Local-government and Corps of Engineers officials say they are spending a considerable amount of time responding to rumors of impending levee failures and other Mississippi River flood-related problems.

Despite almost daily assurances that the Little River Drainage District's Diversion Channel levee is in good condition, officials with the Memphis District of the Corps said they continue to get telephone calls and inquiries from residents who live south of the drainage district levee. The residents are concerned about rumors of an imminent failure of the levee, they said.

"The levee looks better on the land-side than I've ever seen it during the past 20 years," said John Monroe, chief of the geotechnical engineering and survey branch of the Corps' Memphis District.

"The levee is in sound condition. All of the relief wells along Nash Road are producing water, which is running into ditches away from the base of the levee. That's what the wells are designed to do: to relieve the underground water pressure at the base of the levee," he explained.

"The Diversion Channel levee is in better shape than most levees because it has a flatter slope and is wider at the base. If you could look at a cross-section of the levee, you can see that it is a well-constructed levee."

Monroe said the levee from the Ramsey Creek diversion on East Nash Road westward toward Delta is being patrolled 24 hours a day to detect any problems.

"We probably have more people on patrol on that levee per mile than we've ever had during past flood fights," he said. "The recent breaks on the federal levees at Kaskaskia Island and Perry County have made all of us even more vigilant, alert and more cautious."

Monroe said the Corps, along with officials of Scott County Levee District No. 2 and landowners in the district, are building a 600- to 1,000-foot-long water berm on the land side of the mainstem levee at Mile 13 on the Mississippi River north of Buffalo Island in southeast Scott County.

Over the weekend a sandboil and several smaller boils developed near the levee. Monroe said the smaller levee will be built around the boils to contain the seepwater.

"When the berm is filled with water, it will hold about 2 feet of seepage water that will exert pressure on the land side of the levee to counteract the uplift pressure from the sandboils," he said. "As the berm fills with water, any excess will flow into a ditch that is being constructed near the berm."

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department at Sikeston said that Route N, near where the water berm will be built along the main levee, probably will be closed to traffic Thursday or Friday.

"It all depends on when we receive the request to close the road from the Corps or the levee district," the highway department spokesman said. Route N extends from Scott City south to Charleston.

In Cape Girardeau, questions about the purity of the city's water distribution system continue to come in at the offices of Mid-Missouri Engineers Inc., which operates the city's municipal water system under contract.

Manager Tom Taggart said people want to know if the water treatment plant is safe from flooding after having seen television news accounts of the flooding of the Des Moines, Iowa, and St. Joseph water treatment plants.

"Cape Girardeau's main water treatment plant is located 118 feet above the river on a hill near Cape Rock," said Taggart. "That makes it virtually impossible for the plant to be flooded," he said.

"We have stationed two portable, diesel-powered pumps near the water plant in case something should happen at our water intake station on the river near Cape Rock, he said. "The pumps at the intake station are operating normally at this time, but if something should happen we have the portable pumps ready to go on-line at a moment's notice.

"We have also received inquiries about abnormal amounts of bacteria and residues of herbicide and pesticides in the water supply. As far as bacteria is concerned, the raw river water is pumped directly from the river to our treatment plant at Cape Rock, where it is treated with chlorine to disinfect and kill any bacteria in the water. This is done all the time, no matter what level the river is at.

Taggart said when questions came up about large amounts of pesticide and herbicide residue being flooded into the river from farm fields, he ordered an analysis for both in water samples. Taggart said the report on the samples sent to the lab 12 days ago came back last week. "There were no detectable levels of either herbicide or pesticide in the samples," he reported.

Taggart said questions have also come up about possible contamination of the water supply in the flooded areas of Red Star and south Cape Girardeau. "The water pressure in those water mains20is around 70 pounds per square inch," Taggart said. "Even if a water main did develop a leak, as long as there is pressure in the main, no contaminated water can get into the water system," he said.

Taggart said it would take 162 feet of river water to exceed the head pressure inside the water mains in the flooded areas of the city.

He said water from the three shallow wells near the Union Electric Co. distribution center on old Highway 61 goes directly to the new water plant at South Sprigg and South Kingshighway. He said the plant adds chlorine to the water and removes iron and manganese.

"The bottom line is our water supply is safe and pure. We have rented portable generators and stationed them at all of our water main-booster pump stations in the city. If the power should go off, these generators will continue to provide power to keep the booster pumps going and maintain adequate water pressure in the mains, he said.

After falling over one-and-a-half feet on Monday, the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau was on the rise again Tuesday. The river rose six-tenths of a foot to 45.4 feet. It is forecast to go to 45.9 feet today, 46 feet on Thursday, and 46.2 feet on Friday, cresting Aug. 5 at 48.5. feet.

The Ohio River at Cairo was at 44.3 feet on Tuesday. It is forecast to crest at 45 feet on July 31.