I grew up in Atchison County, right alongside the Missouri River. I remember the flood of 1993 and the flood of 2011. The devastating flood of 2019 was worse than any I had experienced before and led me to the conclusion that we couldn’t just repair the damage. We needed a new strategy to ensure this community was protected for future generations.

As president of the Atchison County Levee District board I knew we had a unique and challenging opportunity to address the repetitive flooding that devastated businesses, farmland and commerce in our area. Together, with the community and landowners we decided a levee setback – allowing more room inland for water to move – made the most sense for the long term. In order to make this project work we had to assemble a large group of partners – Army Corps of Engineers, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, and many more state and federal partners.

This project would not have been possible without the unwavering support of landowners in the area committed to reducing flooding, updating an old levee system and implementing new conservation practices. It’s never easy to ask your neighbor to give up farmland, but our friends up and down the levee recognized the need to update our levee and provide the river more room to move. I’m extremely proud of the way our community came together to make this project a reality. As the work wraps up this month, we can rest a little easier knowing that this new approach will protect our community as the spring rains come.

Ryan Ottmann