The seat sits in the Mississippi floodplain behind a levee

Ste. Genevieve lies on low ground along the Mississippi, and the river drives flood risk for the historic town and the surrounding bottoms. The community has a long flood history, and levee and floodfight measures have figured in past high-water events. For anyone buying or insuring property near the river, the practical step is to check a specific parcel’s flood-zone designation at the FEMA Flood Map Service Center rather than assuming a levee covers every address; levee-protected areas can still carry residual risk. Local emergency management and DNR are the right anchors for understanding floodplain rules and past events. Avoid relying on current river-stage numbers, which change constantly; focus on the durable question of where a parcel sits relative to the mapped floodplain.