MISSISSIPPI RIVER COMMISSION
P.0. BOX 80
VICKSBURG, MISSISSIPPI 39181-0080

PRESIDENT and MEMBER
Maj, Gen. John W. Peabody
Commander, Mississippi

Valley Division

SECRETARY
Col. John C. Dvoracek
Vicksburg, Mississippi

DIRECTOR
Mr. T. Stephen Gambrell
Vicksburg,
(601) 634-5766

Emait cemvd-ex@usace.army.mi
Web site: www.

* designee

MISSISSIPPI RIVER COMMISSION

VICKSBURG, MISSISSIPPI
December 21, 2012

The Mississippi River and Tributaries (MR&T) project is perhaps the world's most
comprehensive and successful flood risk management and navigation systems. More
than a dozen significant floods have tested the MR&T since its inception over 80 years
ago, but none as extensively as the 2011 record flood. In 2011, the MR&T system
performed as designed by accommodating the river while using roughly 85 percent of its
overall design capacity. Even though this was the largest Mississippi River flood in
recorded history, astonishingly not a single life was lost. An incredible $230 billion in
flood damages were prevented in that single Since its inception, the MR&T
‘system is calculated to have prevented $61 in cumulative flood damages. At an
investment level of $14 billion, those savi $44 return on every $1 invested.
These figures do not include all of the ic ity, from. farming to towns

and factories, plus annual transportation savings led by this unique
system.

We owe a debt of gratitude for the wisdom, ten: ir fore-bearers who
envisioned, devised, funded, constructed, and five system that has

proven so beneficial to so many for so long. Weta elem eeetoetcn te
thousands of local landowners, levee boards, cities, states, and other partners who
determinedly fought the flood alongside us and who continue to stand with us during the
path'to recovery. The foolen ance Nee ee eee
endeavors:

After more than a year of evaluation and documentation, the expansive MR&T 2011 Post
Flood Report and the condensed."Room for the River’ booklet will serve as educational
tools and referénce. points for our citizefisy decision makers, and future flood fighters.
Facts, figures, and lessons derived from thé 2011 flood serve to hasten and guide our
efforts to rebuild and improve the’ MR&T project,.ensuring the continued safety and
‘security of our citizen's lives and livelihoods.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Mississippi River Commission, working hand-
in-hand with our strong partners, continues to. study the lessons from past history, apply
those lessons to maintain and improve the system in the present, and collaborate with
all partners and stakeholders to envision and craft an improved and more resilient
future. We continue to be generational beneficiaries of the world's most commercially
vibrant watershed and its largest inland navigation system, with an incredibly diverse
natural ecological treasure, all enabling the nation's economic and natural vitality.

Essayons and Building Strong!

John W, ly
Major General, U.S.
Commander, Mississippi Valley Division
President, Mississippi River Commission

‘Since 1879, the seven-member Presidentially appointed Mississippi River Commission has developed and matured plans for the general improvement of the

Mississippi River from the Head of Passes to the Headwaters. The Mississippi River Commission brings critical

representation to the drainage basin,

which impacts 41% of the United States and includes 1.25 million square miles, over 250 tributaries, 31 states, and 2 Canadian provinces.

Listening, Inspecting, Partnering and Engineering since 1879