Dr. Bob Hunt of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers describes a study he's been doing to document river-related problems along roadways. [Click to enlarge]

River-related problems are quite similar from one county to the next, and the West Tennessee River Basin Authority hopes to devise cookie-cutter solutions.

The basin authority hired the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to identify problems and potential treatments in the upstream portions of the Obion, Forked Deer and Hatchie river basins. When the study is complete, basin authority Executive Director David Salyers hopes to have a manual of solutions for each county.

Dr. Bob Hunt, a self-described "grunt engineer" in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' hydraulics division, met with the basin authority board Wednesday, July 16, to discuss his findings so far. He said the project area covers:

* 1,677 square miles of the Obion River watershed from the headwaters to the U.S. Highway 45W bridge north of Kenton.

* 1,200 square miles of the Forked Deer River watershed from the headwaters to the U.S. Highway 45W bridge at Trenton on the North Fork Forked Deer River, to the state Highway 54 bridge west of Humboldt on the Middle Fork Forked Deer River and to the state Highway 54 bridge west of Bells on the South Fork Forked Deer River.

* 1,363 square miles of the Hatchie River watershed from the headwaters to the U.S. Highway 70 bridge northeast of Stanton.

Because Dyer County is on the downstream end of the Obion and Forked Deer rivers, it was not included in the survey.

County highway departments reported 147 sites with bridge, culvert or drainage problems, Hunt said.

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The Obion River basin has the most problems: 58 dealing with bridges, 19 with culverts and 10 with miscellaneous problems.

The Forked Deer was next, with less than half as many problems: 27 dealing with bridges and nine with culverts.

In the Hatchie River basin, 21 bridge problems, one culvert problem and two miscellaneous problems were reported.

"We had far more reports of sediment we can't get rid of or debris we can't get rid of than bridge supports scouring out," Hunt told the board. Other specific problems included: culvert capacity, backwater flooding, beavers and rising water levels, and erosion in the roadside ditches.

Hunt and other Corps employees are now developing something akin to a Sears Roebuck catalog, listing options to resolve the problems and to calculate materials needed and costs based on the project's size. The manuals will be given to county highway departments.

Counties should be able to save significant sums of money by using the cookie-cutter designs in the manuals instead of designing each project individually, Hunt said.

In other business during the basin authority's quarterly board meeting, the group:

* Learned the basin authority plans to spend an estimated $300,000-$400,000 on amphibious trackhoe projects this year. The trackhoes are used to clear blockages in West Tennessee rivers. One of the biggest drifts ever removed by an amphibious trackhoe in West Tennessee was removed earlier this year in the North Fork Forked Deer River near Eaton, Salyers said.

* Heard Sen. Mark Norris say that a new report accuses Southern states of not protecting the Mississippi River from contamination. Some persons have suggested that a Lower Mississippi River Basin Authority be set up to address problems on the river. He asked basin authority members to consider whether a Mississippi River basin authority is needed. He said he'd like to discuss that issue at the board's next quarterly meeting.

* Passed a motion authorizing the expenditure of up to $160,000 to renovate four basin authority dams. These sites include: Caledonia Creek No. 3 in Henry County, Beech Branch in Madison County, Dry Branch in Gibson County and Mud Creek in Haywood County.

* Heard that the basin authority partnered with Envirogreen, the Madison County major's office and landowners along Dyer Creek to complete a bank-stabilization project near Pringles Park. Heavy spring rains had eroded the creek banks and caused homeowners' back yards to wash away. Fallen trees were stacked parallel to the streambed to protect the banks and willow trees were planted on the steep banks. The basin authority spent $4,000-$5,000 and the landowners spent $9,000-10,000, Salyers said.

* Learned the basin authority has partnered with the Nature Conservancy to complete three projects on Richland Creek, a tributary to the Hatchie River. The projects, which are expected to cost $115,000-$120,000, are designed to keep sand from washing into the Hatchie River.