Vicksburg District temporarily closes dam road at Arkabutla Lake

VICKSBURG, Miss. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Vicksburg District has temporarily closed the road over Arkabutla Dam at Arkabutla Lake, located in Tate and DeSoto counties in north Mississippi, to install new piezometers.

The piezometers will measure groundwater elevations, pore water pressures and other key metrics. The road closure is anticipated to take four-to-five weeks depending on weather conditions and other factors. Traffic will be routed along the base of Arkabutla Dam until the installation is complete.

Arkabutla, Sardis, Enid and Grenada lakes, the four Mississippi flood control reservoirs in the Vicksburg District’s area of responsibility, were authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1936, which provided a plan designed to address flooding that originated in the Yazoo Basin. The four reservoirs are used to hold runoff, or excess rainwater, as a flood-prevention measure. With approximately 3.2 million visitors each year, the north Mississippi lakes also contribute approximately $82 million into the local economy.

The USACE Vicksburg District is engineering solutions to the nation’s toughest challenges. The Vicksburg District encompasses a 68,000-square-mile area across portions of Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana that holds seven major river basins and incorporates approximately 460 miles of mainline Mississippi River levees. The district is engaged in hundreds of projects and employs approximately 1,100 personnel.