Sometime Monday, people will no longer be able to use the backwater levee to access Eagle Lake.

The Mississippi Department of Transportation has announced it will be closing sections of Mississippi 465 inside Eagle Lake because backwater flooding is threatening the road. A portion of the road from U.S. 61 west was closed Sunday.

“The backwater is coming up and it’s going to be the highest it’s been since 1973,” said Peter Nimrod, chief engineer with the Mississippi Levee Board. “The water is going to be backing up on the protected side of the levee, so MDOT is gearing up to close that road off.

“Monday, whenever MDOT closes 465 to Eagle Lake, we’re going to have to lockdown the backwater levee, because then the only way to get to Eagle Lake will be to drive straight up north to Onward and take Highway 1 over to Highway 465 and drive 465 back down all the way back to Eagle Lake.”

Nimrod added the Mississippi Department of Wildlife Fisheries and Parks has requested the Levee Board close Brunswick levee, which is another route to Eagle Lake because of wildlife collecting in the area of the levee.

He said the high backwater is the result of heavy local rains and the closure of the Steele Bayou gate, which was closed Feb. 15, when the level of the Mississippi River exceeded the level of the water on the landside.

Closing the Steele Bayou gates, Nimrod said, “Keeps the river out, which is great, but it blocks up all the drains in the Delta. We’ve had 10-12 inches of rain last week, and all that water’s headed south and that’s the reason it’s going to back up so high.”