Big Muddy News

Missouri River Relief plans "learning festival" for county students in Hermann in October

2011-08-31T12:16:00.000-05:00

This article was originally published in the Gasconade County Republican on Wednesday, August 31.

By Dave Marner
Plans for a “learning festival” based along, and on the Missouri River, for county high school and middle school students are being finalized as Missouri River Relief prepares to celebrate its 10th anniversary of cleaning the “Big Muddy.”

Students from Owensville High School, Owensville Middle School, the Hermann school district, and St. George, have been invited to attend separate day-long programs based on shore and on the Living Lands and Waters garbage barge River Relief will be using as the group travels down river from Jefferson City to St. Charles during October. Missouri River Relief is a Missouri Stream Team member based in Columbia, Mo., which has conducted large-scale cleanups from Yankton, S.D, to the mouth of the Missouri where it meets the Mississippi River. Students and faculty chaperones will have the chance to participate in several stations of land-based educational programs presented by professionals from the various agencies assisting River Relief staff.

Staff from the Gasconade and Montgomery County Soil and Water Conservation Districts, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Missouri Department of Conservation, and the Farm Service Agency are scheduled to be participating in the program.

With river levels expected to drop over the next month, River Relief is also planning to have water-based learning stations which could include instruction on aquatics, biology, and water quality issues.

School administrators discussed curriculum issues with Barrow and the agency representatives planning to participate in an effort to design learning experiences which will match up with each school’s educational programs.

“This is exciting,” said Barrow who was making his second planning trip to Owensville for the project. He also met last Thursday with school officials in Hermann. “I’m really excited.”

“Our teachers are really looking forward to this,” said Kurt Keller, principal at OHS.

Part of the experience will include the chance for students to help clean a section of the river’s shoreline under the supervision of trained MRR personnel. That aspect of the experience was something Teresa Ragan, principal at OMS, would strongly support. “Service learning gives something back to the community,” said Ragan.

OHS students are scheduled to attend the festival on Tuesday, Oct. 4, OMS attends Wednesday, Oct. 5, and Hermann students are invited on Thursday, Oct. 6.

Corps releases flood drawdown schedule for fall

2011-07-29T11:00:00.000-05:00

Friday morning, July 29, 2011, the Corps of Engineers Omaha District released its plan for reservoir releases through the fall. Links to full information and the text of their press releases are below.

In a nutshell, releases from Gavin's Point Dam will drop to 150,000 cfs by Monday, then hold there through mid-August. They say this is needed to provide maximum evacuation of flood storage before the drawdown. Starting in mid-August, releases will drop 5,000 cfs per day, reaching a goal of 90,000 by August 27. Releases will hold there for approximately two weeks for the Corps to check for damage in dam structures and levees. The stepped drawdown is designed to allow floodwaters to drain slowly from the floodplain, causing less damage to levees as it exits. In addition, the goal is that as waters slowly drop, levees will be able to begin drying as hydrologic pressure from the river is released, causing less slumping.

Releases at Garrison and Oahe are scheduled to reach 85,000 cfs by August17 & 24 respectively, allowing the river to enter its banks again at Bismarck and Pierre.

In mid-September, releases will step down to a goal of 40,000 cfs by October 1. Releases will hold here and eventually will be drawn down to 20,000 cfs. by Dec. 1. Here's a graph of the Gavin's Plan, followed by the plan for upstream reservoirs.

(graphs supplied by US Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District)

This plan is designed to have the reservoirs out of the exclusive pool as soon as possible and begin getting citizens back into their homes and businesses to begin recovery as soon as possible.

The Corps plans do not involve providing for additional flood storage space next year. As Gen. McMahon explains in the second release reprinted below, the decision was made to time releases to both evacuate the exclusive flood control storage as soon as possible, then begin lowering levels to allow residents, farmers and communities the most time before winter to rebuild, clean up and assess damages.

Links on 2011 Floodwater Evacuation Plan

Omaha District Reservoir Release Information Page
Press Release, July 29, "Corps announces strategy for evacuating floodwaters"(also reprinted below)
Press Release, July 29, "Corps’ drawdown plan aims to be ready for 2012 runoff" - an explanation of the plan by Brig. Gen. John McMahon, Commander of Northwest Division. (also reprinted below)
Pdf powerpoint describing drawdown plan
Spreadsheet detailing drawdown plan for all reservoirs

Here are the two press releases reprinted from today's announcement. First is the general press release, followed by a more detailed explanation from Brig. Gen. John McMahon.

U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS
NEWS RELEASE
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Northwestern Division, 1616 Capitol Ave., Omaha, Neb. 68102
For Immediate Release: July 29, 2011

Corps announces strategy for evacuating floodwaters
Omaha, Neb. - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announces its strategy for evacuating floodwaters from its six mainstem dams along the Missouri River today.

“This plan allows the Corps to evacuate flood water from the reservoir system in a responsible way to prepare for the 2012 runoff season, while reducing the risk of further damages and gets affected homeowners, farmers and businesses back on their properties to begin repair and recovery as quickly as possible,” said Brig. Gen. John McMahon, Northwestern Division commander.

The Corps will execute a gradual drawdown, in which releases out of Gavins Point Dam, the southernmost reservoir in the system, will decrease to 150,000 cubic feet per second on Aug. 1 and will remain at that rate until approximately Aug. 16 when they will be stepped down 5,000 cfs daily until reaching 90,000 cfs around Aug. 27. The Gavins Point Dam releases will stay at 90,000 cfs for approximately 2 weeks and then will drop 5,000 cfs every two days, until reaching 40,000 cfs, which is slightly above the typical fall release rate, on or about Sept. 30.

Releases from Garrison and Oahe dams are scheduled to reach 85,000 cfs on Aug. 17 and 24, respectively. This is the estimated release to get the water back within the river channel and to begin floodplain drainage along the river at Bismarck, N.D. and Pierre, S.D.

This plan provides the opportunity for the Corps to begin inspection and repair of levees and other critical infrastructure and ensures adequate storage for the 2012 runoff season.

For the corresponding detailed three week release forecast for the other mainstem dams, go to: http://www.nwd-mr.usace.army.mil/rcc/reports/twout.html.

“We meticulously reviewed each of eight drawdown options with technical experts and leadership within the Northwestern Division, Omaha and Kansas City Districts,” said Jody Farhat, chief of Missouri River Basin Water Management Division. “This release schedule puts us in the best position to drawdown the water as quickly and as responsibly as possible, while allowing us time to inspect, assess and repair damages.”
In making the decision, the Corps considered criteria such as the potential impacts to homes, farms and businesses within the floodplain, weather forecasts through 2012, acceptable release rate reductions from the dams, water levels on the temporary and downstream levees, getting the reservoirs out of the exclusive flood control zones, impacts to other critical infrastructure (tributary reservoirs, roads, facilities, etc.) and whether to increase the amount of flood control storage for the 2012 runoff season.

The current 2012 weather forecast predicts a 66.6 percent chance of normal or below normal precipitation, and a 33.3 percent chance of wetter than normal conditions. However, fall 2011 is forecasted to be wetter than normal; both of these predications contributed to the drawdown decision. Further consideration was given to the low probability of the re-occurrence of this 2011 500-year event again in 2012.

Holding releases from Gavins Point steady at 150,000 cfs starting through mid-August will enable Fort Peck, Garrison and Oahe Dams to move out of exclusive flood control storage around Aug. 6 while Fort Randall will reach this zone around Aug. 12. This will provide operational flexibility for the Corps to respond if significant rainfall events occur.

The Gavins Point two-week release pause at 90,000 cfs will allow for preliminary inspection and assessment of infrastructure and levees before the final drawdown. Eventually, this steady drawdown from the reservoirs, and respective floodplains, will bring water levels low enough for contractors (weather and funding permitting) to begin repairs as early as Dec. 1.

“It’s important that we drawdown these releases with full consideration of the many risks that remain,” said Brig. Gen. McMahon. “A rapid drawdown with high flows could cause extensive bank erosion and slumping in the levees, while too slow of a drawdown could leave high water on temporary and permanent levees, dams and other critical infrastructure, further increasing risks for overtoppings and breaches.” We assess these risks to be unacceptable in the context of the weather forecast and the low probability of re-occurrence.

“The goal is to evacuate these historic and unprecedented floodwaters responsibly and bring the entire system back to its full annual flood control capacity of 16.3 million acre feet by March 1, which is generally the start of the spring 2012 runoff season,” said Farhat. This will put the flood control pool to a system storage level of 56.8 million acre feet. Prior to the Flood of 2011, and since 1881, this amount has been adequate to capture spring runoff and manage water flow through the system.

“We have already seen water inflows to the system decline and empty system flood control space increase in the past three weeks” said Brig. Gen. McMahon. “We are confident that this plan will best prepare us for the 2012 runoff season.”

All dates provided above are best approximations, based on current forecast conditions and the best available information at the time. Adjustments to the release schedule may be necessary if conditions change. View daily and forecasted reservoir and river information on the Water Management section of the Northwestern Division homepage at: http://www.nwd-mr.usace.army.mil/rcc.

U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS
NEWS RELEASE
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Northwestern Division, 1616 Capitol Ave., Omaha, Neb. 68102
For Immediate Release: July 29, 2011

Corps’ drawdown plan aims to be ready for 2012 runoff
- Brig. Gen. John McMahon, Commander Northwestern Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

After much deliberation with my team, I have selected a plan for responsibly evacuating flood waters from the Missouri River Mainstem System through the remainder of 2011. This risk-based decision was not made lightly. We must get the water back into the river banks and out of the floodplain so that people can return to their homes, farms and businesses as soon as possible.

The release schedule selected prepares the basin to be ready for the 2012 runoff season. Our number priority, as always, is public safety. This drawdown schedule is the safest option to evacuate floodwaters from the reservoirs in a timely manner, while simultaneously decreasing the risk to temporary and permanent levees, our six mainstem dams and other critical infrastructure.

We’ve opted to use a gradual drawdown approach. This will provide us with the best chances of minimizing the amount of additional damage we might otherwise face if we attempted to draw down too quickly. The risks associated with too slow a drawdown would leave high water on temporary levees and permanent flood risk reduction structures longer than necessary, which increases our chances of overtopping and/or breaching levees. If we make too rapid a drawdown, we run risks to include potential damage to infrastructure, extensive bank erosion, and sloughing in the levees.

2011 will be the highest runoff season in the Corps’ 113 years of record keeping in the Missouri River Basin. The Mighty “Mo” has reminded us just how unpredictable she can be. This is why it’s so important for us to be prepared for the 2012 runoff season. In light of this year’s runoff, several of the drawdown alternatives considered whether more mainstem system flood control storage is necessary for the 2012 runoff season. None of the options before us could ever eliminate all flood risk. We thoroughly evaluated options of adding an additional 1.3 million acre-feet and 3.6 million acre-feet to the existing 16.3 MAF of flood control storage in the system. These options and others have serious consequences to getting us ready for the 2012 runoff season.

First, the additional time it would take to evacuate any additional volume of water is precious time we don’t have before the onset of cold weather in the Basin. Second, there is unacceptable risk of breaching and/or overtopping additional levees, especially those protecting people and communities; this is due to the prolonged duration of increased releases to accommodate these additional volumes of water through the system. Third, neither the weather forecasts for the remainder of 2011 and for 2012, nor the probability of re-occurrence of this 2011 event in 2012 warrant such additional risk.

The mainstem system was designed based on the 1881 flood. That year, the basin experienced 40 million acre feet of runoff above Sioux City, Iowa, from March to July, the worst flood on record known to modern man. Hence, 16.3 million acre-feet of flood control storage was allocated in the system— which would have been the required amount of storage to manage the 1881 flood waters while keeping system releases at or below 100,000 cubic-feet-per-second. Since the construction of the mainstem system, that amount of storage has been sufficient to adequately handle every runoff season until this year. Runoff from March to July in 2011 is expected to total 49 million acre-feet, 20 percent higher than what the system was designed to manage.

The release schedule does not increase flood control storage prior to the 2012 runoff season. Increasing flood control storage before March 2012 would mean significantly higher releases for a longer period of time this fall. That would further increase the strain on temporary and permanent levees and other critical infrastructure. It would significantly limit our ability to inspect, assess and repair damages because water would be higher longer. Simply put, providing for more flood control storage would gravely jeopardize the basin’s ability to be ready for the 2012 runoff season.

Part of our analysis included weather forecasts through 2012. The forecast predicts a wetter than normal fall 2011. The forecast for a wet fall contributed to our drawdown release decision. Based on the gradual drawdown release schedule, our plan is to decrease releases at Gavins Point Dam to 40,000 cubic feet per second by the end of September. This would give the system the flexibility needed to store additional floodwaters if another significant rainfall event happens this year.

Our evaluation included the consideration of eight drawdown options with a thorough risk analysis of each. We took into account the impacts to homes, farms and businesses within the floodplain, temporary and permanent levees, our dams and other critical infrastructure. The review also took external factors, such as funding, weather and contractor availability, into account. Given our review and assessment of the associated risks, the release schedule we selected was the best option. The plan allows us the time we need to inspect, assess and repair damages. This drawdown schedule provides the best path for the basin to be ready for the 2012 runoff season.

There are limitations and obstacles we must consider as we prepare for the 2012 runoff season. We must quantify and obtain funding to initiate and complete the repairs. We must work closely with contractors to ensure the work is completed safely, on time and within budget. The majority of the work will have to be done during the harsh winter months. The release schedule puts us in a good position to get water levels low enough to begin those inspections and assessments and put contracts in place to begin work as early as 1 December.

We will have to prioritize our efforts based on an applicable set of criteria that puts protection of life and human safety first, followed by protection of key infrastructure and valuable cropland. Given the time constraints, we may not be able to repair everything in time for the 2012 runoff. Those decisions will not be easy.

Meanwhile, a full post-flood assessment will begin soon. The assessment will require us to answer many of the same questions you have been asking us. We will look at how we managed the dams and reservoirs from the winter of 2010 through the end of this flood fight. We will conduct a full-scale assessment to determine what, if anything, needs to change in our operating procedures. All of this will take time.

Our primary objective with this gradual drawdown schedule is to be ready for the 2012 runoff season. To do that, we must evacuate water from the reservoirs and the floodplain in a safe and responsible manner. We are 100 percent committed to this flood fight, and will remain vigilant throughout the coming months as we evacuate this water responsibly, get people back in their homes, farms and businesses, and begin the process of repairing the damage to get ready for 2012.
- Brig. Gen. John McMahon, Commander Northwestern Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Corps emails released; drought eases flooding

2011-07-28T13:47:00.001-05:00

For the thousands of people affected by this flood who have been wondering how the Corps of Engineers was dealing with water releases as snow piled up this spring, followed by massive rains in the upper basin, the Sioux Falls Argus-Leader opened a window this week. Through a Freedom of Information request, the AL obtained a batch of Corps emails documenting the evolution of this flood. Check out the stories below giving context to this trove of information.

For communities, highway departments and levee districts trying to plan for a fall of repairs, this Friday will provide a guide to future river levels. The Corps is planning on releasing their dam release schedules through September on this Friday, July 29. As always, the forecasts will be subject to change depending on rainfall in the basin. The Corps is planning on reducing Gavin's Point Dam releases from 160,000 cfs to 150,000 from July 31 to August 2.

Although pulses of rain in the Big Sioux River basin caused new flood crests from Sioux City to Kansas City, the whole lower basin has been spared from the worst case scenario by little to no rain in many parts of the basin. In some counties, farmers in the uplands are suffering the beginning of drought while bottomland farmers are monitoring their levees and constantly pumping out seepwater. At the same time, the continuous massive flows continue to test levees and flood prevention measures throughout the basin.

Argus-Leader series on Corps of Engineers emails
The Sioux Falls Argus-Leader obtained a block of emails from late winter/spring 2011 that give a window into the reservoir releases as weather deteriorated this spring. Includes an analysis story with links to raw emails as well as a timeline created from information in the emails.

Sioux Falls Argus-Leader - July 24, 2011 - "Corps Alerted to Coming Flood" - Analysis and raw email files
Sioux Falls Argus-Leader - July 24, 2011 - "Excerpts of Corps Email Traffic" - a timeline of flood evolution based on Corps emails.

Corps of Engineers Aerial Recon Photos
The Corps of Engineers Kansas City District has been releasing aerial recon photos in Google Earth format. If you have Google Earth installed on your computer, you can click the links below to download .kmz files that will open in Google Earth.

July 21, North of Kansas City
July 21, East of Kansas City
Direct link to Kansas City District Flood page
Kansas City District Flickr Photo files (see photo sets on right to view latest aerial recon photos)

Aerial photos posted by Google
Click here to view aerial photos posted by Google of areas near Council Bluffs, IA.

Editorial/Analysis
Leavenworth Times, July 26, 2011 - "The Missouri River Canal" by Matt Nowak - an idea to send Missouri River water to drier parts of the country. Nothing like a flood to make people forget the drought we just came out of.
St. Louis Post Dispatch, July 22, 2011 - "The Missouri River Compromise" by Robert Kelley Schneiders . You can also check out Schneiders' flood blog by clicking here.

Dakotas
Keloland TV, July 24, 2011 - "No Flood Assistance from FEMA" for individual homeowners.
Yankton Press-Dakotan, July 26, 2011 - "Corps Ready to Reveal Long-term Water Plans" - The Corps will announce release schedule through Sept. on Friday, July 28.
Bismarck Tribune, July 26, 2011 - "Gov. Dalrymple says Corps must give answers"
Pierre Capital Journal, July 27, 2011 - "State sets up flood camage call center" - in an attempt to appeal FEMA's decision to withhold assistance for individual homeowners, the state is attempting to collect more information on flood damage to present to FEMA.

