NATCHEZ — Locals, particularly those in the forestry business and those living in the Lake Mary area, had some stern words Wednesday for the Mississippi River Commission.

Aboard the motor vessel Mississippi, the MRC leaders made their next-to-last, public meeting stop on its low-water inspection trip, which it will conclude Friday in Morgan City, La.

The meetings are designed to give the public an opportunity to be briefed on the organization’s national and regional projects as well as speak their views on issues impacting the river, including flood control.

“There are others here speaking besides me,” Lake Mary resident Jerry Riddle said. “I’m just here for myself, but I want to go home.

“By God, I want to go home, and you won’t let me.”

Riddle said for the past year, the road to his residence has been flooded, costing him extra money when, like recently, the flood water is too deep to cross with his vehicle.

“Why don’t y’all have someone who knows how come we can’t open the spillway?” he said. “Are you going to fix the road that’s tore up? It’d cost hundreds of thousands to fix the roads to Jackson Point, and it’s your fault it’s like that.”

Woodville’s Tillery Johnson, 73, said when he was a little boy before a channel was cut from the Homochitto River to the Mississippi River, Lake Mary and the Buffalo River had few flooding problems. Now the water levels are constantly changing and trending toward more and more flooding, he said.

“What’s gone is gone,” Johnson said. “But we need some help.”

Wilkinson County Administrator Bruce Lewis said the persistent flooding in his county is slowly killing it.

“You laid out you have a 200-year plan,” Lewis said. “I sure hope Wilkinson County is on the front end of that plan because we can’t make it to the back end.”

Lewis said unlike Adams County, no flood control exists in Wilkinson, which means along the river no one can build a port to help bring in industry, they cannot farm the land nor can they easily take advantage of timber harvests.

“We lose severance taxes in the county every time timber is not harvested — the same thing with gas,” he said.

Lewis said amongst the highest tax revenue generators in the county are the hunting camps around Lake Mary. Lewis said the county depends on them and people are starting to shy away from the area because of a lack of access for a large part of the year. This is approximately 15 percent of the county that’s under water most of the year, he said.

With a tax base that is shrinking, Lewis said the county cannot afford to maintain the roads, much less the ones that keep getting damaged by floods if federal funds are not available because a state of emergency was declared.

“We need some help down here,” Lewis said.

Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann spoke on behalf of the 16th section land revenues school districts receive. The fund is worth approximately $100 million for state education, he said.Hosemann said the flooding along the river is causing the soil there to make it impossible for timber to be regenerated. When trees do grow in that soil, they are often coming out diseased, he said.

Flooding also limits foresters the opportunity to harvest the timber, which means the school systems are not getting money that could be going toward education, Hosemann said.

Hosemann said he was not certain what the best practices were for the current split of diverting water 70 to 30 percent between Old River and the Atchafalaya River, but he encouraged the commission to look at it.

“In the timber land, the school kids are not getting any money off of that,” he said. “I don’t think statutorily it should have to be 70-30 percent every year.

“I think those decisions should be made by you, but I think right now you are hamstrung by statute.”

Commissioner R.D. James, who owns property in Missouri, said the MRC has ordered a study on this and would get back to stakeholders soon. But he added the 70-30 percentage was not just a roll of the dice and any change made could have drastic consequences downriver.

James said he agreed that when he was a boy the river did not behave this way. But James said to consider how much just the Ohio Valley portion of the river has grown since 1950, Louisville, Cincinnati, Memphis and many other cities.

Every one of those houses added has caused an impact along the river, and it is impacting him in Missouri as well, James said.

“We are looking into this,” he said. “When water is up to your damn waist, I know it’s hard to hear, ‘bear with us.’

“But rest assured, (flooding) is the No. 1 priority of the commission.”

The commission also heard about projects, which include hydroelectric power sources on the Yazoo River, and the success Union County has had in restoring groundwater to its aquifer over the past several years.

Natchez Mayor Darryl Grennell and Adams County Board of Supervisors President Mike Lazarus addressed the commission, as well.

Along with welcoming the commission to Natchez, Lazarus spoke about Carthage Point Road, which is getting washed out by “100-year” floods almost every year. Each time it happens, the flood damage costs the county $100,000, Lazarus said.

Grennell welcomed the commissioners to Natchez to experience the tricentennial celebration and gave a brief overview of the Mississippi Rivers and Towns Initiative.

During Grennell’s presentation he touched on topics including the impact of more frequent disastrous weather events on the country.

Grennell also invited the commission to join the river cities mayors at the MRCTI conference, scheduled for Sept. 13-15 in Natchez, when Grennell said MRCTI plans to unveil a clean water program. He also said a major announcement related to the river would made at the conference.

“Col. (Michael) Derosier mentioned the Mississippi River being a national treasure,” Grennell said. “Natchez sits on the river, and it, itself, is also a national treasure. I challenge you to take advantage of our city.”