A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers official says levee defenses on the lower Mississippi River are holding up well so far against the river’s winter flood.

Jacob Brister, chief of project management for the Vicksburg District of the Corps, toured levees in Mississippi and Arkansas on Wednesday. Brister says that while there have been a few landslides on levees, corps officials are pleased overall with how the system is holding up.

Brister says work done after the 2011 flood, including relief wells that allow water to flow under levees to relieve pressure, is proving its value.

He says that 24-hour levee patrols in the Vicksburg District, which covers parts of Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi, are likely to start as the river begins to crest this weekend.