Nebraska/Iowa
KTIV Channel 4 - July 27, 2011 - "Missouri River bed drops 6-8 feet"
Omaha World-Herald, July 25, 2011 - "River dropping after second crest"
Omaha World-Herald, July 27, 2011 - "Plans laid for I-29 reopening" - Waters still have a lot of receding to do, and damage to many areas is unknown, but plans are being made for action after waters drop.
Omaha World-Herald, July 22, 2011 - "Below Flood stage by September?"
WOWT-channel 6, July 24, 2011 - "Aerial Tour of flooding"
WOWT-channel 6, July 25, 2011 - "River Pests out in force"
Businessweek, July 27, 2011 - "Nebraska nuclear plant's flood recovery being planned"

Kansas/Missouri
FOX Channel 4 - July 26, 2011 - "Flooding still threatens Holt County levees"
St. Joseph News-Press, July 27, 2011 - "Casino may not reopen until October"
St. Joseph News-Press, July 24, 2011 - "Trials and tribulations of a long summer"
St. Joseph News-Press, July 25, 2011 - "Flood insurance policies lead to frustration"
Columbia Missourian, July 23, 2011 - "Missouri River flooding hurts barge industry"
KSU Collegian, July 24, 2011 - "Kansas River race fills void after Missouri River flooding"
Columbia Tribune, July 24, 2011 - "Nixon says state ready to help Wooldridge"
Columbia Tribune, July 24, 2011 - "Corps faces a battle over land near Wilton"

Long term flood continues to reveal damages

2011-07-21T15:50:00.004-05:00

The Omaha World Herald today says..."50 days of flooding and counting". And, although the Corps will be lowering releases from Gavin's Point Dam from 160 kcfs to 150 kcfs at the end of July, baseline levels will remain high at least through mid-August. Latest Corps predictions show 150kcfs releases continuing at least until August 12. The Corps says that because of water draining from adjacent floodplains, there will be no noticeable drop even with this reduction in releases.

Relatively dry weather in the lower basin, with most rain events being sporadic and scattered has meant that levels have retreated from their highs but remain fairly level. However, rain in the Big Sioux River watershed pushed levels to a probable record in Sioux City today. The focus for most flood fighting has been shoring up soggy levees, attacking sand boils, pumping seepage from behind protected areas and basic pump maintenance. Sandbags continue to be filled in many areas, applied to new trouble spots.

Confusion with flood insurance has led to some new legislation changing some of FEMA's rules and the Corps and FEMA have begun collecting flood damage claims. The process will prove to be long and frustration for the many people damaged in the flood. Many counties affected have not received federal major disaster declaration from the President.

As flooding continues, inundated houses have been collapsing, new channels appear to be forming, mold is spreading and mosquitoes have been relentless. The oppressive heat has made all flood fighting more dangerous and exhausting. Some residents have just recently been able to view their flooded homes in rural areas shut down from access, and have been shocked at the damage. The Decatur bridge is experiencing undermining of its approach ramps and highways still under water have an undetermined amount of erosion and saturation damage. The Corps continues to check their dams, release tunnels and spillways for erosive damage. They continue to assure that dams are operating as designed.

Officials worry that the good news of drawdowns by the Corps might catch people off guard if there is rain later. Unlike many flood events, there is no real predicted "crest". Additional rain will continue to cause spikes in river levels that will need to be watched. As many of the stories below reveal, people and businesses continue to suffer, and are still unable to know just how much they've been effected by this prolonged flood.

Here's some links to news stories published on the web about how communities are coping with the flood.

Aerial Photography

Opinion/Analysis

Sioux City Journal - July 17. 2011 - "Water Storage Question must be answered" A letter to the editor laying out the crucial question - how much room should be left in dams at end of winter.
Sioux City Journal - July 17, 2011 - "Let the Missouri River be a river"
Robert Kelley Schneiders ongoing blog on Missouri River flooding (Schneiders is author of "Unruly River" a history of change on the Missouri River)
MSNBC - July 12, 2011 - "Some say environmental groups share flooding blame"

While the formation of a "Missouri River Working Group" at the federal representative level suggests a "new spirit of cooperation", the ghosts of Missouri River issues past continue to lurk. Here's a couple of opposing opinions on that:

From the office of US Rep. for Missouri Blaine Luetkemeyer - Press Release July 15, 2011 - "Luetkemeyer River Amendments Protect Missouri Taxpayers and Communities"
Editorial by Dave Helling, - July 15, 2011 - "Missouri's politicians voted to kill river study similar to the one they now seek" & Helling's piece published in KC Star - July 12, 2011 - "Drive to better manage river on-again, off-again"

Corps of Engineers begins claims process
The Corps has opened two different processes for levee districts or individuals filing either claims on damages to property or to request assistance in levee rehabilitation. Here's a couple links

"Filing a claim for damages..." The Corps is not promising payments for damages, but has begun a process for people to begin filing claims. This is the Omaha District.
Resources for levee rehabilitation or alternatives to rehabilitation. Kansas City District.

Wyoming/Montana
Billings Gazette - July 21, 2011 - "Buffalo Bill Reservoir Fills"
Billings Gazette - July 10, 2011 - "Hell & High Water - Fort Peck Marina owner battered by flooding"

Dakotas
Bismarck Tribune - July 21, 2011 - "Bismarck asks residents to limit water use" Sediment both suspended in the water and piling up at the water plant intake has lowered the water plant capacity.
Bismarck Tribune - July 20, 2011 - "Flood victim turns heartbreak into poetry" With great video as well.
Bismarck Tribune - July 19, 2011 - "Corps discusses this year's releases, next year's plans"
& "Regulatory tunnels holding up at Garrison Dam"
Bismarck Tribune - July 15, 2011 - "Oil spill hits the Missouri River south of Williston"
CNN - July 12, 2011 - "How long will Missouri mega-flood endure"

Nebraska/Iowa
KCAU - TV9 - July 19, 2011 - "WinnaVegas Casino to reopen thanks to amphibious duck boats"
& "Dam Debris Piling Up"
Omaha World-Herald - July 21, 2011 - "50 days of flooding and counting"
Omaha World- Herald - July 19, 2011 - "Fighting flood is a daily battle"
Washington County Pilot-Tribune and Enterprise (Blair/Fort Calhoun Area) - "Nobody told us it was going to be this bad" & "Glimpse of Damage from Flooding" & "Still a lot of confusion about flood insurance" & "Disaster plea includes individual assistance" & "Farmers play waiting game with flood"
WOWT Channel 6, Omaha - July 14, 2011 - "What will be left when the flood recedes?"
Sioux City Journal - July 14, 2011 - "Conditions improve at Nebraska nuclear plants"
Radio Iowa - July 21, 2011 - "Missouri River trouble coalition proposal gaining momentum" An effort to bring states together to address Missouri River management
KMEG 14 - July 20, 2011 - "Dealing with mold after the water recedes"
KCAU - July 13, 2011 - "Social Media Helps people stay current on flood information"
Omaha World-Herald - July 12, 2011 - "Flood forces creative commuting"
Omaha World-Herald - July 12, 2011 - House OK's flood insurance bill"

Missouri/Kansas
Maryville Daily Forum - July 21, 2011 - "Holt County Organizing Flood Claims Effort"
St. Joseph News-Press, July 20, 2011 - "Up close it's pretty devastating - Officials must wait to begin flood cleanup"
Kansas City Star, July 12, 2011 - "Farmland in Carroll County covered with floodwaters"
Missouri National Guard Blog - July 12, 2011 - "Guardsmen rescue family from flooding home"
St. Louis Post-Dispatch - July 12, 2011 - "McCaskill, Blunt say Missouri River summit aims to get beyond old battles"
St. Louis Post-Dispatch - July 13, 2011 - "Federal Flood Insurance confuses many along Missouri River basin"

Updated forecast on Gavin's releases - river now closed upstream of Glasgow

2011-07-11T23:04:00.002-05:00

Two little pieces of just released news, and some more details on levees and the threat to US65:

1. The Corps has released more details on their forecast for Gavin's Point releases. On July 30, releases will be reduced from 160,000 cfs to 155,000. On August 1, they will be reduced to 150,000. Heavy rains could still affect this forecast.

2. The Coast Guard has extended the closure of the Missouri River to all traffic from the Gavin's Point Dam to the Glasgow bridge at river mile 226.3.

3. Snowpack continues to melt. Here's the latest: The snow above Fort Peck peaked at 141% of normal and is now down to 6% of normal. The snow in the reach between Fort Peck and Garrison (primarily the Yellowstone basin) peaked at 136% and is now down to 4%. The snow in the North Plate basin pecked at 150% of Normal and is currently down to less than 10% and the snow pack in the South Platte Basin peaked at 150% of Normal and the melting in this reach is complete.

4. From Tom Waters of the Missouri Levee & Drainage District Assoc.: The Root Levee breached early this morning. This levee is located in Southern Carroll County in Missouri. The breach is 250-33 feet long. The levee is part of a system of levees, which includes the following levees: Wakenda Levee, Sambo Slough Levee, and the Farmers Levee. Combined this system protects around 22,000 acres and US Highway 65 south of Carrollton, Missouri.

MODOT is watching US 65 in Carroll County very closely. Levee problems in that area may eventually close this highway and the bridge between Carrollton and Waverly. Current US 65 has one lane open. 9,000 feet of large sand bags have been placed along the highway to try to keep it open.

Here is a map of the levee break, posted by the Corps of Engineers Missouri River Joint Communications Office: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=242770479083722&set=a.236052829755487.71723.223208304373273&type=1&theater

Here's the latest on levee overtops and breaches, courtesy of the Missouri Levee & Drainage District Assoc:

***At this time, all Non-Federal Levees in the KC District located upstream of Kansas City are either overtopping or have been breached***

Levees Overtopping

A private levee in the Malta Bend bottoms is overtopping. Began 7/9/11
The Belcher-Lozier Levee in Carroll County is overtopping. This levee is one of four levees that had a major breach last year. Belcher-Lozier is one levee of several making up a very large levee system in Southern Carroll County. It is located near Norborne, Missouri. Began 7/7/11
The Wolcott Levee Section #3 is overtopping. This levee is located near Interstate I-435 at the Leavenworth and Wyandotte County lines. Section #2 has failed. Began 7/2/11
The Wolcott Levee Section #1 is overtopping. This levee is located near Interstate I-435 at the Leavenworth and Wyandotte County lines. Began again on 7/2/11
The Kansas Department of Corrections Levee is overtopping near Lansing, KS. Began 6/29/11
Federal Levee L-536-550 Turkey Creek LB. Rock Creek RB, Missouri River RB and Mill Creek RB is overtopping near River Mile 521. This is between Corning, MO and Rock Port, MO. This levee goes up the Right Bank of Rock Creek at the upper end of the system and up Mill Creek at the lower end of the system. The overtopping is occurring at a location on the Missouri River section of the levee L-536 at River Mile 521 for approximately 1/2 mile. This levee system protects nearly 14,000 acres and 45 residential buildings with a population of 25. Began 6/27/11
Federal Levee R-548 near Brownville, Nebraska is overtopping. Began 6/20/11
Cannon Drainage District Levee Near Forest City, Missouri Began 6/23/11
Grape-Bolin Schwartz Levee Association Levee, Near Weston, Missouri Began 6/27/11
Henry Pohl Levee, Near Atchison Began 6/27/11

Current Levee Breaches

Root Levee in Southern Carroll County, Missouri
Wolcott Drainage District Levee Section #2 near Interstate I-435 at the Leavenworth and Wyandotte County lines.
L-575 Second Breach Near Percival, Iowa
Bean Lake Levee
Rushville-Sugar Lake, Also impacts Platte County Levees #1 and #2
L-575 Near Hamburg, Iowa
Union Township, Near Craig, Missouri
Holt County #10, Big Lake, Missouri
Holt County Levee #9, Forest City, Missouri
L-550, Near Watson, Missouri

Private Levees Breached (Not in PL84-99 Rehab Program)

A private levee west of Missouri City, Missouri and South of Old Highway 210 has breached.
Vanmann Levee #30, Near Desoto Bend
Mill Creek Levee, Holt County near Corning
Big Tarkio River Levee-Holt County near Craig
Levee District #10 Levee-Holt County near Big Lake
Private levee just south of Blair, Nebraska in Iowa (Name not available)

Columbia Tribune: River Advocates Hatch Big Cleanup Plan

2011-07-11T14:28:00.001-05:00

Originally published on July 2, 2011 in the Columbia Daily Tribune
Click here for original link.
By Brennan David

Today was supposed to be the day when paddlers raced south to the state capital for a fundraiser supporting a Missouri River cleanup. Instead, the river relief group now is making plans to clear the banks with a trash barge after the flooding, which resulted in the race’s postponement, recedes.

Missouri River Relief plans to use the trash barge this fall in its effort to clean up tons of trash to be left behind by summer flooding. The not-for-profit organization is working to secure a barge that would store trash for volunteers as they move downriver from Kansas City to St. Louis. The September and October cleanup would be the largest endeavor yet for the 10-year-old organization, which works to connect people with the river through cleanup and education events.

“I’m optimistic floodwaters will recede in time for the cleanup,” program manager Steve Schnarr said. “But September is a long time from now.”

Schnarr said several factors could determine whether the cleanup gets a green light. The U.S. Coast Guard could shut down the river if floodwaters are well above flood stage, and safety also is a concern.

The organization generally plans river cleanups that are community-based and volunteer-driven, he said. But it also cautions against placing volunteers on the river or its banks during flooding.

“Fall could be the perfect time to do a cleanup like this, but we have to do what is safe,” he said.

If the cleanup does take place, Missouri River Relief would lease a trash barge used for cleanup on the Mississippi River for an estimated $200,000. Walking the Missouri River from its Kansas border to its confluence with the Mississippi River will take volunteers to remote areas the group has never cleaned.

“A lot of places on the river where trash collects are pretty remote,” Schnarr said. “Most of our cleanups are community-based, so they clean up around their community. It’s not typical that we clean up the remote areas. Having a barge is really the only way to get to these places.”

Although a barge makes such a large-scale cleanup possible, the cleanup will still be done manually. The barge would move once or twice a week as volunteers make their way down the river, Schnarr said. Flat-bottomed boats would transfer trash from land to a stockpile on the barge.

Schnarr said he suspects tons of trash will be dropped locally as water recedes. In 2010, more than 2,100 volunteers removed 55 tons of trash from 79 miles of river through Missouri River Relief efforts.

As a result of flooding, the second annual Race to the Dome fundraiser to benefit Missouri River Relief was postponed from today until Oct. 2. Last year’s race drew 99 participants in 66 boats and raised almost $2,000.

“I’m hoping it can be done by then,” race organizer Patrick Lynn said of the flooding. “It’s one of the better times to get on the river. … But conditions change in November.”

Participants can choose the original 15.8-mile Hartsburg-to-Jefferson City course or the 26.6-mile Providence access-to-Jefferson City race. The races run simultaneously.

Missouri River Communities Adjust to the "New Normal": High Water, Soggy Levees and Jitters with Each Rain

2011-07-11T13:12:00.011-05:00

blogmaster's note: It's been over a week since I published a compilation of links here. I apologize for the lull. -steve

At most gages on the river, except a few just downstream of Kansas City, river levels are dropping or remaining steady. Flood fighting continues at many locations along the river, and attention in many areas is shifting to watching soggy levees and keeping an eye on the weather forecast. Unlike many flood events, a "crest" in the river doesn't mean that a particular location is out of danger from this flood. Consistent or widespread rain can still cause local or downstream river rises while the peak flows continue from the dams. The Corps continues to say that releases from Gavin's Point Dam will remain at 160,000 cfs "well into August". Any heavy rain events in the upper basin could change this.

According to the Missouri Levee & Drainage Improvement Association, all non-federal primary levees north of Kansas City are overtopped or breached. A major levee in Carroll County, MO, downstream of Kansas City, which protects over ten thousand acres of farmland, is overtopping and residents are fighting the river with massive sandbags (click here for an map of the levee system). The "crest" here has broken the record set in 1993.

MODOT is watching US 65 in Carroll County very closely. Levee problems in that area may eventually close this highway and the bridge between Carrollton and Waverly. Current US 65 has one lane open. 9,000 feet of large sand bags have been placed along the highway to try to keep it open.

Politicians from all affected states are beginning their jockeying to protect their perceived interests as some attention shifts to re-evaluating the management of the river even as the flood continues. While journalists and other stakeholders seem to be looking for a fresh perspective, several politicians seem to be lining up along the familiar upper vs. lower state lines. See articles below for some of the analysis from a variety of newspaper and political sources.

Here's a compilation of recent links regarding the continued Missouri River flood.

News Sources
(see previous posts for more excellent links to facebook pages and news feeds on the ongoing flood)
MightyMoRiver Gazette - a newspaper style collection of flood news feeds

Newspaper Special Sections
Many major papers along the river have created landing pages for the latest on local flood news, photos and videos. Here's a few:

Bismarck Tribune - Bismarck/Mandan, North Dakota
Capital Journal - Pierre, South Dakota
Yankton Daily Press-Dakotan - Yankton, South Dakota
Sioux City Journal - Sioux City, Iowa
Omaha World-Herald - Omaha, NE/Council Bluffs, IA - The most comprehensive of the Special Sections
St. Joseph News-Press - St. Joseph, MO
Kansas City Star - Does not have a special section
Columbia Missourian - Columbia, MO
St. Louis Post-Dispatch - St. Louis, MO - Their page is called One River, One Problem. It also has a Facebook Page . In addition to posting news stories from the flood, this page is focused on discussions about changing the management of the Missouri River (see below).

