Wanamaker
Retires
 Jim
Wanamaker is retiring after 15 years as the Chief Engineer
of the Mississippi Levee Board completing a 40 year career
of public service. His leadership and experience have benefited
the Levee Board and the Delta.
In his position as Chief Engineer he has been responsible for maintaining the 212 miles of levee and 350 miles of
inland streams that provide flood protection to the Mississippi Levee District. Jim assumed the duties of Chief Engineer
in 1989 immediately after the Governor’s Advisory Committee had recommended that all the uncompleted features of
the Yazoo Basin Projects be reformulated by the Corps of Engineers. Since that time, he has seen the completion of the
Upper Steele Bayou Project which provides flood protection to the City of Greenville and initiated studies documenting
the need for maintenance on the Big Sunflower River & Tributaries Project following flooding in the Darlove area in
1989. Work on the enlargement of the 69 miles of deficient levees in the Mississippi Levee District was also initiated
during his tenure and he has provided testimony on behalf of the Delta’s flood control projects in litigation involving
both the Mississippi River Levee Enlargement Project and the Big Sunflower River & Tributaries Maintenance Project.
“Jim Wanamaker has been a great leader and a strong advocate for flood control in the Mississippi Delta. His
knowledge, vision and experience will be greatly missed,” stated incoming Chief Engineer, Peter Nimrod.
Jim graduated from Mississippi State University in 1963 and served two years as a Seabee in the U. S. Navy. He served
as Assistant Engineer to the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta Levee Board at Clarksdale; Assistant Engineer for the Coahoma
County Road Department; and City Engineer to the City of Clarksdale prior to his joining the Mississippi Levee
Board. He serves on the Engineering Committee of the Mississippi Valley Flood Control Association and on the Board
of Directors of the Mississippi Water Resources Association. He is also a member of the Flood Control and Water
Resource Committee of Delta Council. “It has been a sincere pleasure to work with the leaders in the Mississippi
Delta, State of Mississippi, and the Congress in seeing that the needed flood control projects in the Mississippi Delta
continue to move forward,” said Wanamaker. “Although, we have seen delays in the completion of the reports on the
Yazoo Backwater Project and the Big Sunflower River Maintenance Project, these delays have provided a refinement of
data to strengthen our case on both of these projects that we feel surely will be litigated by the environmental
community.”
Jim and his wife Bonnie have been married for 41 years and have 2 daughters, Jamie Borgognoni and Teena Wells, who
both reside in Cleveland, Mississippi. Jim and Bonnie have 4 grandchildren. Jim will work until June 30th.
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