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Huxtable Pumping Plant

Huxtable Pumping Plant's downriver side with the gates raised

Picture, if you will, 1.3 million acres of farmland, small towns, and wildlife habitat that comprise the fertile, scenic region we know as Northeast Arkansas. Now imagine nearly two-thirds of it under water. That was the situation in 1937, and could have been in 1982, 1993 or any other year, had it not been for the W.G. Huxtable Pumping Plant.

A diesel to make Tim Taylor proud!

This pumping station is said to be the largest of its kind in the world. It is the equivalent of a six-story building constructed in three parts, most of it underground, and is designed expressly for withstanding floods, earthquakes and whatever else Mother Nature might produce. The heart of the pumping station is its ten 4,000-horsepower, twelve-cylinder diesel engines that turn ten-ton propeller-driven pumps that move up to 5.4 million gallons of water per minute.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers designed and constructed the pumping plant to prevent floodwaters from the Mississippi River from backing up into the St. Francis and flooding the river basin that comprises much of Northeast Arkansas. During the construction of the plant, the course of the St. Francis River was actually altered so that it now flows through a channel directly into the plant and out its gates to the Mississippi River.

Without the protection of the plant, the Mississippi's waters could flood the Delta's cities and farmland.

Electronic gauges along the St. Francis and Mississippi Rivers regularly monitor the water levels. When these gauges detect that the level of the Mississippi is higher than the St. Francis, the gates close to prevent water from flowing into the St. Francis. When pumping begins, the Huxtable station actually works in conjunction with the levees around the St. Francis River basin. While the levees hold the St. Francis at bay, the pumps divert the excess water into the Mississippi and remain in operation until the water level of the Mississippi falls. In 1993, the pumps operated for 182 consecutive days.

The history of these rivers' flood cycles suggests Northeast Arkansas is due for another 50-year flood. That doesn't mean such a flood only occurs once every 50 years. Rather, it means Northeast Arkansas could experience a flood level that has a two percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. While the chances of that happening are not as high as say, a 10-year flood, statistics indicate the possibility of such a flood is increasing.