Flood Science
Omaha World-Herald, July 11, 2011 - "USGS notes flood's quirks"
Columbia Tribune, July5, 2011 - "Scientist Questions Flood Benefits of Public Land Along Missouri River" USGS fluvial geomorphologist Robb Jacobson leads study on flood retention potential of public lands in the floodplain.
Associated Press, July 9, 2011 - "Experts Expect More Missouri River Levee Failures"

Aerial Photography & Video

Lee Valley Auction - This pilot, whose farm has flooded, has been doing almost daily flights to keep neighbors informed of conditions north of Omaha. Click here.
KPTM - Channel 42, Omaha
Nasa.com - Satellite view of Omaha area - ALSO - Comparison of satellite photos from June 26 and July 4 of Lower Missouri River flooding. ALSO - Comparison of satellite photos from 2010 and July 10, 2011 of Missouri stretch of the river.
KETV Channel 7 - Omaha - Aerial photos submitted by viewers.

Editorial Analysis and Perspectives
St. Louis Beacon, July 11, 2011 - "Flood expert Galloway: Missouri River needs comprehensive plan" Former Army Brigadier General Gerald Galloway again brings up ideas promoted in a report he helped write post-1993 flood on reducing flood risk. Click here to download 1994 report, "Sharing the Challenge".
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 2011 - "One River, One Problem" - a series of editorials and discussions on Missouri River management. The series was inspired by a P-D editorial with that title written in 1944 (the year of the Flood Control Act passed by Congress that implemented the Pick-Sloan Plan creating the reservoir system/navigation channel. Click here to read a reprint of the 1944 editorial.
Columbia Tribune, July 10, 2011 - "Wild Weather Wrecks Havoc on Corps' Plans" - a pretty balanced look at the different variables contributing to this flood.
Bismark Tribune, July 9, 2011 - "Making Peace with the Missouri River"
Sioux City Journal, July 9, 2011 - "Tragedy Aside - Flood will benefit knowledge of Missouri River"
Marshall Democrat-News, July 5, 2011 - "Flood of 2011 illuminates question of priorities"

Missouri River Politics
St. Joseph News-Press, July 11, 2011 - "Graves’ amendment points out ‘absurdity’- Corps spends millions more on wildlife than on levees"
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 10, 2011 - "Senators to Meet Over Future of Missouri River"
Missouri.net, July 7, 2011 - "Time To Study Levee Districts and the Missouri River Basin?" (audio) State of Missouri Agriculture Director calls for study of levee system.
Associated Press, July 8, 2011 - "Ag Secretary Questions Corps on Missouri River Flooding"
Omaha World-Herald, July 8, 2011 - "Branstead Criticizes River Group"
Columbia Tribune, July 6, 2011 - "McCaskill calls Corps inquiries seeking property along Missouri River insenstitive" Also - Tribune publisher Hank Waters writes a response editorial: "Claire and the Corps - Politics or Bad Performance?"

Montana
Billings Gazette, July 11, 2011 - "A Tour of Fort Peck Dam: An Engineering Marvel Holds Back Massive Missouri River"
Billings Gazette, July 11, 2011 - "Oil Spill Cleanup continues on Yellowstone River"
Time Blog, July 11, 2011 - "Why Yellowstone Oil Spill So Difficult to Clean Up"

Dakotas
Yankton Press-Dakotan, July 8, 2011 - "Dams Burdened by Rain"
Sioux City Journal, July 11, 2011 - "Some Along Missouri Wonder Why they Received no Levees"
Jamestown Sun, July 8, 2011 - "Officials need to be ready when river returns to "normal""
Omaha World-Herald, July 9, 2011 - "Reservoirs Gain a Little Room"

Iowa/Nebraska
Omaha World-Herald - July 11, 2011 - "Unwelcome News for Displaced"
KTIV - Channel 4, Sioux City - July 10, 2011 - "Sandbags fighting more than water" - Sun degradation is yet another force working against temporary flood protection.
Associated Press, July 5, 2011 - "Congested Missouri River Threatens Tributaries"
Omaha World-Herald - July 8, 2011 - "More Omahans Get Flood Warnings"
KETV Channel 7, Omaha - July 6, 2011 - "Aid could come slowly for flood Victims"
Omaha World Herald - July 7, 2011 - "Blasting of Levee OK with Branstad"

Kansas/Missouri
KMZU - 100.7 Carrollton, MO - July 11, 2011 - "Wakenda Levee Breaks"
Marshall Democrat-News - July 9, 2011 (Updated July 11) - "Private Levee Overtops in Malta Bend Bottoms"
Missouri.net, July 7, 2011 - "Missouri Levee Association Chair Provides Latest Flood Info" (audio story)
St. Joseph News-Press, July 6, 2011 - "Flood Fest 2011 to raise funds for relief"
Kansas City Star, July 8, 2011 - "Missouri River overtops Carroll County Levee"
Pulaski County News, July 8, 2011 - "Missouri National Guard conducts anti-flood operations in Cooper County in Wooldridge, MO"

Iowa and Nebraska border becomes an inland sea - flood spreads downstream

2011-06-29T12:33:00.003-05:00

It's been said over and over...this flood is unlike any other. Because of the dam system, the Corps of Engineers was able to take the top off a monstrous flood and spread it out over time. So now we have a severe to moderate flood for at least two months straight.

In communities closer to the dam, it's guaranteed to be high all summer. The further downstream you go, the continuous flooding will be less severe, but the chance exists with a lot of rain for a really massive flood event on top of it all. In addition to the tens of thousands of acres of flooded farmland and rural towns behind failed levees, the more protected urban areas are in for a constant test and struggle off their defenses and infrastructure. This is going to be one tiring summer.

A major storm Sunday night focused over Northwest Missouri caused a major spike in areas that had been holding steady because of a lack of rain...from the border south. The rains also caused spikes from Sioux City on down. A heavy equipment operator at the Fort Calhoun nuclear plant near Blair, NE, punctured the AquaDam surrounding the plant, causing floodwaters to move up to the building itself and splashing the plant all over national news. According to plant officials, the building itself is watertight for several more feet. Details in stories below.

It's getting tougher to cross the Missouri River as new bridges are closing each day.

Hamburg, IA, surrounded by temporary levee

Currently, very little rain is forecast in the basin for the next several days, giving a break for communities preparing for bigger water. Levees are breaking like crazy in northern Missouri/Kansas and heading downstream.

Here's an update on some good news coverage throughout the flood zone:

Some News and Information Aggregate Sites
Big Muddy News only publishes updates a couple times a week. We're a good place to check in here and there for a pulse of what's going on. But there are a lot of constantly updated sites you can check out for the absolute latest information. In addition, browse previous postings for other great links. Here's a few:
Missouri River Flood Event and Activities - interactive map of news, flood relief info and volunteer info:http://mightymoriver.crowdmap.com/
On Facebook:

Missouri River Flooding 2011
2011 Missouri River Flood
Missouri Flood Info - a government collaboration
Missouri DNR Missouri River Flooding
Missouri Levee and Drainage District Association Twitter feed
Operation Mighty Mo - Missouri River Joint Information Center

Army Corps of Engineers Omaha District Flood Page - projections, inundation maps, tips on sandbagging, levee knowledge, more
Army Corps of Engineers Kansas City District Flood Page
National Weather Service Missouri River Basin Overview

Aerial Photos and video

Earth Observatory satellite photos. Notice the urban bottlenecks.
Stunning You-Tube Video by an airplane passenger landing at Eppley Airfield in Omaha. The plane is approaching from the north on the Iowa side. Note the very skinny channelized river as the plane passes over. Click here
Aerial photos from Omaha area by Brad Williams. Or you can go to his website: www.bradwilliamsphotography.com
Aerial photos by Lee Valley Auction and Realty
Aerial photos posted by South Dakota Disaster Response

Montana
CNN blog, June 24, 2011 - "Waiting for Snowpack to Melt, How Fast and Furious will the Snowpack Gush into the Missouri River?" According to the Corps of Engineers, the snow above Fort Peck peaked at 141% of normal and is now down to 25% of normal. The snow in the reach between Fort Peck and Garrison (primarily the Yellowstone basin) peaked at 136% and is now down to 27%.

Dakotas
KSFY-TV - Pierre - "Local official tried to warn Corps of potential flooding in February" - a story about a local man who had been watching snowpack accumulate in National Weather Service data and tried to spread awareness of the possibility of major flooding. This was before the May rains that changed the game. A well done, non-hysterical local news story.
US Army Corps of Engineers - June 28, 2011 - Corps to inspect spillway gates at Big Bend July 1 - The Corps will be shutting down the spillway to check for erosion and stability of structure. They anticipate this will take one day.
Bismarck Tribune - June 28, 2011 - "Missouri River Scour threatens property, digs deep" Scouring has created spots along Missouri River 100 feet deep.

Iowa/Nebraska
Omaha World Herald, June 27, 2011 - "Flood test not over for nuke plant"
Omaha World Herald, June 27, 2011 - "NRC chief stays dry at Cooper plant"
Omaha World Herald, June 28, 2011 - "NRC: Nuke disaster risk low" after visiting Fort Calhoun plant
Omaha World Herald, June 29, 2011 - "Bridge stroll a lesson on the river" Teachers use the flood as a teaching tool.
KETC-Channel 7 - Omaha, June 28, 2011 - "Bluffs residents fight flood from below - Water reported in hundreds of basements in city"
Sioux City Journal, June 28, 2011 - "All's quiet in Decatur with bridge closed"
Reuters, June 27, 2011 - "Regulator signs off on threatened Cooper nuclear plant"
Associated Press, June 27, 2011 (video) - "Flood Challenges nuclear plant"

Missouri/Kansas
St. Joseph News-Press, June 27, 2011 - "Flooding Closes Casino"
St. Joseph News-Press, June 28, 2011 - "Officials fight flooding river" Including photos of casino employees cars flooded in parking lot.
St. Joseph News-Press, June 28, 2011 - "As flood closes highway bridge, Atchison residents worry" Atchison, KS, cut off from Missouri.
Kansas City Star, June 27, 2011 - "Information on Flood flows many ways" - Social media helps spread important information along with misinformation.
Kansas City Star, June 28, 2011 - "Businesses get ready for Missouri River flooding"
Columbia Missourian, June 29, 2011 - "Missouri River Flooding Closes one road to Cooper's Landing" Actually both roads are covered right now. Waters should begin dropping this weekend.
Lake News Online, June 28, 2011 - "Flooding on Missouri Slows down Bagnell Dam operations"

160,000 cfs to continue until mid-August

2011-06-26T11:37:00.002-05:00

Once again, substantial rain in the upper basin, as well as the lower river, forced the Corps to bump up their Gavin Point dam releases to 160,000 cubic feet per second (cfs). They now say this new peak flow will continue "well into August". Revisions of the projected flood inundation maps will be released soon. Releases are being adjusted constantly throughout the reservoir system as the Corps tries to make room for new pulses of runoff while providing a steady flow out of Gavin's Point Dam.

Many more levees have broken and overtopped, floodwaters are backing up into new areas and up the tributaries. Several more towns have been evacuated. With rain on top of that, the hydrological projections have been gyrating and changing with each new projection. That uncertainty on top of the certainty that this will go on all summer is a tough combination for everyone that lives or works along the river.

It appeared earlier this week that levee breaches dropped the "crest" enough at Brownville to keep the beseiged Cooper Nuclear Plant from reaching their "mandatory shutdown" river stage of 45.5 feet. Yet after a brief trough, the projection goes up again. Towns in the St. Joseph area experienced the same reprieve.

The Iowa & Nebraska border has become an inland sea pinched off by an hourglass bottleneck at Omaha/Council Bluffs. An inland sea moving downstream but not going away anytime soon.

Dramatic images of Nebraska's two nuclear power plants surrounded by water have helped fuel some wild rumors. There is a section below of stories related to these plants.

One by one, communities downriver are adding flood protection, or moving out. The uncertainty of what will happen is forcing decisions to take action now. All river traffic has been closed by the Coast Guard from Leavenworth to Gavin's Point Dam.

The tenacity and hard work of family, neighbors and volunteers has been a major part of the story in this midwest region. There is a lot of frustration, of course, and the blame game is ongoing, but mostly people realize the reality of the situation and are acting on their own to deal with it. It's pretty inspiring, and what some of these communities have accomplished in short times is amazing.

A lot is being published on the web on the flood, despite the relative silence in much of the national media. There are several great news feeds, both from official sources and the general public. I've posted many of these in previous posts. Here's a collection of stories and links from the past several days:

Interactive Flood Maps
link to news stories, volunteer info and more
Missouri River Flood & Event Activities - a volunteer-based information "Crowdmap" network on the flood
Interactive Flood Map - Omaha World-Herald updates each day: shows county by county updates of Iowa/Nebraska flooding
Advanced Hydrological Predictions - Missouri River Basin - click the colored dot to link to hydrograph.

Montana
Great Falls Tribune, June 24, 2011 - "Flooding Likely to Return to Montana"
Story from June 6, 2011 - for perspective on the snowmelt we are now experiencing - Bismarck Tribune - "Abominable Snowpack Lurking in Montana Mountains"

Dakotas
Pierre Capital Journal, June 24, 2011 - "High Tributary Flows Due to Heavy Rain Near Pierre"
Associated Press, June 24, 2011 - "SD Gov. Dennis Daugaard takes lead role in Missouri River flood fight"
Yankton Press-Dakotan, June 24, 2011 - "Flows Of 160,000 cfs Threaten More Yankton-Area Homes"
Yankton Press-Dakotan, June 25, 2011 - "Residents rush to fix levees"
Bismarck Tribune, June 25, 2011 - "Groups begin planning for flood aftermath of tree die-offs"
Bismarck Tribune, June 24, 2011 - "Voluntary Evacuations to continue indefinitely"
Pierre Capital Journal, June 25, 2011 - "Oahe Reservoir to peak 2/10 of a foot from top of spillway gates"

Iowa/Nebraska
The Omaha World Herald has run a really good series of background articles following up recent days rain -

June 26, 2011 - "May rains were real kicker in big water year" - a Q&A with Corps officials to gain perspective on the amount of water in the system.
June 26, 2011 - "Where the water comes from, how it’s used" - a breakout of the percentages of how and for what uses the reservoir system stores or releases water.
June 26, 2011 - "Flooding: The worst is yet to come"
June 26, 2011 - "Rain, breaches multiply worries"
Interactive Flood Map - shows county by county updates of Iowa/Nebraska flooding
June 25, 2011 - "Filling sandbags while they can"
June 25, 2011 - "Heavy rains fill Omaha Streets"

Reuters, June 24, 2011 - "Above the Missouri River, only treetops and rooftops"
Council Bluffs Daily Nonpariel, June 25, 2011 - "FLOOD: Farmers, officials join forces to fortify levees, keep water at bay" - volunteers and officials rebuild over 30 miles of levees in area north of Council Bluffs.
Lincon Journal-Star, June 24, 2011 - "It's season of flooding, finger-pointing for Corps of Engineers"
Wallace's Farmer, June 24, 2011 - "Flooded Farmers reassured by USDA Risk Management Agency" - Flood insurance will apply to this event for farmers. The other side of the coin is the many people who never anticipated a flood, weren't in a federal floodplain but are flooded.
Sioux City Journal, June 25, 2011 - "Truckers driving more to accommodate I-29 flooding detours''
Sioux City Journal, June 26, 2011 - "EXPLAINER: How Americans came to rely on the sandbag"
PHOTOS - Sioux City Journal, June 23, 2011 - Flooding in South Sioux City
Des Moines Register, June 26, 2011 - "Opinion - Missouri River Compromise"

Updates on Cooper and Fort Calhoun Nuclear Plants
Iowa Independant, June 24, 2011 - "NRC spokesman: No need for Nebraska spent nuclear fuel casks to be protected"
Associated Press, June 24, 2011 - "Nebraska nuclear plant gets relief from levee breach"

Wall St. Journal, June 24, 2011 - "Nuclear Regulator to visit Nebraska Plants Amid Flooding"
Bulletin of Atomic Scientists - "Rising Water, Falling Journalism"
US Nuclear Regulatory Commission Public Relations - "Rumors and the Rising River"
Ashville Citizen-Times, June, 24, 2011 - "Floods spur wild rumors of nuclear plant perils in Nebraska"

Kansas/Missouri
St. Joseph Channel 3 - June 24, 2011 - "Atchison County Residents Worn Out by Floodwater" with video
St. Joseph News-Press - June 25, 2011 - "Nasty Stuff - Public Advised to Stay Away from Floodwaters"
St. Jopeph News-Press - June 25, 2011 - "Trying to make a living - Businesses affected by flood find day-to-day operations difficult" - A 27 mile commute becomes a 150 mile commute with road closures.
Kansas City Star, June 24, 2011 - "Levee break upstream delays flooding near Kansas City" & "Corps letter causes dust-up"
Kansas City Star, June 25, 2011 - "Levee breaches continue"
Columbia Missourian, June 24, 2011 - "Flood barriers placed along Katy Trail in Rocheport" It's a precaution. This river town is still open for business and Katy Trail is open.
Kansas City Star, June 26, 2011 - "Missouri River is taking toll on recreation"

Some dams increase to 160,000cfs; more levees fail in Iowa and Missouri

2011-06-21T13:15:00.005-05:00

Rain (and predicted rain) in the upper plains states have caused the Corps of Engineers to ramp up releases of water from Oahe and Big Bend reservoirs to 160,000 cfs. In their nightly briefing, the Corps said, "If weather continues to deteriorate the Corps will lose its ability to manage intra-system adjustments and may have to increase releases from Fort Randall and Gavins Point".The releases combined with rain have increased flooding in the Pierre, SD area. Rainfall also has caused small spikes in the river in the Sioux City area and below.

The Corps releases daily average inflow and outflow at each dam, and on Monday, June 20, 4 out of the 6 dams in the system were receiving much more water than they were releasing.

Over the weekend, several levees breached or began overtopping near the Iowa/Missouri border, flooding areas near Big Lake, Craig and Rockport, MO, and Brownville, NE. The Coast Guard closed an additional 100 miles of the river to all navigation. The river is now closed from St. Joseph (rivermile 450) to Gavin's Point Dam (rivermile 811).

