diff --git a/dyn_em/module_initialize_real.F b/dyn_em/module_initialize_real.F
index 2ee0a2c8de..0a1dea654a 100644
--- a/dyn_em/module_initialize_real.F
+++ b/dyn_em/module_initialize_real.F
@@ -7049,7 +7049,9 @@ END SUBROUTINE rh_to_mxrat1
 #if 0
 program foo
 
-integer , parameter :: max_eta = 1000
+!  Make this local variable have the same value as in 
+!  frame/module_driver_constants.F: MAX_ETA
+integer , parameter :: max_eta = 10001
 
 INTEGER :: ids , ide , jds , jde , kds , kde , &
            ims , ime , jms , jme , kms , kme , &
diff --git a/frame/module_driver_constants.F b/frame/module_driver_constants.F
index 608c284247..38b645e88d 100644
--- a/frame/module_driver_constants.F
+++ b/frame/module_driver_constants.F
@@ -45,14 +45,10 @@ MODULE module_driver_constants
 
    INTEGER , PARAMETER :: max_moves       =   50
 
-   !  The maximum number of eta levels
-   !DJW 140701 Increased from 501 to 1001 since I can imagine using more than
-   !501 total vertical levels across multiple nested domains. Now that the
-   !code is modified to allow specification of all domains eta_levels using a
-   !array of length max_eta, this will need to be larger.  I'll also add a check
-   !in module_initialize_real to ensure we don't exceed this value.
-
-   INTEGER , PARAMETER :: max_eta         =   1001
+   !  The maximum number of eta levels. With vertical refinement defining
+   !  each domain separately, the aggregated number of levels could be large.
+
+   INTEGER , PARAMETER :: max_eta         =   10001
 
    !  The maximum number of ocean levels in the 3d U Miami ocean.