GRHA Policy Work

To address flooding, GRHA is working with local leadership to tackle the issue of floodplain rise and the filling of the floodplain and develop a regional approach for managing flood losses while protecting and restoring benefits of floodplains. We look to grow public awareness of the importance of the Confluence and provide a voice for landowners, agriculture, the duck clubs and Confluence hunters.

GRHA will use policy and litigation to support our mission to directly combat the commercial development of the 100-year Confluence floodplain.

The Confluence is one-of-a kind. Nowhere in the country are there the density of duck clubs and waterfowl habitats, particularly so close to a major metropolitan area. It’s an incredible natural and historical gem to St. Louis and the continent that needs to be protected.

GRHA and its partners have testified at numerous public hearings and submitted written opposition to planned developments, zoning changes, and annexation proposals in the Confluence. More importantly GRHA has raised public awareness about the floodplain's importance in terms of flood storage, clean water, and agriculture.

Most recently: We have testified against the development of an 800 UNIT apartment complex (Creve Coeur Lake Apartments) being considered for construction within the 100-year floodplain in Maryland Heights. Executive Director Mike Checkett and GRHA partner Bruce Morrison of the Great Rivers Environmental Law Center submitted comments and testified at January and February 2023 Maryland Heights Zoning and Planning Commission and Council meetings.

Click Here to See Testimony at the Zoning and Planning Commission Meeting.

Click Here to See Testimony at the Maryland Heights Commission meeting.

Policy Successes

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  In 2004, DU and GRHA partnered to host a leadership summit at Grant’s Farm. More than 40 federal, state, NGO and landowner partners committed to conserving the Confluence through the Missouri/Mississippi River Confluence Partnership, which continues today.

• GRHA worked to pass the “Hunting Heritage Protection Areas Act” in the General Assembly in 2007.

• The Hunting Heritage Protection Areas Act will protect these diverse lands critical for wildlife species and preserve hunting opportunities into the future. 

• The GRHA has testified in numerous public hearings and submitted written comments concerning planned developments, zoning changes, and annexation proposals.  Through these efforts the GRHA and its partners have raised public awareness of the importance of the floodplain for wetlands, wildlife, flood storage, agriculture, and clean water.

• One of GRHA's most significant accomplishments was its 2007 role in the passage of Missouri State Senate Bill 225. The bill prohibits the use of tax incentive financing for development in the one-hundred-year floodplains of Missouri’s rivers. In addition, the law ensured Missourians the right to discharge firearms within these floodplains.

• GRHA is a member of the Corps Reform Network, a coalition of 150 plus environmental groups that works to place environmental concerns on a par equal to flood control, navigation and development.

• Stopping the Elm Point levee proposal was a great win for people and the environment.

• Halted the expansion of Smartt Field. Owned by St. Charles County, Smartt Field was set for expansion through a federal grant that would have allowed light jets to land in the heart of the Mississippi Flyway, which contains two-thirds of our nation’s migratory waterfowl. GRHA was able to convince the county council to pass on the expansion plan, saving taxpayers another floodplain folly.

• Public awareness. GRHA has elevated floodplain development as an important issue among the voting public and one that plays heavily during local elections. Before GRHA, most voters were unaware how taxes were funding large-scale floodplain developments. This awareness has helped immeasurably to encourage sustainable development practices.