Sandbagging has been ongoing along the Nebraska/Iowa border, and sand supplies are getting low in Omaha and Sioux City. Infrastructure continues to be strained, with sewer and drainage problems increasing as many outflows to the river are closed. 30% of Nebraska's power production is offline due to flooding. Huge swaths of agricultural land are flooded in Nebraska, Iowa and northern Missouri. All bridges crossing the river south of Plattsmouth and north of St. Joseph are closed due to flooding on their entrance ramps. Many highway and road closures, including sections of I-29, are causing major travel delays across the region.

Nebraska's two nuclear power plants have been the source of a lot of attention as well as rampant rumors. Currently, power officials say both plants have flooding contained. A quick 2 foot rise in the river on Sunday near Brownville put that gage in record territory, and brought the Cooper Nuclear Plant within one foot of the stage at which the plant goes into shutdown mode.

In mid-Missouri, the river remains high but not in danger of serious flooding yet. For lower reaches of the river, it will take substantial rain to bring the river to the levels predicted by the Corps of Engineers. Farmers are already suffering from seepage and lack of drainage in their fields.

Here's some links to news stories throughout the basin (scroll to previous posts for more general links):

River Behavior & Background
Omaha World-Herald, June 18, 2011 - "Floods changing river channel"
Omaha World-Herald, June 21, 2011 - "Rain the wild card in flooding"

Montana
Vancouver Sun, June 19, 2011 - "Antelope stranded by high waters after epic winter"
Great Falls Tribune, June 16, 2011 - "Floods could help regenerate iconic cottonwoods"
Journal Star (Lincoln, NE), June 17, 2011 - "Dear Nebraska: Sorry about water, but more on the way. Love, Montana"

Dakotas
Bismarck Tribune, June 20, 2011 - "Next 72 hours critical in flood fight"
Pierre Capital Journal, June 21, 2011 - "Pierre, Fort Pierre prepare for 160,000 cfs"
Rapid City Journal, June 20, 2011 - "Corps caught in the middle"

Nebraska/Iowa
For constant updates and lots of photos and video, check out local newspaper flood pages:

Sioux City Journal, June 21, 2011 - "Rains to push Big Sioux River at Sioux City to near 1993 crest" - the Big Sioux is a major tributary of the Missouri that runs through eastern South Dakota and enters the Missouri River just north of Sioux City, just downstream of Dakota Dunes.
Sioux City Journal, June 21, 2011 - "Severe weather? Higher dam releases? Brown has a plan for that"
Omaha World-Herald, June 20, 2011 - "Cooper was near shutdown"
Reuters, June 20, - "Missouri flood closes 100 miles of bridges"
Wallace's Farmer - "Farmers Voice Opinions On Missouri River Flooding" US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilseck tells flooded farmers budget realities mean they shouldn't expect more disaster relief from Washington.
Omaha World-Herald - Aerial flood photos

Missouri/Kansas
St. Joseph News-Press, June 20, 2011 - "Craig residents asked to evacuate"
Kansas City Star, June 19, 2011 - "Missouri River overtops levees in Holt, Atchison Counties"
Kansas City Star, June 19, 2011 - "Coast Guard closes 100 more miles of Missouri River" bringing total closure from rivermile 450 near St. Joseph to the Gavin's Point Dam
St. Joseph News-Press, June 18, 2011 - "Lord willing and the creek don't rise"
KOMU, Channel 8, Columbia June 19, 2011 - "Wooldridge Evacuating in Preparation for Flooding"
Missouri News Horizon, June 21, 2011 - "Corps General comes to Missouri Capital"

150,000 cfs - the long flood fight has just begun

2011-06-15T16:18:00.005-05:00

On Tuesday, June 14th, the Corps of Engineers brought releases at Gavin's Point dam up to 150,000 cfs. Releases are expected to stay there until at least mid-August, according to the latest Corps announcements. Rain continues to fall in the upper basin, and rain storms (not extreme) have been moving through the lower basin all week, expected to continue through to the weekend.

Levees and banks, expecially temporary sandbag and earthen levees are now being tested, and will continue to be tested as the summer onslaught continues. Levees have been breached near Hamburg, IA, and in Holt County, MO. Throughout the areas receiving the most intense flooding, the Dakotas, Nebraska and Iowa, it is agricultural land and rural communities that are the most hard hit. Urban areas are generally more protected, but are feeling the effects of road and interstate closures, utility infrastructure flooding, tributary flooding and bank erosion. The aerial photos being posted on the web (some linked below) are stunning.

The further downstream in Missouri you go, the less intense the threat is. Rainfall in tributaries such as the Grand has been less intense than the past several years, giving a cushion to downstream areas. It appears that a baseline for mid-Missouri, for example, is coming in below the Corps estimates. At least for the moment. Large snowmelt is expected in the Platte valley and new releases are being let out of Kansas River basin reservoirs ahead of the major water on the Missouri, and to release pressure on reservoirs such as the Milford Dam. The Corps continues to draw down Truman Lake on the Osage.

Here's some links to check out the latest on flooding:

Facebook
There are several really good Facebook pages focused on the flood, posting news stories from around the basin as well as information on sandbagging, relief efforts and Corps press releases. Here's a few I've been looking at:

Missouri River Flooding 2011 - a good news feed
2011 Missouri River Flood - a community page
Missouri Flood Info - public service page for state of Missouri
Operation Mighty Mo - the official page of the Missouri River Joint Information Center
US Army Corps of Engineers - Omaha District
US Army Corps of Engineers - Kansas City District
US Army Corps of Engineers - St. Louis District

Aerial Photography

Lee County Auctions (private plane - areas near Decatur and Blair) - includes photos of Fort Calhoun Nuclear Plant surrounded by water.
South Dakota Disaster Recovery photos
Aerial video of Omaha/Council Bluffs
Photos posted by Larry Geiger of Omaha to Gavin's.

This is a stunning one of I-29 north of Omaha looking south toward the city.

Corps Response
Brigadier General McMahon explains how Master Manual guided decisions during winter and spring. Click here.

Montana
Great Falls Tribune, June 13, 2011 - "Fort Peck officials work to stay ahead"

Dakotas
Bismarck Tribune, June 13, 2011 - "Flood Pollution will be minimal, experts say" - the article suggests the large flows should dilute toxins, then describes all of the things that are bound to end up in the river.

Video of canoe trip through flooded Bismarck - Say Anything Blog - June 14, 2011 - Click here.

Sioux Falls Argus Leader - "Residents deal with high water" - touching video of interviews with Dakotans fighting the flood.

Nebraska-Iowa
Hamburg Reporter, June 15, 2011 - "Update: Breach grows; new estimates indicates temporary levee near Hamburg may be topped"

KETV Channel 7, Omaha, constantly updated - Gallery of viewer submitted photos

Sioux City Journal, June 15, 2011 - aerial video tour of Siouxland area

Keloland TV, June 15, 2011 - "Big Sioux Floods Missouri River Boat Club"
Keloland TV, June 15, 2011 - "Missouri eating away at small river community"

Iowa Public Radio, June 15, 2011 - "Engineer doubts temporary levees will hold back floodwater"

Omaha World-Herald, continuously updated - "County by County map and flood impact updates" - a great at-a-glance resource.
Omaha World-Herald, June 15, 2011 - "Eppley fights off floodwaters" - the Omaha airport tries to keep floodwaters out.
Omaha World-Herald, June 15, 2011 - "Heineman's worry: Will Levees Hold?"
Omaha World-Herald, June 11, 2011 - "Policyholders get late surprise"

Des Moines Register, June 10, 2011 - "Branstead Chides Corps Missouri River management"

Videos of Hamburg Levee Breach posted by Atchison County Emergency Management. Click here.

Missouri
Kansas City Star, June 12, 2011 - "All hands on deck in St. Joseph" -

St. Joseph News-Press, June 8, 2011 - "Power Plants Prepare for Flooding"

Marshall Democrat-News, June 14, 2011 - "Expected flood of 2011 may be less dramatic, more chronic than 1993"

KRCG 13 TV, June 14, 2011 - "Mid-Missouri officials prepare for Missouri River flooding"

St. Louis Post Dispatch, June 15, 2011 - "Senator Blunt blames Missouri River flooding on 'faulty plan'" and then proceeds to spread more misinformation blaming endangered species. Unbelievably, he claims the Corps was holding water for their "Spring Rise" plan. Hopefully as this event proceeds, our policy makers will eventually be educated on the reality of the Missouri River.
St. Louis Post Dispatch, June 13, 2011 - "Army Corps of Engineers defends handling of Missouri River"
St. Louis Post Dispatch, June15, 2011 - "Flooding not expected to be heavy in St. Louis area, Corps says"

Gavin's releases approach 140 kcfs, new levees being tested

2011-06-10T10:23:00.004-05:00

As flows from Gavin's Point Dam approach 140 kcfs (thousand cubic feet per second), new levees and sandbag structures are being tested throughout South Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska. In addition to flooding of riverside homes and businesses, utilities and infrastructure are being tested in many communities. From water supplies, wastewater plants and train routes to interstate closures and electric plants, eyes are watching the rising floodwaters and the effects it will have on commerce and basic services. See below for frightening video of the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Plant, which is already surrounded by water.

Lower on the river, Missouri communities are attempting to prepare for predicted high flows which, because of relatively dry weather and low flowing tributaries, have not yet manifested. Rain is currently falling in Nebraska, Iowa and northwestern Missouri, heightening the chances for increased tributary flow.

Missouri River Flooding 2011 Facebook page
This page is doing a good job posting news stories several times a day from communities struggling with flooding. Click here.

Perspectives
A few editorials regarding the flood
Bismarck Tribune, June 9, 2011 - "Time to revive Mo River study?" - Brian Gehring

St. Louis Post Dispatch, June 7, 2011 - "Guest Commentary: The looming Missouri River dam flood" - Bernard Shanks
This is a frightening warning about the vulnerability of the dam system (specifically Fort Peck dam in Montana) to unprecedented reservoir levels and stress. The Corps continues to state that the reservoirs, under constant surveillance, are in good shape and performing as expected. In addition, the liquefaction fear that Shanks reports is mainly due to earthquakes, not water pressure. Still, fear of dam failure is a real concern...just not the most immediate concern to worry about right now.

Great Plains Examiner, June 9, 2011 - "Without answers from Corps, public blames flood on plovers"
A good look at some of the parameters the Corps is working under. However, the Corps has been explaining the unprecedented nature of the late spring snow pack and May Montana flooding, which is the real cause of the huge runoff numbers. We'd like to see what kind of spring releases would have been required to avoid these current releases - and suspect that there is no realistic scenario that would have avoided this.

Montana
Associated Press, June 8, 2011 - "Montana town floods for second time in 2 weeks"

Channel 3 KRTV, Great Falls, MT, June 8, 2011 - "Fort Peck Dam to increase water releases again"

Dakotas
KXTV, Bismarck, ND. June 9, 2011 - "River Speed"
Officials monitor river speed. Lower speed will mean a delta is forming downstream and river stages will rise.

KFYR, Bismarck, ND. June 9, 2011 - "Flooding Concerns around nuclear missles"

Sioux Falls Argus Leader, June 8, 2011 - "Some towns savor high water"
Fishing communities along lakes seeing increase in recreation with higher water.

Yankton Press Dakotan, June 9, 2011 - "Yankton suspends sandbagging operations"
"Fact or Fiction: Corps says dams are in good shape"
Live Gavin's Point Dam webcam.

Aerial photography from Wilcox Flying Service: Agpilot10's YouTube Channel.
A series of stunning photographs of areas above Gavin's Point Dam.

Iowa-Nebraska
There's a lot of news, video and photographs being generated in the reaches below the Gavin's point dam to Omaha. A good place to start is the Sioux City Journal Flood Section and Omaha World-Herald Flood Section:

KTIV Sioux City, June 8, 2011 - Aerial tour of flooding Siouxland area
Click here for another aerial view of Siouxland.

Corps of Engineers Press Release, June 9, 2011 - "Corps announces higher than expected flood crest stage on Missouri River at Blair, Neb."
This announcement does not affect the flooding inundation maps released by the Corps or the flow projections, just the project height of the flooding at this gage station.

Omaha World Herald, June 10, 2011 - "Stetches of I-29, I-680 close"
Several I-29 closures are expected between Missouri border and Sioux City, IA.
June 8, 2011 - "Platte too may pack a punch"

Channel 3 TV, Omaha, June 8, 2011 - video on the flooding and emergency declaration at Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant near Blair.

Lincoln Journal Star, June 8, 2011 - "Plattsmouth officials concerned about potable drinking water"

Des Moines Register, June 8, 2011 - "County by County look at Missouri River flood battle"

Missouri/Kansas
KMOX TV - St. Louis, June 8, 2011 - "Few Preparing for Possible Flooding on Missouri River Here"

Columbia Tribune - June 9, 2011 - "River Areas step up flood prep"

Parkville Luminary - June 10, 2011 - a series of stories about flood preparations.

Dam releases spike over weekend

2011-06-06T13:54:00.001-05:00

Following their plan of evacuating high runoff through the Missouri River reservoir system, the Corps of Engineers began accellerating releases from a string of mainstem dams this weekend. In order to give communities time to react to the impending flooding, the Corps had slowed the increase in releases last week. Late last week, those releases began to accelerate again.

Rain continues to fall in the upper basin, but the Corps has not publicly changed their reservoir operation schedule at this time. A spat of dry weather in the lower basin has given a moment of relief for lower river communities preparing for a summer of high water.

As the stakes have risen, various theories of blame have been tossed around, from blaming the Corps of Engineers for not releasing enough water this winter to blaming "upstream states" for fighting to hold too much water in the reservoirs for recreation to blaming the Endangered Species Act for somehow tying the Corps' hands. None of these scenarios is really true. The Corps followed their Master Manual, designed to leave plenty of room in the reservoirs to handle snowmelt and runoff. The runoff this year is unprecedented in timing and scale. The endangered species on the river had no impact on the Corps release decisions.

The event is a natural disaster controlled and mitigated by the dam system. What would have been a devastating relatively quick flood is being turned into a slow-motion, long-term but lower scale disaster. The dam system took a huge pulse of water and has squished it's crest, instead drawing it out over time. Below are a few articles attempting to take historical stock of the situation.

The first lower-river levee breaches have occurred near Hamburg, IA, a sign of things to come.

In typical disaster confusion, newspapers across the country reported that the entire Missouri River had been closed to recreational traffic by the Coast Guard. This was later revised to say that the Missouri River from Kansas City to St. Louis remained open to recreational boating.

Here's some more news and analysis from around the basin:

Perspectives
history, analysis and commentary on the causes of the flood
Omaha World-Herald, June 5, 2011 - "Even tamed, river a threat" by Nancy Gaarder

Mitchell Daily Republic, June 6, 2011 - "Who should bear the burden of flooded river?" by Bob Mercer

Council Bluffs Daily Non-pariel, June 5, 2011 - "The Missouri River has done this before" by Dennis Friend

Omaha World-Herald - "Nancy's Almanac" - Staff writer Nancy Gaarder has been reporting on the unfolding flood as well as posting more analysis and perspective in her column "Nancy's Almanac". Good work Nancy! Click here to see a feed of her stories.

Sioux City Journal - June 5, 2011 - "River experts: Flood risk can be mitigated"

Montana
Great Falls Tribune, June 3, 2011 - "Fort Peck Dam release begins; downstream residents warned of flooding"

Dakotas
Bismark Tribune, June 6, 2011 - "Missouri's rise still slow, below 18 feet"
Bismark Tribune, June 1, 2011 - "History and heartbreak: A sad day at Garrison Dam as spillway gates open"Yankton Press-Dakotan, June 4, 2011 - "Daugaard: State Is ‘Scrambling’ As Missouri River Rises"

Nebraska/Iowa
Omaha World-Herald, June 4, 2011 - "Flooding may close I-29 soon"
Omaha World-Herald, June 4, 2011 - "City dumps raw sewage in river"
Omaha World-Herald, June 6, 2011 - "Levee breaches bring new worry" - Two levee breaches near Hamburg, IA, seem to be a sobering indication of things to come.
Sioux City Journal, June 5, 2011 - "REMAINING UPBEAT - Work continues to protect homes from rising water"
Special Flood Coverage Page in Sioux City Journal - Click here. Links to all of the Journal's great flood coverage, including a live blog feed and debunking flood myths and rumors.

Missouri
Columbia Missourian, June 6, 2011 - "Local levees threatened by record-setting releases into Missouri River"
St. Louis Beacon, June 3, 2011 - "'Slow-motion tsunami' headed down the Missouri River"
Kansas City Star, June 4, 2011 - "Communities along the rising Missouri River prepare for flooding"
CBS KMOX, St. Louis, June 4, 2011 - "Missouri River Boating Ban Revised" It's unclear if this was a Coast Guard mistake or a journalist mistake, but the widely publicized closure of the entire Lower Missouri River to recreational traffic is not true for Kansas City to St. Louis for the moment.

Missouri River 340 cancelled - moved to Kansas River

2011-06-06T11:45:00.001-05:00

Organizers of the Missouri River 340, the world's longest non-stop paddler race from Kansas City, KS, to St. Charles, MO, have elected to cancel the ultramarathon race for 2011 due to a high likelihood the race course will be flooding at the scheduled date.

The race had registered over 340 boats for the 2011 event, which was to be the sixth annual run of the race. Near certainty of above flood stage river levels for most of the race course caused race organizer Scott Mansker to look for a new alternative. In order to give an option for racers who have been planning for months on the original July 19-22 dates, Mansker's organization, Rivermiles, elected to move the race to an alternative location, 150 miles of the Kansas River, from Manhattan, KS, to Kansas City, KS.

In a post on the Missouri River 340 race forum, Mansker explained the decision. "Back in 2005 when planning for the first race was underway, the original vision was for it to be held on the Kansas River. A much shorter race, but equally as grueling of an adventure because of the challenges of a sandy, braided river. The race was reconsidered for the Missouri because of some portages and other logistical issues. It all turned out well and we've had wonderful success with the MR340. But this year that door is closed, locked and under water."

