Levees and Flooding of Agricultural Lands series
Lois Wright Morton, Professor of Sociology, Iowa State University
Kenneth R. Olson, Professor of Soil Science, University of Illinois

In 2011, early snowmelt and record rainfall over the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys and severe flooding resulted in breached levee systems, loss of agricultural crops and substantive soil degradation including deep sediment deposits, craters and severe gully erosion. Reclamation of agricultural lands, rebuilding of levees, sediment removal from road and drainage ditches, and repair of homes and agricultural structures have been costly. Extreme flooding events along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers and their tributaries well illustrate the continuing challenges of public (USACE (US Army Corps of Engineers)) and private levee districts efforts to anticipate risk and manage emergency and evolving natural disasters associated with downstream flooding and increased pressure on levee protected bottomlands. There is substantive evidence that the frequency and severity of extreme weather events is increasing with high likelihood that 50, 100 and 500-year flood events may occur more often. Of particular concern is the vulnerability of low-lying deltaic environments (river bottomlands) which are levee protected and the direct impacts of levee breaching on soil erosion, land scouring, sediment contamination and distribution and the indirect impacts on socio-economic activities, particularly agriculture of flooded areas. This levees and flooding of agricultural lands series documents the role of levees in protecting agricultural productivity and rural communities and the difficult engineering, land use and social decisions associated with preparing for and managing levee systems when rivers are at flood stage.
If you’re interested in flooding, drought, leveed agricultural lands, river navigation and management of river landscapes or you’re fascinated by a good map, you will love this book! 223 full-color pages, hardcover. Read a sample chapter of Managing Mississippi and Ohio River Landscapes.

Publications
- Olson, K.R. and L.W. Morton. 2017. Managing Upper Missouri River for agriculture, irrigation, flood control and energy. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. 72(5):105A-110A.
- Olson, K.R. and L.W. Morton. 2017. Sedimentation, navigation, and agriculture on the lower Missouri River. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. 72(4):80A-86A.
- Olson, K.R. and L.W. Morton. (2017) Chicago’s 132-year effort to provide safe drinking water. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 72(2):19A-25A.
- Olson, K.R. and L.W. Morton. (2016) Mississippi River threatens to make Dogtooth Bend peninsula in Illinois an island. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 71(6):140A-146A.
- Morton, L.W. and K.R. Olson. (2016) St. Johns Levee and Drainage District attempt to mitigate internal flooding. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 71(4): 91A-97A.
- Olson, K.R., L.W. Morton, and D. Speidel. Little River Drainage District conversion of the Big Swamp to fertile agricultural land (2016) Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. 71(2)37A-43A.
- Olson, K.R., L.W. Morton, and D Speidel. (2016). Missouri Ozark Plateau headwaters Diversion engineering feat. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 71(1):13A-19A.
- Morton, L.W. and K. R. Olson (2015) Sinkholes and sand boils during 2011 record flooding in Cairo, Illinois. Journal of Soil & Water Conservation, 70(3):49A-54A.
- Olson, K. R. and L. W. Morton (2015) Slurry trenches and relief wells installed to strengthen Ohio and Mississippi river levee systems. Journal of Soil & Water Conservation, 70(4):49A-53A.
- Olson, K.R., J. Matthews, L.W. Morton, and J Sloan. 2015. Impact of levee breaches, flooding, and land scouring on soil productivity. Journal of Soil & Water Conservation, 70:1:5A-11A.
- Morton, L.W. and K. R. Olson. (2014). Addressing soil degradation and flood risk decision making in levee protected agricultural lands under increasingly variable climate conditions. Journal of Environmental Protection, 5:1220-1234.
- Olson, K.R. and L. W. Morton. (2014). Runaway barges damage Marseilles Lock and Dam during 2013 flood on the Illinois River. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 69 (4), 104A.
- Olson, K.R. and L. W. Morton. (2014). Dredging of the fractured bedrock-lined Mississippi River Channel at Thebes, Illinois. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 69 (2) 31A-35A.
- Olson, K.R. and L. W. Morton, (2014). The 2011 Ohio River flooding of the Cache River Valley in southern Illinois. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 69 (1), 5A-10A.
- Morton, L.W. and K.R. Olson, (2013). Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway: Redesign, reconstruction and restoration. Journal of Soil & Water Conservation, 68 (2), 35A-40A.
- Olson, K.R. and L.W. Morton, (2013). Impacts of 2011 Len Small levee breach on private and public Illinois lands. Journal of Soil & Water Conservation, 68 (4), 89A-95A. doi:10.2489/jswc.68.4.89A.
- Olson, K.R. and L.W. Morton, (2013). Soil and crop damages as a result of levee breaches on Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Journal of Earth Science and Engineering, 3 (3), 139-158.
- Olson, K.R. and L.W. Morton, (2013). Restoration of 2011 flood damaged BirdsPoint-New Madrid Floodway. Journal of Soil & Water Conservation, 68 (1), 13A-18A. doi:10.2489/jswc.68.1.13A.
- Olson, K.R. and L.W. Morton, (2012). The effects of 2011 Ohio and Mississippi River Valley flooding on Cairo, Illinois area. Journal of Soil & Water Conservation, 67 (2), 42A-46A.
- Olson, K.R. and L.W. Morton, (2012). The impacts of 2011 induced levee breaches on agricultural lands of the Ohio and Mississippi River Valleys. Journal of Soil &Water Conservation, 67(1), 5A-10A.
- Olson, K.R., M. Reed, L.W. Morton, (2011). Multifunctional Mississippi River leveed bottomlands and settling basins: Sny Island Levee Drainage District. Journal of Soil & Water Conservation, 66 (4), 90A-96A.
- Olson, K.R. (2009). Impacts of 2008 flooding on agricultural lands in Illinois, Missouri, and Indiana. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 64(6):167A-171A.