The Steelville Board of Aldermen on Oct. 5 agreed to seek a five-year permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). Aldermen also discussed other preventative measures that the city could take to forestall future flooding of the Yadkin, which is prone to flash flooding during rainy weather.

City Engineer Terris Cates was instructed to proceed with the permit application. If granted, the five-year USACE permit would allow the city to dredge the Yadkin Creek as it sees fit for as long as the permit is valid.

The USACE is a federal agency that regulates work being done in streams and waterways under its jurisdiction. They issue permits for streambank stabilization and gravel excavation projects such as the work the city plans to do on the Yadkin Creek.

At past meetings, the board discussed a different approach for dealing with the Yadkin, which involved city engineers drawing up a costly design for a dredging project, with the dredging itself being done by independent contractors. The project design alone would have cost the city approximately $50,000. Estimates for the entire project were about $300,000–more than the city was willing to pay.

Cates said that obtaining a USACE permit is a less costly option that would allow the city to dredge the creek piecemeal and at its own pace, with city crews doing the work.

“Getting the dredging permit, you would have the liberty to do as much or as little as you want to over the next five years, and the city could do it on your own terms,” Cates said.

If the city dredges the Yadkin, it would also be responsible for disposing of gravel and debris collected from the creek. One option that aldermen discussed involved using gravel from the Yadkin to ballast over areas of the Steelville City Park to create parking spaces for vehicles.

“Over on the west side of the Whittenburg Creek, where we’re parking now on grass for our events, we could actually gravel that, so you do have a place potentially you can go (with gravel from the Yadkin),” Cates said.

According to Ward 1 Alderman Curtis Crouch, Steelville is not equipped to handle a project that involves dredging the creek all at once, which would be too costly in terms of manpower and city funds.

Crouch said that a permit allowing the city to deal with the creek in stages is the best solution currently available to the city.

“The city was not going to be in a position to just take on a massive dredge the creek project. The permit with a five year window and our ability to dredge as needed or desired suits us perfectly,” Crouch said. “It’s a win-win.”

Ward 1 Alderman Bill Bennett suggested that the city implement another flood mitigation measure in addition to dredging. Bennett proposed that the city look into installing concrete retaining walls along the banks of the Yadkin to help channel water through town and prevent water from spilling over into streets and businesses.

“I think we owe it to every business owner downtown to keep the creek out of business,” Bennett said, adding that it has been too long since work has been done to maintain the creek. “We haven’t dredged for probably 25 years and every time it rains, the floods come up because we’ve probably got three feet of sludge in that creek. If we can start putting concrete walls down, besides dredging, we can make this a livable town for everybody.”

Steelville has experienced two major flooding events in as many years. In 2024, the Yadkin and Whittenburg creeks both overflowed during a heavy rain event. The creek’s waters rose approximately 17 feet above normal levels, leaving homes and businesses across the city damaged and bridges impassable.

During that event Public Works Director Jason Evans said that crews collected 47 dump truck loads of debris from bridges and streets across the city. During heavy rains in July 2026, the fast-moving waters of the Yadkin flowed out of its banks, prompting sandbagging at the police station.

Evans said that the city already has some concrete retaining walls, which are about two feet tall and between four and six feet wide. Evans indicated that more could be purchased for around $75 apiece. The concrete sections are also stackable and interlocking, which Evans said would help reinforce them against powerful floodwaters. Evans added that he is in support of adding retaining walls.

“I’ll say I like the idea. I personally believe that if we can control the flow of water through town, not only the speed, but the direction that it flows, I think that would work great. I’m not a fan of letting it meander through town,” Evans said.

Some parts of the Yadkin, such as a section in front of Steelville’s post office, already have retaining walls, which were built by the Frisco Railway in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to prevent erosion and flooding.

Evans said that the existing walls have done exactly that for a century, adding that additional retaining walls could help prevent erosion for another 100 years.

“It’s worked for that long, and so for the next 100 or 200 years we’ve experienced erosion, we’ve experienced the creek changing directions in multiple ways. Let’s run it straight, I think that would work great,” Evans said.