"So, we've dusted off the notes from 2005 on how to put on an ultra marathon on the Kansas or "Kaw" River. That's where the race will be held this year, scheduled for the exact same time frame as the MR340, July 19th-22nd."

Details are still being developed on how the race, which will involve several portages around dams and obstructions, will be organized. For the latest, see the Rivermiles forum: http://rivermiles.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1307248919/all-0 Missouri River Relief, the charitable partner for the Missouri River 340 race, will help on the Kansas River race (as of yet unnamed) as portage shuttlers, safety boats and checkpoint volunteers.

Editorial: Flood blog by author of "Unruly River"

2011-06-03T16:30:00.000-05:00

For folks trying to understand the history and changes of the Missouri River, you can't do much better than reading "Unruly River" by Robert Kelley Schneiders.

Right now Dr. Schneiders is in the Dakotas now and is travelling along reporting on the flood as it happens throughout the basin. You can follow his observations at: http://ecointheknow.com/news/ .

Here's one of his pieces published June 3, 2011 in the Omaha World-Herald, reprinted with the author's permission. As always, the opinion pieces reprinted on Big Muddy News reflect the opinions of the author alone. They are important for gaining perspective on a complex issue.

Midlands Voices: Rethink flood role of Corps

By Robert Kelley Schneiders, Ph.D.

The writer, of Boulder, Colo., has written two books on the history of the Missouri River, “Unruly River: Two Centuries of Change Along the Missouri” (University Press of Kansas, 1999) and “Big Sky Rivers: The Yellowstone and Upper Missouri” (University Press of Kansas, 2003). He is the co-founder and director of Eco InTheKnow, LLC, www.ecointheknow.com.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently announced that the entire Missouri Valley, from Montana through the state of Missouri, faces the threat of flooding in the next several weeks. According to the Corps, this flood threat is unprecedented in the history of the Missouri because of the amount of water now, or soon to be, descending from the river. But it is unprecedented for another reason.

Prior to the construction of the Corps’s big Missouri River dams, the Missouri flooded twice each year. It flooded every April when the snowpack lying atop the prairies and plains melted and then poured into the river. Old-timers referred to this first flood of the year as the April Rise or Spring Fresh. The Spring Fresh lasted from a few days to a few weeks. The most powerful and damaging April rises occurred in 1881, 1943 and 1952.

Following the passage of the Spring Rise, the Missouri often dropped to below flood stage in late April and May. However, the Missouri bounced back up again in June, when the river’s second annual flood took place. Valley residents knew this flood as the June Rise or Summer Rise.

The June Rise resulted from the melting of the Rocky Mountain snowpack in conjunction with the advent of heavy thunderstorms across both the upper and lower Missouri basin. The June Rise carried more water, covered a larger area and lasted for a longer period of time than the April Fresh.

With the June Rise, the Missouri earned its nickname “The Mighty Mo.” During the largest June rises, water stretched from valley wall to valley wall, from the Dakotas all the way south into the state of Missouri. The Missouri also increased its volume to 10 or 15 times its normal flow rate. One of the highest June rises on record struck the two Kansas Cities in June 1903.

The present high flows in the Missouri are consistent with the river’s past hydrological character. This year’s projected Missouri River flood is another large June Rise.

But the soon-to-arrive Great Missouri River Flood of 2011 is unique. Why? Because it is going to happen all along the Missouri Valley in spite of the presence of the Corps’ six main-stem dams.

The Corps built the Dakota dams to prevent floods. One of the key advocates for the construction of those dams was a politically savvy general named Lewis A. Pick, who headed the Corps’ Missouri River Division in the mid-1940s. The Army later promoted him to chief of engineers because he did such a brilliant job of ensuring the Army’s dominance over the apportionment of the Missouri’s waters.

In the 1940s and 1950s, Pick acquired congressional funding for the Dakota dams by promising an end to the Missouri’s two annual floods.

After the completion of the main-stem dams, the Corps publicly claimed that it had “tamed” the Mighty Mo. It also encouraged development of the river’s former floodplain in order to solidify its political alliances with society’s industrial, agricultural, financial and real estate elites.

Consequently, factories arose in the lowlands, McMansions appeared directly on the banks of the river, concrete roadways cut paths through old channel areas, and corn and soybeans flourished within feet of the river’s fast-moving waters.

Today, Missouri Valley residents confront a disaster of historic proportions. But rather than blame the coming flood on global warming (although it may be a factor), we would be better served by examining the Corps’s role along the river.

More specifically, how has the Corps’s navigation channel from Sioux City to the mouth, and the reservoir release sequence at the upstream dams, contributed to this flood and other damaging floods?

It is a proven fact that the confined and straightened navigation channel reduced the lower river’s carrying capacity and increased its channel velocity — both factors increase the probability of floods and their destructive effects. Additionally, a greater drawdown of the reservoirs in the fall and winter will open up more floodwater storage space in the spring and summer.

A reassessment and alteration of the role of the Army Corps of Engineers along the Missouri might prevent a similar disaster in the future.

The writer is scheduled to give a presentation in Sioux City, Iowa, at 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 26. Hosted by the Betty Strong Encounter Center, the presentation is titled, “The Last Great Deluge: Siouxland, the Missouri River and the Epic Flood of 1952.”

Flood Update - Stories throughout the basin

2011-06-02T10:38:00.003-05:00

As the flood moves through the reservoirs in Montana and the Dakotas, unprecedented flooding is occurring in communities adjacent to the river below the dams. Rain continues to fall in Montana and snow melt has certainly begun in earnest, flowing into already swollen tributaries that feed the dams.

Several of the dams have reached capacity, and now Garrison Dam, above Bismark/Mandan North Dakota has begun opening it's spillway gates. This is part of the emergency plan the Corps has in place, but is the first time this has happened. Pierre, SD below Oahe Reservoir is being hit very hard, with emergency levees being built and preparing for over a month of very high releases.

In the lower river, below the Gavin's Point Dam, upstream communities are seeing rising waters in direct correlation with the increasing dam releases (now releasing at 85,000cfs) . Those releases will be increasing fast over the weekend and into next week, reaching 140,000 cfs by early next week (a bit earlier than previously projected).

The Corps has released flood inundation maps for the Omaha District (the Dakotas south to Rulo, NE). You can view them and other helpful documents on the US. Army Corps of Engineers Omaha District Flood Response Page by clicking here. The Kansas City District has provided a range of river stages to be expected from Rulo, NE to Hermann, MO throughout June and July, as the dams are releasing 150,000. You can access those on the Kansas City District Flood Response Page by clicking here. They also have offered a document showing at what level each levee will be overtopped and how likely that is (click here for levee projections)

Just how bad this will get is uncertain everywhere...the rapidity of snowmelt and precipitation can change everything. But the further downstream you go the more uncertain it gets, with the addition of tributaries like the Platte, Kansas, Grand, Osage and Gasconade. If there is significant rain, even similar to the last several years, we are looking at levels we haven't seen since 1995.

Here's a few stories from throughout the basin:

Montana
Associated Press, May 30, 2011 - "More rain, snow, National Guard troops for Mont."
Towns in Montana and the Dakotas struggle with flooding, prepare for more.

North and South Dakota
Huffington Post, May 31, 2011 - "Missouri River Flooding 2011: South Dakota Residents Told Evacuation Could Last 2 Months (with video)"
Towns are sandbagging and evacuating communities predicted to flood for several months.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Release, May 31, 2011 - "Garrison Dam spillway gates to open for floodwaters for first time"

Cherokee Chronicle Times, May 31, 2011 - "South Dakota towns erect flood walls"

Nebraska
Lincoln Journal Star, May 31, 2011 - "Diminsions of river overflows getting deeper"
Reservoirs in in the Platte are being drawn down as soon as possible ahead of snowmelt and ahead of highest Missouri River flows. Eyes are on the Cooper Nuclear Plant near Brownville, NE, where the access road from Brownville is flooded and 6.5 more feet of water would force a plant shutdown.

Video: from Omaha World Herald Tribune of flooding in many NE and IA communities, June 2, 2011 - "Flooding Sights and Sounds"

Iowa
Sioux City Journal, June 1, 2011 - "Plan for South Sioux City flood barrier takes shape"
& "Flood of 2011 one for the history books"

Omaha World-Herald, June 2, 2011 - "Southwest Iowans pack up"

Missouri
St. Joseph News Press, June 1, 2011 - "Army Corps predicts river at 27 to 32 feet in St. Joseph"

Columbia Missourian, June 1, 2011 - "Record Precipitation, Reservoir Releases to Cause Missouri River Flooding"
A great overview of the flood from the perspective of Mid-Missouri.

KMOX - ABC News St. Louis, June 2, 2011 - "NWS: Dire Warning About “Significant Flooding” Threat Along Missouri River"

Some 2011 Flood Resources

2011-06-01T08:23:00.001-05:00

Just wanted to get a few links out there, where you can find more information relevant to your location along the Missouri River. Many of the prediction products will be updated, so check back in to the District Flood pages to find updates.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District Flood Resource Page - they handle the reservoir releases and the Missouri River from North Dakota to Rulo, NE - http://www.nwo.usace.army.mil/html/op-e/flood.html

On this page is some great information - here's a few highlights -
Flood Inundation Maps - for the whole Omaha District - high resolution maps show under current projections what parts of communities will be flooded and how deep. http://www.nwo.usace.army.mil/html/op-e/maps.html
Citizen Resources - http://www.nwo.usace.army.mil/html/op-e/flood2011/citizenresources.html
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/OmahaUSACE
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/OmahaUSACE
RSS newsfeed of latest: http://us.vocuspr.com/Publish/520028/PRAssetNWORiverwatch.xml

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District Flood Resource Page - they handle the Missouri River from Rulo, NE, to Hermann, MO - http://www.nwk.usace.army.mil/Flood/index.cfm

Here are a few highlights -
Potential range of river stages based on 150,000cfs from Gavin's Point Dam (Sioux City to St. Charles): http://bit.ly/iYjFXJ
Non-federal levee forecast - a more detailed forecast showing which levees will be overtopped under a "low" and "high" flood condition: http://www.nwk.usace.army.mil/Flood/SitRep/USACENonFederalLeveeExtendedForecast29May_b.pdf
Travel times of water from Gavin's Point Dam to locations along the Lower Missouri River: http://bit.ly/lr72Os
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/usace.kcd

National Weather Service Advanced Hydrological Prediction: http://water.weather.gov//ahps2/glance.php?wfo=eax&gage=kcdm7&riverid=203276&view=1,1,1,1,1,1
Check the boxes of the river gages you want to view on the left, click the info you want to view on the right, then click "Make my River Page" on the bottom. This only takes into account 24 hours advanced precipitation, but will have the reservoir releases built in to its prediction.

Corps updates reservoir release forecast to unprecedented levels

2011-05-29T06:34:00.001-05:00

On Saturday evening, May 28, the Corps of Engineers updated reservoir release projections again. The previous record release from Gavin's Point Dam was 70,000 cfs in 1997. Projected releases by mid-June have been increased to 150,000 cfs.

Press Releases from the US Army Corps Omaha District can be accessed on their website here: http://www.nwo.usace.army.mil/html/pa/pahm/newsreleases2011.htm

Here's the Corps release:

Omaha, Neb. – Rapidly changing weather conditions in Montana, northern Wyoming and the western Dakotas have prompted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to make adjustments to previously announced releases. Future releases will reach record levels considerably higher than those previously announced.

Releases from the Missouri River reservoirs, already at historic levels, will be increased again due to higher than forecast rains in North Dakota yesterday. Record flows and flooding are the result of above-normal snowpack and extraordinary rain events during the last several weeks. Significant flooding in cities, towns and agricultural land is expected in North and South Dakota with many areas from Sioux City, Iowa, to the Mississippi rising above flood stage.

Flows from five of the six dams are expected to reach a record 150,000 cfs by no later than mid-June. The previous record releases took place in the fall of 1997 at Gavins Point Dam in Yankton, S.D.

“Protecting lives is our number one priority right now,” said Brig. Gen. John McMahon, Commander of the Northwestern Division of the Army Corps of Engineers. “We are working closely with state and local emergency management teams to identify potential flood areas, provide residents with the most current information and help protect vital public infrastructure.”

People living along the river are encouraged to make evacuation plans to protect their possessions and property. Maps for potential flood areas can be found at: www.nwo.usace.army.mil. Residents in communities along the river are encouraged to contact their local emergency management offices for additional details.

Flooded areas are expected to be inundated for several months.

“Moving water out of the reservoirs is essential,” said General McMahon. “Our release plan is based on the rain we’ve already received and that which is forecast for this weekend and the snow melt forecast. More heavy rain storms could cause major revisions.”

“Due to our vigilant dam safety program, all dams are well prepared to handle the onslaught of floodwaters,” said McMahon. “This is what these reservoirs were designed to do. They are inspected and maintained on rigid schedules. Our dams are sound.”

In the last month, portions of the upper basin have received a year’s worth of rain. “The amount of rain has nearly filled the reservoirs, doing away with the flexibility we had built into our operations for this year,” said Jody Farhat, Chief of the Water Management Division here. “With the arrival of the 140 percent-of-normal snowpack runoff, all the reservoirs will reach their maximum levels, and two will use surcharge storage requiring the operation of the spillways.” Surcharge storage is storage in excess of the exclusive flood control pool. The exclusive flood control pool is the area of the reservoir designed exclusively for the storage of floodwaters.

“Our initial release plans were based on rains already received as well as what’s in the forecast for snowmelt,” said Farhat. “The continuous heavy rains we’re experiencing throughout the basin have dramatically altered our release plans and if we continue to receive heavy rains like this, major revisions in the plan will be necessary.”

Releases out of Fort Peck, Mont., will start to step up next week and are expected to reach 50,000 cfs by June 6. The reservoir will use several feet of surcharge storage above the exclusive flood control pool as the spillway gates are raised.

Garrison releases will increase from the current 80,000 cfs to 85,000 cfs on Monday and Tuesday, and will quickly be stepped up to 120,000 in early June. Releases are scheduled to reach 150,000 cfs no later than mid-June. The reservoir will utilize several feet of surcharge storage above the exclusive flood control pool as the spillway gates are raised. For the first time in history, the spillway gates will be used to pass floodwaters at Garrison Reservoir.

Oahe releases will be maintained at the 85,000 cfs rate through June 2 and then quickly stepped up to 130,000 cfs during the first week of June. Releases are scheduled to peak at 150,000 cfs no later than mid-June. The reservoir will peak within a foot of the top of the spillway gates at 1619 feet.

Big Bend releases will mirror those from Oahe, with its reservoir remaining essentially level at 1420 feet.

Releases from Fort Randall will gradually increase from the current 67,000 cfs to 100,000 cfs during the first week of June. Releases are scheduled to peak at 148,000 cfs no later than mid-June.

Releases from Gavins Point will gradually increase from the current 69,000 cfs to 100,000 cfs during the first week of June. Releases are scheduled to peak at 150,000 cfs no later than mid-June.

“State and local emergency management teams will be the point of contact for residents needing information about flooding in their area,” said Kim Thomas, Chief of the Emergency Management Office here. Below are contact Web sites and phone numbers.

State Emergency Contact Numbers

These Web sites and phone numbers are also available on Corps Facebook page (www.facebook.com/OmahaUSACE) under the State, County and Local agencies tab.

* Iowa

* www.iowahomelandsecurity.org

* 515.725.3231

* Montana

* http://dma.mt.gov/des

* 406.324.4777

* Nebraska

* www.nema.ne.gov

* 24-hour operations - 402. 471.7421

* 24-hour emergency - 402.499.1219

* 24-hour emergency - 402.499.1227

* State EOC - 877.297.2368
* North Dakota

* www.nd.gov/des

* 701.328.8100

* 800.773.3259

* South Dakota

* www.breadysd.com

* 605.773.3231

* 877.579.0015

* Wyoming

* http://wyohomelandsecurity.state.wy.us/

* 307.777.4663 (HOME)

More Montana flooding means larger dam releases downstream

2011-05-29T06:27:00.000-05:00

Major rainfall on Saturday, May 28 in Montana has worsened statewide flooding. As many people are saying, some areas of the state have received a years worth of rain in just a few weeks.

Saturday evening, the Corps of Engineers released revised reservoir release projections, and levels continue to press higher.

In short, lower reservoirs, including Gavin's Point Dam which releases into the freeflowing Lower Missouri River, will be releasing 150,000 cubic feet per second (cfs)by mid-June. This is much higher and faster than predicted just a few days ago.

It is beginning to appear that, as the Corps tries to spread the most accurate up to date information so affected communities can plan, each significant storm or rain event will cause predictions to jump again.

Emergency management agencies from the local to federal level are scrambling to keep informed of changing conditions and trying to understand their impact.

What is clear - many communities will see unprecedented flood heights, and the flooding will last for months to come as water is moved out of the reservoir system.

The flow of flood related news has become a flood of its own, and I won't attempt to keep up with the daily flood news in this blog. We're changing the focus of the blog to posting the latest predictions relevant to the whole basin and stories that help understand the scale of the event.

Latest Press Release: 110,000 cfs by end of June

2011-05-26T12:07:00.001-05:00

The Corps of Engineers Omaha District has just released the latest projection that releases from Gavin's Point Dam will increase to 110,000 cfs by the end of June.

Here's the link to the press release on their facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/notes/us-army-corps-of-engineers-omaha-district/dam-releases-to-reach-historic-levels/226335560712480

Here's the link to Omaha District Press Releases:
http://www.nwo.usace.army.mil/html/pa/pahm/newsreleases2011.htm

Here's the press release. Predictions for all mainstem Corps dams are included:

Dam Releases to Reach Historic Levels
May 26, 2011
Omaha, Neb. – Releases from the Missouri River reservoirs will reach historic levels in the coming weeks, the result of above-normal snow in the mountains and extraordinary rain over the last several weeks. Significant flooding in cities, towns and agricultural land is expected in North and South Dakota with many areas from Sioux City, Iowa, to the Mississippi rising above flood stage.

