William D. Lay

Fayette, Missouri

Bill was born October 7, 1929, and grew up in Warsaw, Benton County, Missouri near the Osage River. In 1952, he graduated from the University of Missouri Law School, became a member of the Missouri bar and entered the U.S. Army.

After completing the Basic Artillery officer's course at Fort Sill he transferred to the Judge Advocate General's corps and served at Fort Sill and Inchon Korea. After his discharge he started as an associate with a firm in Springfield, Missouri. In 1960 he moved to Platte City, Missouri where he practiced with others until 1977.

In 1977, he moved to Fayette, Howard County, Missouri where he was involved in the family farming operation. After 1977 and during flooding and other high water periods, he spent considerable time at the Corps of Engineers office in Glasgow, Missouri.

About 1983 he met Duane Sveum and started attending the Missouri River Annual Operating Plan meetings, which were held in the spring and the fall. Since 1985 he has received the Monthly News releases and have been in occasional contact with Duane, Chet Worm and Larry Cieslik regarding the high Missouri River levels, particularly during the time of the high spring flows.

His family lost a great deal of its farmland in Howard and Saline Counties by reason of the 1993 Great (?) flood and the inadequate levee system. Shortly thereafter he joined the Missouri Levee and Drainage District Association where he’s been a member almost from its inception.

He has attended and submitted comments at the meetings in connection with the Missouri River Master Manual revision from 1989 to 2004. He participated in most of the Upper Mississippi River System Flow Frequency Study meetings, which were held in St. Louis from 1997 to 2003.

He attended most if not all of meetings held by the Plenary Group and the technical working groups on the Spring Rise from May through August of 2005.

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