Newport Firm Hired to Study River Flooding : Survey: Simons, Li & Associates will collect high-water mark data along the Mississippi and its tributaries.

An Orange County civil engineering firm is about to hit a new high-water mark--literally.

Simons, Li & Associates is sending seven employees to St. Louis on Sunday to begin the study of flooding along the Mississippi River and its tributaries. The team’s findings could eventually lead to new levee designs and flood-control improvements to help alleviate future flooding, company President Ruh-Ming Li said Wednesday.

The group will spend up to a week roaming the riverbanks looking for debris lines--similar to a bathtub ring--that indicate where the waters have crested in the worst U.S. flood in decades, causing damage estimated as high as $12 billion.

“In order to learn from this flood, we have to have good data,” Li said. “If you don’t get this information now, the high-water mark would not be that obvious. You need to get the physical evidence and get as much information as possible.”

Vice President Hank Fehlman, who will accompany Li and the others to the Midwest, said the team will photograph evidence of high-water marks and describe their position relative to curbs, gutters or other immovable objects. The team will take measurements about a mile apart along the river.

“This is just the first phase we hope to continue up the Mississippi,” Fehlman said. The St. Louis district, which stretches 300 miles, runs south to Cairo, Ill.

The expedition is only the latest Orange County participation in flood relief. The Orange County chapter of the American Red Cross has sent a dozen volunteers to the afflicted areas, said spokeswoman Judy Iannaccone. Anaheim radio station KEZY-FM is having an all-day fund-raiser for the Red Cross at the Buena Park Mall today. Proceeds will go to flood victims and the local Red Cross chapter.

The Simons, Li study is being conducted under a contract from the St. Louis district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the agency with primary responsibility for maintenance of flood control along major rivers, including the Mississippi.

Simons, Li won a two-year, open-ended contract, valued at a minimum of $500,000, from the St. Louis district in June. Because of the flooding that reached severe proportions last month, the contract’s value could be increased, according to the Newport Beach-based company.

Still, Li said that he does not anticipate the company will need to increase its 39-member staff, spread among offices in Newport Beach, and Tucson and Tempe, Ariz., to complete the contract.

Ronald Rauh, a civil engineer who helps manage contracts for the St. Louis district, said various improvement projects that had already been planned on the river have been accelerated to help deal with the flooding and its aftermath. “It really does help to get these people out there while the water is up,” he explained.

Because other survey teams are already working along the river in rural areas, the Simons, Li team will probably be assigned to the St. Louis metropolitan area, he said.