Flows from five of the six dams are expected to reach a record 110,000 cubic feet per second (cfs). The previous high releases were 70,000 cfs in the fall of 1997. “Public safety is our number one concern,” said Brig. Gen. John McMahon, commander of the Northwestern Division of the Army Corps of Engineers. “We are working closely with state and local emergency management teams to identify potential flood areas, provide residents with the most current information and help protect vital public infrastructure.

“People along the river are encouraged to make evacuation plans to protect their possessions and property. Maps for potential flood areas will be available at www.nwo.usace.army.mil <http://USACEARMY.pr-optout.com/Url.aspx?520028x528846x467124> and from local emergency management offices,” he added.

Flooded areas are expected to be inundated for several months.

“Moving water out of the reservoirs is essential to prevent the spillways from being overtopped which would make flooding much worse,” said General McMahon. “Our release plan is based on the rain we’ve already received and the forecasted snow melt. More heavy rain storms could cause major revisions.” At these levels, additional releases do not significantly change the foot print of the flooding, only the depth.

In the last month, the upper basin has received a year’s worth of rain. “The amount of rain has nearly filled the reservoirs, doing away with most of the flexibility we had built into our operations for this year,” said Jody Farhat, Chief of the Water Management Division here. “With the arrival of the 140 percent-of-normal snowpack runoff, all the reservoirs will reach their maximum levels.”

Releases Fort Peck, Mont., are expected to reach 40,000 cfs in early June and peak at 50,000 cfs in early July. The reservoir is forecast to reach within a foot of the top of the spillway gates.

Garrison releases will increase from the current 75,000 cfs to 85,000 cfs on Monday, May 30 and reach 105,000 cfs about mid-June. The peak reservoir level will likely reach the top of the spillway gates at 1853.9 feet. Many areas along the river in the Bismarck-Mandan area will be flooded with 3 to 6 feet of water.

Oahe releases will follow a pattern similar to Garrison, reaching 85,000 cfs on Saturday, May 28 and as high as 100,000 cfs by June 6 and 110,000 cfs by late in the month. The reservoir will peak within a foot of the top of the spillway gates at 1619 feet. Many areas along the river in Pierre will be flooded with 2 to 6 feet of water.

Big Bend releases will mirror those from Oahe, with its reservoir level remaining at 1420 feet.

Releases from Fort Randall will gradually increase from the current 61,000 cfs to 110,000 cfs by late-June. River stages in the reach below the dam should rise 2 to 6 feet.

Releases from Gavins Point will gradually increase from the current 63,000 to 110,000 cfs by the end of June. River stages 3-6 feet above flood stage are expected from just below Sioux City to the mouth north of St. Louis.

Missouri River basin flooding updates

2011-05-26T08:57:00.007-05:00

commentary by Steve Schnarr

Unprecedented releases of water from upper river dams are due to massive snowpack melting combined with heavy rains. That water is combining with recent heavy rains in the lower river to cause flooding throughout the basin. Looking into the future, things don't look good. This year, snowpack accumulation above Garrison Dam in North Dakota was 141 percent of "normal" this year. Of that snowpack, 132 percent remains unmelted. With a long, cool spring, the danger of flooding remains for months to come.

Releases at Garrison Dam, the current hotspot along the mainstem, will be ramped up to 85,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) by Monday. This is 20,000 more than the previous record and is expected to remain at this level throughout the summer. This level will cause major flooding in Bismark/Mandan. According to a KX TV story linked below, the maximum release from the dam is 140,000 cfs. The emergency spillway can be opened releasing a total of an amazing 660,000 cfs (There's NO reason to believe, at this point, that either of these levels would be reached).

What this means for communities downstream of the most downstream dam, Gavin's Point, is unclear at this point. Projections of dam releases change daily, but the latest announcement suggests releases up to 85,000 cfs by June 3. We look forward to some honest assessment from the Corps of Engineers. However, an article below suggests that Omaha, for example, will probably remain at flood stage (29 feet) until summer, and this does not account for heavy rains.

The lower river communities below the Platte River, from Plattsmouth, NE, to Atchison, KS, are in the most danger due to heavy flows from tributaries like the Platte and Nishnabotna. Below Kansas City, major flooding will be more dependent on tributaries like the Grand, Osage and Gasconade. But with baseline flows from the dams so much higher, there's little flexibility for heavy rains - meaning residents and cities will be on pins and needles all summer long.

Here's a link where you can see the hydrological predictions for gages you select in the Missouri River basin. Click here. Check the gage you want to see on the left and the information you want on the right then click "Make My River Page" You can bookmark your selected page for reference as the flood season progresses.

There are links to other great river stage products and flooding maps on the Missouri River Relief "River Links" page: www.riverrelief.org/links/

Here's a string of stories related to flooding across the basin, for a taste of how different communities are being affected.Click the article title to read it.So much is happening right now, you can really get a feel for it by checking out the home page of each news source for updates in that local area.

Montana
See previous posts for more, but here is a dramatic video of kayak surfers below the Black Eagle Dam at Great Falls (posted at Great Falls Tribune): http://www.greatfallstribune.com/videonetwork/957972865001/Kayakers-on-the-flooded-Missouri-River

North Dakota
Reuters - May 25, 2011 - "Army Corps warns of record rise on Missouri River"
This story makes it clear that the Corps of Engineers at this point has no idea how high the flooding will go and explains some of the variables in place.
KX TV - Bismark/Mandan - May 25, 2011 - "Corps on Unknowns"
More details on the uncertain situation - includes link to video.
Bismark Tribune - May 26, 2011 -"Sandbagging aimed at 100 year flood"
Bismark Tribune - May 25, 2011 - "'100 years would be too soon for another round ...'"

South Dakota
Yankton Press-Dakotan - May 26, 2011 - "A River On The Rise - Corps Officials Warn Of Increased Water Flows"
The first mention I've seen of 85,000 cfs out of Gavin's Point Dam by June 3.
KSFY TV (Pierre) - May 25, 2011 - "Flood Watch 2011 video" (is that Paul Lepisto filling bags?)

Sioux Falls Argus Leader - May 25, 2011 - "Oahe Reservoir rises to record levels"

Nebraska
"Omaha World Herald - May 25, 2011 - "River Cities brace for high water"
Explains the precarious situation Omaha/Council Bluffs will be in for the summer.

News Reports on flooding throughout the basin

2011-05-25T08:27:00.005-05:00

As snow melts mixes with rain in the upper basin and spring storms parade across the Great Plains and into Missouri and Iowa, the Missouri River is beginning to approach flood stage throughout the basin. Because of the dams, this is a pretty rare and serious event. As always, it is additional spring/summer rain that will make the difference in major flooding.

The Corps of Engineers bases their flood storage capacity in the reservoirs on predicted snowpack in the mountains (along with estimated rainfall in late spring). Both of these numbers are much larger than predicted so we are currently facing a situation where the dam releases are increasing at the same time spring rains are happening. In Bismark, ND, for example, the Corps just announced they will be ramping releases of Garrison Dam to 85,000 cfs and city officials are expecting a record flood there (since the dams were built). Gavin's Point Dam near Yankton, SD has remained steady for over a week at 55,000 cfs, but releases began increasing yesterday and are expected to bump up to above 70,000.

Below Gavin's Point Dam, communities in Nebraska and Iowa on down to St. Joseph have been facing high water due to the dam releases for over a month. While other parts of the country were getting hammered by rain, the Missouri River was spared. That's changed, and new predictions for the river have most gages from Omaha down approaching or well into flood stage.

Here's a link where you can see the hydrological predictions for gages you select in the Missouri River basin. Click here. Check the gage you want to see on the left and the information you want on the right then click "Make My River Page" You can bookmark your selected page for reference as the flood season progresses.

There are links to other great river stage products and flooding maps on the Missouri River Relief "River Links" page: www.riverrelief.org/links/

Here's a string of stories related to flooding across the basin, for a taste of how different communities are being affected.Click the article title to read it.So much is happening right now, you can really get a feel for it by checking out the home page of each news source for updates in that local area.

Montana
Great Falls Tribune - May 22, 2011: "Snowmelt and rain close roads, flood buildings around region"
Great Falls Tribune - May 24, 2011: "Much of Montana under flood warning or watch status"
Great Falls Tribune - Photo Gallery

North Dakota
Bismark Tribune - May 24, 2011: "Ready for 75,000 cfs? Bismark braces for bigger Missouri River"
Bismark Tribune - May 24, 2011: "Water System Driving Corps' control of Missouri River"
Bismark Tribune - May 25, 2011: "Rising Missouri Challenges Us"
Associated Press - May 25, 2011: "North Dakota National Guard returns to flood duty to help Bismarck and Minot areas"
KFYR TV - May 25, 2011: "Bismark Flooding to be worse than expected"
Bismark Tribune - May 25, 2011: "For some, it's time to seek higher ground"

South Dakota
Yankton Press-Dakotan - May 24, 2011: "Rising Water to force aggressive dam releases"

Nebraska
Omaha World Herald - May 25, 2011: "Flooding Coming...but how much?"

Missouri
St. Joseph News-Press - May 24, 2011: "‘No flexibility left and no relief in sight' - Continuing rains putting pressure on river"

It appears that other Missouri communities haven't caught on to the impending flood yet. I wasn't able to find much else on the web yet.

High River Levels Not Helping Boating Businesses

2011-05-20T08:16:00.001-05:00

Originally broadcast on KCAU Channel 9 (Sioux City, IA) on May 16, 2011
Click here for original link

The high water level on the Missouri River is causing problems for some local businesses.

With all of this beautiful weather its finally boating season but on the contrary it's also flooding season where all the rivers in our area are above average which isn't savvy for some boating businesses.

Boating season is finally here for most of us. But for the Missouri River Boat Club the docks are still ashore and the boats are dry.

"We were scheduled to put docks in this weekend but the way things are we have pushed things back till June 11th so we're roughly a month behind what we would normally be in," says Russell Hodges President of Missouri River Boat Club.

The Boat Club sits along the Big Sioux River which is usually shallow.

But during the past few it has been uncharacteristically high.

"The water is so high that the way they would normally anchor their docks in position, they can't do that. And last year with the height water a big tree came down and tore their docks loose," tells Bill Tilton with the Sioux City Coast Guard Auxiliary.

The Big Sioux River drains into the Missouri River but since the Mighty Mo is so high, water is backing up into the Big Sioux forming a giant pool of stagnant water.

"There is a lake here so if we can get the big Sioux to dump everything out into the Missouri and then it would come up that wouldn't be to terrible but right now its not working that way," tells Hodges.

River levels are only expected to rise over the next couple of weeks which means people who want to dock their boats along the Big Sioux are going to have to wait a little bit longer and their boats are going to have to stay dry on shore.

While businesses along the Big Sioux are being hit hard by the rising water it's a different story along the Missouri.

Bevs on the River's marina has had a slow start to the season but the only reason why is because of the weather.

The docks are usually full by mid April but cold weather slowed the start of boating season.

Currently the water in the Missouri River is at the 12th highest level ever recorded.

But the high river levels are actually doing some good for boaters.

"The high river really doesn't hurt us at all because the navigation is easier with the sandbars covered and there are more people out so this 90 degree weather is really starting to bring people in groves," quotes Michael O'Brien with Bevs on the River.

Bev's says the main reason why they don't have to worry about the rising water levels is because their docks float and adjust to the fluctuating depths.

Homeowners Urged to Protect Septic Systems

2011-05-20T08:11:00.001-05:00

Originally broadcast on Channel 5 KFYR (Bismark, ND) on May 16, 2011
Click here for original link

The Missouri River is on the rise, and while not much can be done to control the rising water, homeowners are urged to protect their septic systems.

If drains in the house run slowly or are backing up, pumping the septic tank will provide, at best, three or four days of reprieve, but the problem will return. Keep in mind that pumping will make the tank lighter, increasing the possibility that it could float out of saturated ground. Wait until the water recedes before pumping the tank.

The best solution is to plug all drains in the basement and drastically reduce water use in the house. Here are some ways to do that:

· Make sure there are no leaking fixtures in the house. Even a drop of water every 15 seconds can add up to a lot of additional water in the septic system.
· Don`t put water from a basement sump pump into the septic system.
· Don`t let water from roof gutters or the sump pump discharge into the drain field area.
· Reduce the number of times you flush the toilet.
· Reduce the number of showers and baths.
· Don`t use the dishwasher or garbage disposal.
· Don`t do laundry.
· Sandbag around the openings to the septic tank.

If your septic system is covered with water, do not use the system. Turn off water softeners and the system`s electric devices (pumps, alarms, etc.) If you are using water from a flooded well, it might be contaminated. Contact a well professional or your county about a water test.

After the flood is over, do not use your system until:

· The soil has adequately dried to allow sewage to be absorbed and not back-up. This may take several weeks.
· All tanks have been checked to see if they contain floodwater.
· The electrical system has been inspected. This includes electrical connections, pumps, alarms, etc.
· If your system has an advanced treatment device, you should check with your licensed service provider before operation.
· All tank maintenance hole openings must be immediately secured, repaired or replaced if the covers have been moved or lost in the flood.
· Any obvious damage has been repaired.

There are many hazards in working with septic systems (disease transmission, poisonous gasses, and electrical shock). It is strongly recommended that all septic system work be conducted by a licensed businesses or licensed electrician.

For more information on protecting your septic system before, during and after the flood, check out www.custerhealth.com.

Bottomland battle over development brewing in Maryland Heights

2011-05-20T07:49:00.001-05:00

Originally published in St. Louis Post Dispatch on May 18, 2011
Click here for original link
by Stephen Deere

MARYLAND HEIGHTS • Amid corn and soy fields sit bulldozers, backhoes and orange barrels to keep traffic off new pavement.

Wind whips through rows of lettuce and scatters freshly dug dirt across the Maryland Heights Expressway near Creve Coeur Lake Memorial Park.

Over the years, the roads through the Howard Bend Levee area have grown wider — the harbinger of developers' dreams to transform some of the last remaining farmland in St. Louis County into another large-scale shopping center.

For those who live and work here in the Missouri River bottoms, a $22.5 million levee completed more than five years ago seemed to make development a foregone conclusion.

Now a group of developers is proposing to build a 191-acre retail and entertainment center called Maryland Pointe at the intersection of the Page Avenue extension and the Maryland Heights Expressway — soon to become part of the expanded Highway 141.

Standing in the way are a hodgepodge of residents, activists, environmentalists and the answers to a few pivotal questions.

What impact will the development have on the park, a popular destination for roller bladers, bikers and joggers? What are the risks of building in a flood plain? And how many more shopping centers can this region — which is already considered to have too much retail — support?

"That question has been asked, but we don't have an answer yet," said Wayne Oldroyd, Maryland Heights director of community development.

The plan had its first public hearing before a standing-room-only crowd more than a week ago and is scheduled to appear before the Planning and Zoning Commission again on Tuesday.

At last week's hearing, a team of a consultants, architects, attorneys and developers painted a picture of landscaped boulevards, multiple big box anchor stores and pedestrian trails.

Instead of harming the park's atmosphere, the development would enhance it, said Rich Obertino, of TR,i Architects.

"We are very sensitive to the community's concerns," Obertino said.

Not everyone agrees.

A 500-YEAR LEVEE

When Kim Cuddeback spoke to the zoning commission, her voice had a slight quiver, and she stammered over the word "objections."

She hates public speaking, but as one of the leaders of a grass-roots revolt against the development near Creve Coeur Lake Park, she couldn't escape it.

"Time and again, these types of retail development have been proven to increase poverty levels," Cuddeback said. "They raise the crime rates and empty taxpayers' wallets."

Cuddeback, 42, owns a cafe and catering business in Maryland Heights, grew up playing at Creve Coeur Lake Park and doesn't want it surrounded by asphalt.

A couple of years ago, she helped found Maryland Heights Residents for Responsible Growth in response to another proposal to develop the area around the park. That plan failed because of the economy.

For months, Cuddeback has hosted meetings with other residents concerned about the park's future. She and a few other volunteers work more than 20 hours a week, cobbling together email lists and working on the group's website. They have raised enough money to hire an attorney.

"Blanketing this area with more pavement and rooftops," Cuddeback said, "is only going to cause more flooding."

Some say the levee should have never have been built, because levees push river levels higher and cause what they are supposed to prevent: more flooding.

"How many more terrible floods do we need?" said Robert Criss, a professor of geology at Washington University. "Floods are getting worse every year. … They are getting higher, and one of the primary contributors is flood plain development."

Lorin Crandall of the Missouri Coalition for the Environment said it didn't make sense to add another big box development when so many others were vacant.

"To add hundreds of thousands of square feet of impervious surfaces to an area that is naturally inclined to flood from the inside will only make the flooding worse," he said.

The "500-year" levee is designed to protect against a major flood that has a 1-in-500 chance of occurring in a given year and has been certified by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Oldroyd didn't dismiss concerns about flood plain development but said they were beyond the scope of city planners.

"That is a global question," he said. "Given what we have seen, I think all of us are scratching our heads and wondering what the climate is doing and the impact of that."

SEEKING BIG DRAW

Although the proposal is short on specifics, it's not on ambition.

Rowdy Montgomery, president of Cadre Development, said he and other players involved want to attract what's called a 'super regional" retailer — operations such as Ikea and Nebraska Furniture Mart that have only one store in a metropolitan region.

Doing so would help alleviate one of the major concerns about Maryland Pointe.

In the St. Louis area, the inventory of retail space has grown more than twice as fast as the population over the last decade.

