.. that will be as destructive as anything if that happens

Explain this to me please. Just because I like to learn stuff.

The levees get saturated, when the river drops fast the water wants to bleed back out of the levee slope............it causes slope failures or slides.
This is going to happen anyway, there is nothing you can do about it and its part of maintenance to go back after the water reseeds and rework the slopes.

Makes sense. Thanks.

[msbigdawg1234]

if it did drop that fast there would prob be some heavy erosion other than the levee. I would think the drains would loose some ground and trees may even do some damage to camp buildings

[stang67]

There'll probably be some 8-foot game fences go bye-bye, too.

[brake man]

I sure hope hunters are aware of the shutting down of non-waterfowl hunting west of Highway 61 as the game wardens are definitely out checking folks. We came out Sunday morning and had one step from the edge of the field to check us. Thankfully, Daddy was a stickler about dotting the i's and crossing the t's so my friend and I did not have any issues. Not sure how long the GW was parked behind us and waiting for us to come out, but we are pretty sure we heard him moving around in the edge of the brake close to where we were hunting. A lot more racket than a deer would make and definitely something big as it shook a couple of bushes. He was a nice fellow and was the consummate professional whose eyes didn't miss a thing as he checked us, our guns, our licenses, our boat, etc. He said he was from another county and that GW's are being brought into to patrol the Delta west of 61 so the green machine is out in force.

[novacaine]

if it did drop that fast there would prob be some heavy erosion other than the levee. I would think the drains would loose some ground and trees may even do some damage to camp buildings

Every different flood event affects the landscape differently....................you won't know till the waters drain.

[msbigdawg1234]

That's true Bill .. but I was just thinking 3-5 ft a day is massive, I would think, and do a lot more damage than normal falls..

[southdeltan]

Here's today's updated 28 day forecast:

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/lmrfc/?n=ms_extended_forecast

No 3 - 5 feet drops per day that I see.

[deltadukman]

I doubt we see 3-5 ft drops. I've been hunting the river for a while and have never seen a fall like that. 2' a day at max. I do know after 2011 there were places I could hunt at 21-23' that now take 26'+. Let's hope it pulls some of that out rather than piles it on top of it.

[msbigdawg1234]

I have never heard or seen a drop that fast either .. Just heard talk of it and you know how that is .. Was just saying if it did would be bad.. glad to see the forecast but wish its would fall little quicker.. Need back side of Mahannah to get dry before the West Ms hunt test Feb 20...

[peewee]

I am hearing they may lower the forecast to 51' in Vicksburg. Sure hope so.

[DanP]

January 7, 2016

GOOD NEWS! The NWS has lowered the crest at Vicksburg by 6”!

Current MS River Gage Readings:
Arkansas City 42.1’
Greenville 53.7’
Vicksburg 46.3’

The National Weather Service (NWS) Mississippi River forecast remains the same:
Arkansas City 45.5’ on January 12th
Greenville 57.5’ on January 13th
Vicksburg 52.0’ on January 15th

Yazoo Backwater Area:
The Steele Bayou Structure is closed. The current landside gage reading is 88.7’. The landside will get to 90.0’ with the current water on the ground. With normal rainfall the Yazoo Backwater will get up to 94’.

Carter Area/Wolf Lake Area:
With the predicted 52’ crest at Vicksburg, the Carter Area/Wolf Lake Area is predicted to reach ~101.5’.

At this point, the levee system is holding back 6’ of water. The levee is performing as designed.

Everything is going well and at this time there are no issues being found!

Thanks,

Peter Nimrod
Chief Engineer
MS Levee Board
(662)334-4813

[Wildfowler]

Vicksburg lowered to 52

[DanP]

January 10, 2016

GOOD NEWS! The NWS has lowered the crests!

Current MS River Gage Readings (11am):
Arkansas City 43.6’
Greenville 55.4’
Vicksburg 48.5’

The National Weather Service (NWS) Mississippi River forecast:
Arkansas City 44.2’ on January 12th
Greenville 56.2’ on January 13th
Vicksburg 50.5’ on January 15th

Yazoo Backwater Area:
The Steele Bayou Structure is closed. The current landside gage reading is 89.1’. The landside will get to 90.5’ with the current water on the ground. With normal rainfall the Yazoo Backwater will get up to 94’.

Carter Area/Wolf Lake Area:
With the predicted 50.5’ crest at Vicksburg, the Carter Area/Wolf Lake Area is predicted to reach ~100.0’.

At this point, the levee system is holding back 7.5’ of water. The levee is performing as designed.

We do have levee slides, underseepage, pin boils and some small sandboils. These are all being monitored.

Thanks,

Peter Nimrod
Chief Engineer
MS Levee Board
(662)334-4813

[DanP]

Monday, January 11, 2016

Mississippi Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks
1505 Eastover Drive, Jackson, MS, 39211
Phone: 601-432-2400

Additional Area Closed to Hunting Due to Rising Flood Waters

JACKSON - In cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and private landowners, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks (MDWFP) by order of the Executive Director added the following area to the hunting season closure order issued on December 30, 2015:

Zone 4. B: Sharkey, Humphreys, Yazoo, Issaquena, Warren counties - lands which lie south of Highway 14, west of Highway 149, south of Highway 16 / 149, west of Highway 3, and east of Highway 61 when the Mississippi River level reaches forty-three (43) feet on the Vicksburg, MS gauge AND the Steel Bayou Landside gauge reaches ninety (90) feet and shall remain so until the Mississippi River level falls to or below forty-one (41) feet on the Vicksburg gauge AND the Steel Bayou Landside gauge falls to or below eighty-eight (88) feet.

The area described above will be closed to all open seasons for hunting, excluding waterfowl. In addition, this area has been designated a no-wake zone.

The MDWFP is increasing its law enforcement presence in the affected areas to promote public safety for residents affected by the rising waters and to enforce laws that protect game animals affected by flooding. The MDWFP will continue to monitor the situation as it develops to determine whether or not the areas affected by high waters need to be expanded.

For more information, visit our website at www.mdwfp.com or call us at 601-432-2400.