Flooding

In August 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ordered Cahokia Height’s two water providers — Illinois American and the city — to monitor the drinking water after the federal agency found “violations and significant deficiencies.”

The St. Louis region experienced historic flooding one year ago, with effects that continue today. We discuss what’s been learned and done since then to prevent a repeat of such damage.

The existential threat from flooding is also an economic one for the cities and towns that hug the country's major rivers. In total, flooding in 2019 along the Mississippi and its tributaries caused an estimated $6.2 billion in damage, including millions in the St. Louis region.

The St. Louis region has mangled its waterways for hundreds of years. Warming temperatures may bring the consequences to bear.

The pallid sturgeons outlasted dinosaurs, but human changes to the Missouri River nearly wiped out the prehistoric fish. Some experts think the fish’s struggle could signal larger problems on the Big Muddy, especially as climate change accelerates.

The cash will funnel through the Army Corps of Engineers to the city. In all, the project to help repair the city’s main trunk line will cost $4.67 million.

Residents have dealt with sewage flooding their homes and neighborhoods after heavy rains for years. With a new grant from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Cahokia Heights plans to complete repairs in February 2026.

While the Mississippi River produced major flooding in parts of northern Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota, it is expected to crest well below serious flood levels in the St. Louis area this weekend.

Many cities in the Upper Midwest have seen the river already reach its crest, as the water moves down through the system.

The mayors and the director of the Metro East Sanitary District said other, wealthier St. Clair County communities should help pay for a key drainage ditch’s maintenance.