Even within 10 miles of the Maryland Pointe site, consumers have a bevy of large retail outlets to choose from: West County Center, Chesterfield Mall, St. Louis Mills and Chesterfield Commons.

But with a regional retailer, the project would be a "destination," noted the city's planning department's critique of the plan.

Montgomery disagreed with statements that Maryland Pointe was taking land from farmers.

The farmers, he said, were selling it willingly, and that had been their plan all along.

Dan Human, the executive director of the Howard Bend Levee District, said landowners agreed to tax themselves for the levee's construction, knowing it would improve the value of their land.

"The farmers are the ones that got together and proactively pursued the levee construction," Montgomery said.

UPROOTING THIES FARM
The Maryland Pointe proposal has put the owners of another beloved attraction in the area — Thies Farm and Greenhouses — in an awkward position.

The business is run by brothers Darrell and Dave Thies. They sell homegrown produce, plants and flowers and allow customers to pick their own strawberries and pumpkins.

"We love this place," said Darrell Thies. "We would like to stay."

But the business leases land from an owner who wants to sell for the development.

The brothers are remaining neutral in the debate, saying their landlord has every right to sell.

"We don't send people to those (city) meetings," Darrell Thies said. "We don't tell them not to go either."

They have already located land in St. Charles County to move their operation.

Every other customer asks when they are leaving, Darrell Thies said.

The brothers themselves don't know. As it stands, Maryland Pointe is mostly speculative.

"We are just hanging in there, waiting for the hammer to fall," Darrell Thies said.

When they moved to the Maryland Heights location in 1991, they "were out in the boonies," Darrell Thies said.

But as years went by, that changed.

"We are right in the center of everything now," he said.

Boonville Council approves Katy Bridge Ownership

2011-05-20T07:45:00.001-05:00

Originally broadcast on KRCG Channel 13 (Columbia - www.connectmidmissouri.com) on May 17, 2011
Click here for original link
By Mark Slavit

BOONVILLE, MO. -- By a vote of 7 to 1, Boonville City Council Members approved a transfer of ownership of the historic Katy Railroad Bridge from Union Pacific to the City of Boonville.

An amendment to the ownership agreement will not allow any city tax dollars to pay for the restoration of the 79-year-old Boonville Bridge over the Missouri River.

A non-profit organization called the “Save the Katy Bridge Coalition” has been raising money to preserve the bridge and make it a part of the Katy Trail State Park.

Union Pacific Officials are expected to finalize the transfer of ownership to the City of Boonville once they receive federal stimulus funds for a new bridge over the Osage River east of Jefferson City.

Union Pacific had planned to tear down the old Boonville Bridge and re-use the steel for their new Osage River bridge project.

Missouri Stream Team newsletter: Channels - May & June

2011-05-18T21:43:00.000-05:00

The latest issue of Channels, the Missouri Stream Team newsletter, is out on the web for May - June.

There's a really great story about the Arnold Stream Team "Mighty 211". These folks help us on Missouri River cleanups whenever they can. Chop saws, tire trailers and cleanup know-how - they bring it all and make it happen across the state.

There's also a great story about Pat Jones. She's a one-woman force for conservation funding in the state, and helps Missouri Stream Team as well as Missouri River Relief.

Thanks Pat!

Click here to check out the Channels e-newsletter:

or

Click here to download the whole issue:

High water creating a variety of problems

2011-05-14T15:17:00.001-05:00

Originally published in Bismark Tribune on May 13, 2011
Click here for original link.
by Brian Gehring and Leanne Eckroth

With the latest forecast for the Missouri River to rise another 2 feet and remain there for the summer, some are planning to do what they can to lessen the impact. Some have already felt it.

Tracy Potter, executive director of Fort Lincoln Foundation, operators of the Lewis and Clark riverboat, said the group is already down about $8,000 from lost charters even before the unofficial Memorial Day weekend opener.

Potter said the month of May is normally a busy time with school groups and other charters, but with the weather and the river conditions, most have canceled.

As for the rest of the season, "It's scary," Potter said. "As a non-profit organization, we already live on the edge of the break-even point."

The riverboat attracts about 15,000 passengers a season, Potter said.

Some worry the current will make navigation more difficult, if they are able to launch at all, Potter said. They looked for a more secure place from which to launch, "but we don't know of one."

He said the mooring posts where the riverboat ties up are already submerged and a new dock has to be built to reach the gang plank.

Potter said along with the lost revenue, there will be the added expense of purchasing new lines to tie off the boat and more than likely relocating the electrical service on shore which is only about 1½ feet from going under water.

"We're sort of writing off the whole month of May," Potter said.

At Fort Lincoln State Park south of Mandan, park manager Dan Schilske said the river water is already lapping the benches on the fishing pier and 2 more feet of water will likely mean some flooded camp sites.

"We've been talking about it all morning," he said.

Campsites on the south end of the park are the lowest in elevation, Schilske said, and a natural drainage could mean the river water will back up into those sites.

Schilske said the park's most popular sites on the west side, designed for big pull-through units, also could be flooded.

Sandbags are available if needed. It's a matter of when, he said.

"It's my guess it will back up," he said. "We have the sandbags and we're ready to roll."

As far as how the higher water will affect fishing on the river - it's probably already happened.

The water has covered sandbars, jetties and other structures that walleyes and other fish use and the normal response is for the fish to scatter.

Greg Power, fisheries chief for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, said one of the results of higher flows into the river could be that anglers will fish smaller lakes in the area more or, go bigger and fish the reservoirs like Lake Oahe and Lake Sakakawea in favor of the river.

Power said he has been visiting with some anglers who were around in 1997 when conditions were similar and some said by the end of the summer, the fishing had straightened out.

But for those who have been fishing the river so far this year, it's just bad timing. Many say the walleye fishing has been the best it's ever been in Bismarck-Mandan.

At an inter-agency meeting Thursday to address river issues, the Corps of Engineers said releases from Garrison Dam water will reach 55,000 cubic feet per second by next weekend, with 30,000 cfs coming thought the power plant and the remainder through regulating tunnels.

Morton County Parks Director Vern Davis said the sewer dump station at Graner Park will be closed until further notice because high water is expected in that area.

Mandan City Administrator Jim Neubauer said increased flows from the Missouri makes the water dirtier in the city's water intake system and "will be dirtier longer."

He said residents should not notice the difference after treatment. At 12 feet, the Missouri River is 10 feet below creating a risk to Mandan operations, he said.

"The information we're getting is that this is going to happen by Wednesday (55,000 cfs) releases," said Morton County Emergency Manager Tammy Lapp Harris.

"In Morton, we just have some areas. One is in Tokach Timber Haven, mostly that's roads. It's the same with the Jetty Beach area and that is going to be access."

"Property owners along the Missouri River are encouraged to evaluate their current river levels with an expectation of an additional 1.5 to 2 feet in river stage and take appropriate measures to mitigate impasse," Lapp Harris said.

"Right now, we're not looking at any homes whatsoever ... it's just mostly access points," Lapp Harris said.

She said emergency and corps officials tell her it will be a long-term problem. "They're telling us these flows are most likely going to be like this the whole summer," she said.

"So far, we are going to be OK, but we are going to take some precautions. We just put that out to the people so they pay closer attention to everything. We're going to be pumping a lot of information out," Lapp Harris said.

"They need to start paying attention. If there are any problems, they should let us know."

She said the Lakewood and Marina Bay areas will be getting notice about sump pumps to use them properly so they don't overload the city system sewer system. She expects groundwater and sewers there might pose a problem if water levels get too high.

At 15 feet, things would become problematic for Mandan, Lapp Harris said. "Right now the city is just over 12 feet."

"We're OK. We've just got some stuff we've got to keep an eye on," Lapp Harris said. "We're not anticipating any huge issues at this point."

At only 22 feet, would water overflow at the Mandan-Morton side of the river bank, she said.

Boat ramp access will be an issue on the river in the middle reaches, from Washburn to Kimball Bottoms.

Bob Frohlich of the Game and Fish Department said Friday there are six ramps that were either under water or within three-tenths of an inch of going under as of Wednesday.

Those ramps are Fox Island, Sanger landing at Cross Ranch, Houge's Island, Grant Marsh Bridge, Sibley Island and Little Heart.

South of that, Frohlich said ramp access should be OK through the summer.

Big Muddy/Clean Water awarded $5,000 grant

2011-05-14T15:14:00.001-05:00

Originally published in Associated Baptist Press on May 13, 2001
Click here for original link.
by Bob Allen.

LIBERTY, Mo. (ABP) -- Big Muddy/Clean Water, a campaign to raise money for clean water in Ethiopia connected to the Missouri River 340 race, recently received a $5,000 grant by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Missouri. The grant will be used to promote the effort as well as adding to the project’s fundraising goal of $20,000.

Josh Arnone and Jason Nazario, both from Columbia, Mo., are competing in the July 22-25 race to raise awareness of the need for sustainable and healthy water sources in Ethiopia, as well as to raise money to build water wells through Water is Life International, a 501(c)3 dedicated to providing access to clean water. More than 59 million people in that country do not have access to safe water and live on less than $2 a day.

The grant award was announced at CBF Missouri’s General Assembly in April in Liberty, Mo. Arnone and Nick Foster, who chairs a support committee for the team, accepted the check. The grant came from a CBF of Missouri Giving Circle in which members donated $50 each and then voted on the disbursement.

“You all are awesome,” Arnone said in accepting the check. “Jason and I could not possibly do this without all of you.”

“This is a huge vote of confidence and support for us,” Foster said. “This money will not only help us promote what we are doing, but will go a long way toward reaching our goal.”

The Missouri 340 is an endurance race across the state of Missouri. Competitors start in Kansas City and finish in St. Charles, near St. Louis, launch point of the Lewis and Clark expedition up the Missouri River in 1804.

Dotted with numerous towns and hamlets, the Missouri River courses through some of the most scenic wildlife in North America, but paddlers have little time to enjoy the view. Participants have 88 hours to complete the course, an accomplishment in itself. Just two-thirds of the teams achieved the goal last year.

There are no dams, locks or portages on this stretch of the Missouri, the current is about 3 miles per hour and there are no rapids, but the race isn’t without peril. The biggest hazards are motorboats, mostly fisherman, and an occasional towboat pushing barges. In-river obstacles include wing dikes, buoys and bridge pilings.

Arnone, 26, and his wife, Annie, lead the youth ministry of their church, Little Bonne Femme Baptist in Columbia. He has an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering and is working on a Ph.D.

Nazario, 28, has worked with the University of Missouri since 2001, and currently is employed at University Hospital in Columbia.

The duo decided to take on the Missouri River 340 after their first “extreme outdoor challenge” last year, a three-day mountain-climbing adventure in Colorado. The same day Nazario approached Arnone about their next challenge, Harold Phillips, coordinator of Missouri CBF, learned of their mountain climbing and asked if they would be interested in the 340-mile race, not knowing that the two had already made plans to participate.

“Although I’ve been canoeing many times, the MR 340 competition will be my first trip down the Missouri river,” Arnone said. “As excited as we are about this challenge before us, Jason and I are even more excited to be a part of something much bigger -- helping to provide safe drinking water to many who are currently without.”

CBF of Missouri made another major donation to the cause, at the same meeting, through the collection of shoes. Working with Shoeman Water Projects in St. Louis, churches, schools and individuals from across the state collected more than 8,000 pairs of old and new shoes. As a result, Shoeman, who works with water projects around the world, made a contribution of $1,656 toward Big Muddy/Clean Water’s goal.

Bob Allen is managing editor of Associated Baptist Press. This story includes information from a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship press release.

Volunteers Cleanup River Trash

2011-05-13T15:05:00.000-05:00

This article was originally published in the Omaha World-Herald on May 1, 2011
By Rick Ruggles
Click here to view article.

Siouxland Students Learn Importance of Missouri River

2011-05-13T15:01:00.001-05:00

(blogmaster's note: This story includes a really great video clip. Although this story was run in Sioux City, it covers the Yankton Missouri River Watershed Festival, an annual event drawing Yankton area students to the river to learn from experts. Missouri River Relief's Vicki Richmond was the keynote speaker and talked to students at her booth. Oddly enough, the story mentions the Yankton clean-up on May 7 but didn't mention the clean-up we were doing in Sioux City that same day. )

Originally broadcast May 6, 2011 on KMEG Channel 14 in Sioux City, IA
Click here for original link and to view video.
Click here to view video on YouTube.
reported by Jacob Heller

(YANKTON, SD) It's one of Siouxland's sources of life, and Friday hundreds of hometown students were learning all about it.

It's something we may take for granted, but the Missouri River impacts nearly every aspect of life, from the water we drink to the food we eat.

Nearly 400 students swarmed Riverside Park in Yankton, South Dakota, Friday, for the 3rd annual "Missouri River Watershed School Festival."

It's a chance for Siouxland students to get a new perspective on a major part of the landscape that may not be quite as "mighty" as the name suggests.

"If you're throwing garbage out into it you're contaminating the water, you're killing off fish. You're drinking the water, you're swimming in the water, you're eating the fish out of the water, so you don't want to contaminate what you live with," says Mary Robb, with the city of Yankton.

Kids were attending sessions ranging from boat safety to invasive species and even soil conservation.

"If you can work with the younger kids they kind of hear the message over and over, and by the time some of these children take over family farms or get into agriculture, land management positions, hopefully they employ some of these practices and principles," says Mark Brannen, with the Natural Resource Conservation Service.

The students spent the day learning about all aspects of river life, and that proper aquatic care doesn't start with the river itself, but with everything around it.

"A lot of our life depends on how we treat the soil, I mean, that's what grows our crops, that's what's feeding our livestock, it's affecting the water quality, we use the river, we fish out of the river," says Brannen.

Six schools were participating in this year's festival, up from 4 last year.

Don't forget, the 8th Annual Missouri River Cleanup is going on Saturday.

If you're in the Yankton area, you can head on over to Riverside Park and check-in at 7:30 AM.

It's free to participate and open to anyone.

Last year nearly 6 tons of garbage was gathered.

Dept. of Emergency Services Meeting Closed to Public

2011-05-13T14:51:00.000-05:00

(blogmaster's note - this story published in the Bismark Tribune is referring to planning meetings regarded anticipated increases in dam releases due to a revised forecast of mountain runoff by the Corps of Engineers)

Originally published on May 12, 2011 in the Bismark Tribune
Click here for original link
By Brian Gehring

A meeting with seven national, state and local agencies Thursday to discuss high flows on the Missouri River and future projections for the river was structured in way that it was closed to the public.

A Bismarck Tribune reporter and photographer as well as a representative from Sen. Kent Conrad's office were denied access to the meeting that took place at the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services office at Fraine Barracks.

Greg Wilz, director of the division of homeland security for the department of emergency services, told the Tribune the meeting was for planning purposes only and not an "emergency meeting."

Wilz told the Tribune he selected those invited to the meeting to avoid open meeting laws and that he didn't "need" the media present at the meeting so officials would be able to talk freely and be able to air any dirty laundry.

Marty Boeckel, Conrad's state director for western North Dakota, was turned back at the gate along with the Tribune reporter and photographer.

A spokesman for Conrad's office said after reading an article in Wednesday's Tribune, Boeckel went to the meeting to gather information on flood protection efforts for the Bismarck area but was denied access.

"It is disturbing that a representative of Senator Conrad was barred from the meeting today," said Sean Neary, director of communications for Conrad.

Wilz told the Tribune he anticipated objections to the closed meeting. He said he contacted his attorney and was told it was OK to close the meeting.

Jack McDonald, attorney for the Tribune, said the law prohibits groups from skirting around open meeting requirements to hold a series of meetings, but he said they may be within the law to close one.

The Tribune requested any handouts and audio recordings from the meeting and was given a meeting agenda and list of those at the meeting after it ended at about 4:30 p.m.

At about 6 p.m. Thursday, the Tribune was granted access to the meeting room after calls from Gov. Jack Dalrymple's chief of staff and Maj. Gen David Sprynczynatyk, commander of the North Dakota National Guard.

Ron Rauschenberger, chief of staff for the governor, said there was no reason to close the meeting and said doing so was "a mistake."

"That's an unfortunate mistake. It's unfortunate that they did that because we're for openness and transparency," Rauschenberger said.

"They shouldn't have turned a reporter back. We'll certainly visit with the staff down there so it doesn't happen again," he said.

Sprynczynatyk, who phoned from out of state, expressed surprise and said the meeting should have been open to the public.

"It's just a case of more secrecy in government, which far too often believes it can do whatever it wants whenever it wants, without regard to the public. It always knows best, " said John Irby, Tribune editor. "This is an incredibly important topic to citizens who shouldn't be kept out of the discussions of what we might expect concerning water flows and possible flooding along the Missouri."

On the list of those invited to the meeting were: Todd Sando, head of the state water commission, Bruce Engelardt and Kelly Casteel also of the water commission; Wilz, Amy Anton, Kathleen Donahue, Cecily Fong, Mike Lynk and Jon Tonneson of the department of emergency services; Allen Schlag, hydrologist for the National Weather Service; Todd Lindquist, operations manager for the Corps of Engineers in Riverdale; Mary Senger, Burleigh/Emmons county emergency manager; Gailen Narum, Michael Gunsch and Terry Fleck, Burleigh County Water Resource Board; Pat Heinert, Burleigh County sheriff; Ray Ziegler, Burleigh County floodplain administrator; Rodney Ness and Marcus Hall of the Burleigh County highway department; Jim Peluso and Brian Bitner of the Burleigh County Commission; Tammy Lapp-Harris, Morton County emergency manager; Mandan Mayor Tim Helbling; Jim Neubauer, Mandan city administrator; Wade Bachmeier, Morton County Water Resource Board chairman; Gary Stockert, Bismarck emergency manager; Keith Hunke, Bismarck assistant city manager and Keith Demke, Bismarck water treatment department.

