The Army Corps of Engineers announced Tuesday that it would close the Steel Bayou flood control structure within the week.Engineers cite heavy rainfall over the past two weeks in the Mississippi River watershed and its tributaries as the reason for closing the structure.Rainfall in this area has exceeded two to three times their normal amount of rainfall. Closing the structure, according to engineers, along with the Mississippi and Yazoo backwater levees will prevent the Yazoo and Mississippi Rivers from backing up and further flooding the Delta.The Army Corps says that using temporary pumps to drain the Yazoo backwater area would have a negligible impact on lowering water levels.According to the National Weather Service, the Mississippi River at Vicksburg will crest at 41 feet Jan. 10 and will be above flood stage by late January. Forecasts also indicate water levels in the Yazoo backwater region will peak at approximately 88 feet within the next two weeks.The district's four north Mississippi flood control reservoirs - Enid, Grenada, Sardis, and Arkabutla lakes - are being used to hold runoff, or excess rainwater, as a flood-prevention measure.The Steel Bayou structure was closed early 2019 during the record floods of the Yazoo & Mississippi backwater. Some argued that the closing of Steel Bayou worsened the flooding in the backwater areas. Residents in Eagle Lake and the rest of the backwater areas are just beginning to clean up and rebuild their homes from those floods.