News And Stories

Major General Diana M. Holland, PresidentMississippi River Commission General Holland and Members of the Commission: My name is W. Dustin Boatwright. I am the Chief Engineer of The Little River Drainage District (LRDD) headquartered in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. LRDD is a major contributor to the St. Francis Basin watershed draining nearly 2 million acres of land in SE Missouri. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is authorized to perform major maintenance and improvements within the watershed of the St. Francis Basin along with the Mississippi River Levee (MRL) system, which are integral

Major General R. Mark Toy, President  Mississippi River Commission  General Toy, Members of the Commission, and Distinguished Guests:  My name is W. Dustin Boatwright. I am the Chief Engineer of The Little River Drainage District (LRDD) headquartered in Cape Girardeau, Missouri and serve as Missouri’s Regional Engineer for the Mississippi Valley Flood Control Association. LRDD is a major contributor to the St. Francis Basin watershed, draining nearly 2 million acres. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is authorized to perform major maintenance and improvements within the watershed of the St. Francis Basin,

After 25 years of extraordinary leadership, Dr. Sam M. Hunter has retired.  He is a man of high integrity, who leads by example with his dedication, professionalism, enthusiasm, and caring persona not just for The Little River Drainage District, but for the entire SE Missouri Bootheel. We live and work in a swamp, reclaimed and made useful with a “man-made” engineered infrastructure system of open channels, levees, detention basins, pumps, and gate structures.  It took much “blood, sweat, and tears” to transform the region from unusable land to the productive land we have

April 16, 2018 Major General Richard G. Kaiser, President,  and Members of the Commission:     My name is W. Dustin Boatwright. I am the Chief Engineer of The Little River Drainage District (LRDD) headquartered in Cape Girardeau, Missouri and serve as Missouri’s Regional Engineer for the Mississippi Valley Flood Control Association. Our District is a major contributor to the St. Francis Basin watershed draining nearly 2 million acres of the upper St. Francis watershed. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is authorized to perform major maintenance and improvements within the watershed of the St.

The June issue of the Missouri Soybean Magazine features a slice of history on The Little River Drainage District titled “Making The Bootheel”.  We appreciate Missouri Soybean and the writers of Honey Creek Media, Jamie Johansen and Kelly Marshall for doing such a great job!  We enjoyed working with you!  Click the link below to check it out!   http://www.omagdigital.com/publication/?i=499104&pre=1#{“issue_id”:499104,”page”:18}

The news of yesterday’s tragic accident and loss of Mr. Dylan Pobst has left all who knew him in shock and with great grief.  The Little River Drainage District (LRDD) expresses our deepest condolences to Dylan’s family, friends, and coworkers during their/our time of grieving.  The events that led to yesterday’s tragic accident will be further reviewed to ensure the safety of LRDD employees remains paramount to our operation.  We wish to remember Mr. Dylan Pobst for his hard work, dedication, and passion for being highly skilled at his trade.  Dylan undoubtedly set

The Little River Drainage District would like to congratulate the Honorable R.D. James, who was confirmed by the United States Senate to serve as Assistant Secretary Army of Civil Works (ASACW) on January 25, 2018. Mr. James is a self-employed farmer and manager of cotton gins and grain elevators for the A.C. Riley Cotton Company in New Madrid, Missouri. He is a 1971 civil engineering graduate of the University of Kentucky and has selflessly served as a Civil Engineering Member of the Mississippi River Commission (MRC) for more than 35 years. Mr. James

In the photo above, Mississippi Valley Division Commander and Mississippi River Commission President Maj. Gen. Michael C. Wehr met with Dustin Boatwright, Chief Engineer of The Little River Drainage District on May 10. Mississippi River Commission member R.D. James, other officials and Corps of Engineers employees discussed the ongoing floodfight in the northern portion of the Memphis District.