LOUISIANA, Mo. (AP) — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is rebuking an Illinois levee district over “unauthorized alterations” the federal agency says make some communities on the Missouri side of the Mississippi River more prone to flooding.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the Corps’ sanction makes the Sny Island Levee and Drainage District south of Quincy ineligible for federal repair money should any of its own agricultural levees sustain flooding damage.

The federal government says the Sny district has added three to four feet to the height of most of its levees without approval, an addition it estimates could add several feet of floodwater to some locations across the river.

The Illinois district disputes that its levees were raised above authorized levels.