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COLUMBIA -- Governor Jay Nixon announced $1.2 million to rebuild river levees damaged last year along the Missouri river.

Nixon along with Senators Roy Blunt, and Claire McCaskill were in Columbia this afternoon at the Missouri Levee and Drainage District Association Meeting.

One of the hot topics was the intentional breaching of the Bird's Point Levee in southeast Missouri which lowered the Mississippi river level, but flooded about 130 thousand acres of Missouri farmland last year.

"With the flood fights they had this summer the resources they had were depleted with the diesel for the pumps and all of the other things,” Governor Nixon said.  “So they were in a situation in which they didn't have the dollars.  Using our community development block grants to help economic development in this way, we think is a solid way to help rebuild that economy and get those levees rebuilt quickly."

The money will go to six levee districts; most are in Holt and Atchison counties.