The 9-foot project threatened to impact Upper Mississippi farmers in ways they hadn’t thought. The project brought rising waters and drainage districts along the river had to face the realization that their levees might not hold. The Corps responded by taking flowage easements and filing condemnation suits along drainage canals in order to reinforce levee systems. This action further connected Upper Mississippi farmers to federal land and river management. This repeat photography set details how the Army Corps’ 9-foot project impacted the Copperas Creek drainage in western Illinois.

Read More