Lament of a River Town

2011-05-13T14:45:00.001-05:00

(blogmaster's note: This great piece from the Yankton Press-Dakotan imagines what Yankton would be like in a year like this if there was no dam just upstream. We can all imagine what the Mississippi River flood might be like if there were no dams as well.)

Originally published on May 13, 2011 in the Yankton Press-Dakotan
Click here for original link
By Kelly Hertz

At least the kids were having a good time.

That’s what the man thought as he watched his young daughter and her friends, who had walked with him down to the river and now decided to stomp merrily through the mire covering Yankton’s Riverside Park on this gray spring day. The river had receded enough to let the kids play on the old vacant grounds. He kept close watch to be sure the youngsters never, ever got close to the rim of the water, which was still lapping across part of the park. He knew if they got into the clutches of that dark, swirling river, there was no telling what might happen.

He was sitting on a small hill of filled, dirty sandbags. They had been placed around Levee Street near Douglas earlier in the spring when the Missouri River waters were rising fast. The bags held, mostly. Fortunately, the river didn’t jam up with ice downstream; if it had, the bags might not have done the job.

He allowed his eyes to slip away from the kids for just a moment and turn to that river, now a restless sea stretching far into Nebraska. When he was a child, the sight mesmerized him. Now, he saw it only in grim, practical terms. It meant a year lost for anyone who tried to farm the lowlands on either side of the river, which wouldn’t help the local economy at a time when it needed a boost. Much worse, that water was a beast that could take lives almost as easily as it could swallow an acre of land. That’s what happened back in 1997, when the mountain snowpack and all that snow in northern South Dakota practically melted at once and roared south.

He watched as the swollen river slithered under the old Meridian Bridge, which is still awaiting demolition. To the west, the high waters even made the new Discovery Bridge seem small, low and marginal.

Flooding was a fact of life with which river towns like Yankton had to live. It didn’t happen every spring, thank goodness; in fact, there were years when all that water might even have been welcome. The only thing worse than the Missouri River on an angry rise was when it was at sleepy low tide in a drought. Then it became a marshy mosquito factory that made life tough and irritating. The arrival of West Nile a few years ago only added to that misery.

He thought back to a few days before, when he’d stood atop Chalkstone Hill overlooking the valley west of town. There, too, he saw a shimmering, useless ocean, dotted with the occasional house from which a family had to take flight.

“It doesn’t look so good, does it?” a voice then cut in. It was a friend of the man’s who had wandered by to watch the river roar along, because there was nothing else one could really do about it.

“It looks better than in ‘97,” the man said.

He then winced, wishing he could suck the words right back out of the air. His friend’s brother died back in the 1997 flood. An ice gorge formed and the water rose too fast. His brother was sucked into the river when some shoreline along the rising water suddenly collapsed.

“Yeah, that was a bad one,” the friend said, seemingly numb now to such memories. “I just hope it keeps going down.”

“At least the kids like it,” the man said, relieved to change the subject. “At least they can use this park for something other than a sandlot.”

“You know,” the friend said in a slightly quieter voice, “this used to be the red light district, back in the old days when there were steamboats.”

“And a garbage dump, I think,” the man replied. “At least someone used this place for something.”

To him, the muck of Riverside Park seemed to typify Yankton. A murky place with a murky future. A shrinking economy. A dwindling population. And now, thanks to one of the Missouri River’s periodic temper tantrums, a flooded river town that had seen better days and was once again at the mercy of a raging, uncontrolled behemoth. Today there was water everywhere, and he hated seeing it.

Just then, he heard a familiar patter on the Levee Street gravel. It began to rain ...

———

What would Yankton be like if Gavins Point Dam — or the entire series of Pick-Sloan dams on the upper Missouri River system — had not been built more than 50 years ago? What if this area had remained at the mercy of a wild river that had dictated a pattern of life in Yankton since the community’s founding?

Maybe, hopefully, not quite like this. Consider this merely as one possibility.

Thankfully, we’ll never know.

It was announced this week that the runoff into the Upper Missouri system this year may be the second highest on record, breaking the old mark set in 1997. Without the dam, this would likely have been an epic, memorable spring awash in inundated bottomlands and sandbagging along some of the lower sections of town. (Fortunately, much of Yankton is on high ground — which was no accident in pioneer planning.) We’d probably see flooding in places like Riverside Park, which could well be little more than a vacant lot due to the threats of rampaging waters. There would be no lake area west of the city, and very few if any residential developments on the bottomland. There would be little in the way of a tourism industry. And we would never know what each spring might bring to us.

It’s hard for many of us to imagine these possibilities because we do not know otherwise. The dam has taken it all away from us. It has made us safe and dry, and it has allowed Yankton to become something that no one could have imagined 150 years ago: a river town with no fear whatsoever of flooding.

And for that ignorance, we should be thankful.

High River Levels Not Helping Local Boating Businesses

2011-05-11T10:56:00.000-05:00

Originally published on May 10, 2011 in the Sioux City Journal

Click here for original link.

The high water level on the Missouri River is causing problems for some local businesses.

With all of this beautiful weather its finally boating season but on the contrary it's also flooding season where all the rivers in our area are above average which isn't savvy for some boating businesses.

Boating season is finally here for most of us. But for the Missouri River Boat Club the docks are still ashore and the boats are dry.

"We were scheduled to put docks in this weekend but the way things are we have pushed things back till June 11th so we're roughly a month behind what we would normally be in," says Russell Hodges President of Missouri River Boat Club.

The Boat Club sits along the Big Sioux River which is usually shallow.

But during the past few it has been uncharacteristically high.

"The water is so high that the way they would normally anchor their docks in position, they can't do that. And last year with the height water a big tree came down and tore their docks loose," tells Bill Tilton with the Sioux City Coast Guard Auxiliary.

The Big Sioux River drains into the Missouri River but since the Mighty Mo is so high, water is backing up into the Big Sioux forming a giant pool of stagnant water.

"There is a lake here so if we can get the big Sioux to dump everything out into the Missouri and then it would come up that wouldn't be to terrible but right now its not working that way," tells Hodges.

River levels are only expected to rise over the next couple of weeks which means people who want to dock their boats along the Big Sioux are going to have to wait a little bit longer and their boats are going to have to stay dry on shore.

While businesses along the Big Sioux are being hit hard by the rising water it's a different story along the Missouri.

Bevs on the River's marina has had a slow start to the season but the only reason why is because of the weather.

The docks are usually full by mid April but cold weather slowed the start of boating season.

Currently the water in the Missouri River is at the 12th highest level ever recorded.

But the high river levels are actually doing some good for boaters.

"The high river really doesn't hurt us at all because the navigation is easier with the sandbars covered and there are more people out so this 90 degree weather is really starting to bring people in groves," quotes Michael O'Brien with Bevs on the River.

Bev's says the main reason why they don't have to worry about the rising water levels is because their docks float and adjust to the fluctuating depths.

2011 Siouxland Clean-up News Articles and Video

2011-05-11T10:38:00.001-05:00

(blogmaster's note: Following are news articles and video clips about our May 7, 2011 Missouri River Clean-up in the tri-state Siouxland area. For more info on this clean-up event, visit: http://www.riverrelief.org/event/siouxland-missouri-river-clean-up-2011/

River clean-up yields kilo of cocaine, police believe

Originally published on May 8, 2011, in the Sioux City Journal
Click here for original link.
by Michelle Linck

SOUTH SIOUX CITY - A block of white powder that appears to be cocaine or another illicit drug was no doubt the most unusual item found Saturday by volunteers pulling junk out of the Missouri River and off of its banks.

Sally Reinert, local coordinator of the annual Missouri River Clean-Up, said the South Sioux City police told her they believe the white "brick" discovered near the old Floyd River channel, is cocaine.

Sgt. Chris Chernock said a couple hours later that officers took the brick to the department's evidence room where they field-tested it for heroine, cocaine, methamphetamine - anything they could - but it didn't test positive for any of them. He said it could have been out in the weather too long for field testing, which isn't very sophisticated.

"We definitely believe it's some kind of illicit substance," Chernock said. "It's 2.9 pounds, and is wrapped repeatedly in layers of silver duct tape."

Chernock said a kilo, the usual way large quantities of illegal drugs are packaged, is 2.2 pounds and is typically wrapped in a clear membrane, as this brick was. The difference could be the weight of the duct tape, he said.

Chernock said South Sioux City police were called because the event was staged on that side of the river, but the brick was found near the old Floyd River channel in Sioux City. Sioux City police directed South Sioux to keep custody and continue their investigation. Police could only speculate that it may have been jettisoned from a vehicle going over the channel, fleeing police.

That "junk" was found at about 2:30 p.m. Unfortunately for the volunteer who found it, the "Most Unusual Find" contest had already closed, Reinert joked.

The winning "Most Unusual Find" was not something found every year, either. Reinert said a young man had found the full skeletal remains of a dog, complete with collar and tags.

"I'm going to call the owners," she said, "as soon as I can figure out what to say."

Reinert said about 85 volunteers showed up for the annual river clean-up event. She figured they had pulled about five tons of old tires and other junk from the river. "That's more than they got in Omaha," she said of that area's recent river clean-up.

Reinert said the amount of garbage pulled from the river is indicative of the number of volunteers.

State Steel will take all the metal and the rest of the items will go to L.P. Gill Landfill in Jackson, Neb., including the dozens of tires, which will be shredded and recycled.

Mighty Mo Gets a Spring Cleaning
Originally run on KTIV Channel 4 Sioux City, IA on May 7, 2011
Click here for original link.

-----------------------------
Siouxland Missouri River Cleanup
Originally run on KMEG Channel 14 - Sioux City, IA
Click here for original link

‘Sensational’ runoff

2011-05-11T10:23:00.001-05:00

Hydrologist: Runoff should be record-setting

Originally published on May 10, 2011 in the Minot Daily News
Click here for original link.
by Kim Fundingsland

(blogmaster's note: for a more downstream perspective, check out this link from the Omaha World-Herald: http://www.omaha.com/article/20110507/NEWS01/705079838/-1)

RIVERDALE - The numbers are nothing short of staggering. In a spring where there seems to be too much water in virtually every drainage system, why should the largest reservoir in the Missouri River system be left out? The answer is, it won't be.

The volume of water expected to enter the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers and, eventually Lake Sakakawea, will almost certainly flow right through the record books. Even with a record amount of snowfall still sitting in the mountains of Montana, and Lake Sakakawea sitting several feet higher than it was a year ago, another major storm is poised to impact Montana and further influence a massive runoff.

A National Weather Service hydrologist very near the situation warns of the possibility of "sensational" runoff, all while Montanans were under a warning Monday to prepare for a dump of two feet of snow in higher elevations and two to four inches of rain elsewhere. Following one of the wettest fall seasons ever and a winter of record snowfall, many wonder if summer will ever arrive. It might be best if it doesn't.

Gina Loss, NWS hydrologist in Great Falls, Mont., said only an unseasonably cool spring has kept a record runoff at bay. In the meantime the mountain snowpack has continued to accummulate at an alarming rate. Eventually deep snows will give way to warmer temperatures.

"We are two to three weeks past when we should have had a snowmelt," said Loss. "We really haven't started losing that much snow and it just keeps coming. That means there's a lot of water to get out in a shorter amount of time. That snowpack has really been holding tight."

Much of Montana's snowmelt will enter the Missouri and Yellowstone River basins. As of May 1 the water content of the Montana snowpack that will drain into the Missouri was listed at 141 percent of normal by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Yellowstone drainage is listed at 136 percent of normal.

"Those are two we are watching really closely. It's been a real unusual winter for us, packing snowmelt runoff into what may be a much shorter window of time," said Loss.

If the Corps' May runoff outlook for the entire Missouri River Basin proves true, 178 percent of normal and 44 million acre feet of water, it will be the second-largest runoff for the system since record keeping began in 1898.

"At a time when we thought the snowpack would be peaking, it continues to increase," said Jody Farhat, of the Corps' office at Omaha, Neb. "The record was 49 million acre feet in 1997, but this is much higher than normal. We still have room in some reservoirs, but if there is a major flood event on the lower reaches of the river we will cut back. The difference this year is, we don't have a lot of room. We just have to use our storage very judiciously."

Reaction to the massive buildup of snow and threatening forecast has been felt at all six Missouri River reservoirs where the amount of water being released has been dramatically increased.

"What it amounts to is evacuating storage, but that uses up channel capacity all the way down to the Mississippi," explained Farhat. "These releases alone won't cause flooding but, with less channel capacity and rainfall events, water stages in places could be very high."

Releases from the system's largest storage facility, Lake Sakakawea, have been significantly increased and will continue to rise. Monday's release was 42,000 cubic feet per second and, based on the latest forecasts, will be ramped up until reaching 49,000 cfs by Friday at the latest.

"We're running as much as we can through the turbines right now," said Todd Lindquist, Corps project manager at Riverdale. "Normally we utilize five but we're doing a major rehab on one, so there's only four running with about 30,000 cfs going through the plant. Anything above that is passing through the regulating tunnels. We'll let the river stabilize and make sure we're not causing any other issues before we go all the way to 49,000 cfs."

Already the surge of water through the three regulating tunnels at Garrison Dam has led to the closing of the wingwall fishing area in the interest of public safety. The frothy, churning water adds a noisy and eerie effect to the Tailrace where water levels are on the increase. It is the first time water has flowed through the tunnels since 1997. As far downstream as Bismarck the level of the Missouri is expected to be 5 feet higher than it was about one month ago.

With the possibility of so much water remaining to enter the system, the high releases are scheduled to be maintained at least until the end of July. It is an astonishing amount of water to move downstream.

To put the numbers in perspective, the previous maximum outflow in May from Garrison Dam was 41,200 cfs in 1997. May's historic average outflow is 20.7 maf. Looking ahead to June, when 49,000 cfs is expected to be released for the entire month, the historic average is only 22.6 maf. Clearly, what is occurring all along the Missouri River is already a record-breaking event and it is just getting under way.

"49,000 is what our Management Division has determined we need to move through Garrison," explained Lindquist. "They are trying to balance the impact through all the reservoirs. All are passing additional water. It's definitely a wet year."

Lake Sakakawea was at 1848.2 feet Monday. That compares to 1838.9 feet at the end of April 2010. Inflow to the reservoir is expected to surpass the 49,000 cfs outflow later this month.

According to the Corps, Lake Sakakawea's "exclusive flood zone" is from 1,850 to 1,854 feet, the latter being the height of the top of the spillway gates. The latest projection, which is subject to revision depending on the rate of snowmelt and other weather events, has Lake Sakakawea topping out a slightly over 1,852 in late July.

City panel considers Katy Bridge liability, agreement

2011-05-06T08:11:00.001-05:00

Originally published in Boonville Daily News on May 3, 2011
Click here for original link.
by Sananda Sahoo

Boonville, MO - City Council members and a panel of legal and insurance experts discussed potential liabilities for the city if it acquired the Katy Bridge, in a work session Monday night.

Increase in barge traffic on the Missouri River since last year, and a navigable waterway meant the city needed to look closely at legal aspects of operating a park on the bridge.

The council members and the experts discussed legal, contractual and criminal liabilities, as well as ways to minimize the risks. They also deliberated on earthquake insurance and on a councilman's recommendation to have a second attorney besides city counselor Megan McGuire look into the liabilities of the bridge.

The expert panel included Cooper County prosecutor Doug Abele, attorneys Scott Fox and Ken Askren, who is also a member of nonprofit Save the Katy Bridge Coalition, and insurance company owner Charlie Brown.

"Vessels and mariners have priority on U.S. navigable water," McGuire said. "If the drawbridge is not fixed, it must be able to open on demand."

Answering Third Ward Councilman Hayes Murray's question whether the bridge needed to be manned round the clock, McGuire said that's not required, but it would be the operator's duty to open the bridge.

Penalties can cost up to $25,000 per incident per delay on navigable waters.
On Murray's question, McGuire said if equipment fails to function and a barge collides with a pier, it would be the operator's fault.
There has never been such an incident on the bridge, the city counselor said. Keeping the lift-span in the raised position would be more expensive than keeping it in the lowered postion.
Contractual liabilities can arise if the city fails to follow the contract clauses.
During the City Council meeting, McGuire noted changes to the language of the agreement with Union Pacific Railroad, the state of Missouri, and the Department of Natural Resources to clarify the city's responsibility to the public.

When the language of the contract says 'Boonville shall be responsible', "it doesn't extend beyond the scope of memorandum of agreement," McGuire said.

With the changes, the agreement now gives the city government room for the right "not to repair and maintain the bridge and ensure that it is in compliance with the American Disabilities Act if it decides to prohibit pedestrian access on the bridge."

"We wanted to make it clearer to public (that) if things don't work out well, we'll trigger the exit strategy," McGuire said.

Under the Rails to Trails Act, if the Katy Bridge is returned to railroad use, the purchasing authority will have to pay Boonville a fair market value for the bridge, or $200,000 and all capital improvement expenses.

To prevent criminal liabilities, such as rocks thrown over the bridge, the city can put up barriers, post regulations, enact appropriate ordinances and enforce criminal prosecution.

On minimizing the risks, the options available include not operating the drawbridge, taking lessons from the policies and procedures of towns operating lift-span bridges, such as Duluth, Minn., following federal regulations, possessing proper insurance coverage and conducting regular inspections.

McGuire recommended a structural inspection every two years, and electrical and underwater inspections every five years. The time frames were based on New York-based engineering firm Hardesty and Hanover's preliminary inspection report.

The firm did not do an underwater inspection when it prepared the report last month.

"I doubt (the bridge) will completely comply with federal regulations because it was abandoned for the last 20 years," McGuire said. "Hardesty and Hanover is looking at it."

Each inspection would cost between $15,000 and $25,000, McGuire said.

The city would have five years to comply with the federal regulations on operating a bridge over navigable waters, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

On earthquake damages, Charlie Brown said these would be covered under the insurance that Save the Katy Bridge Coalition would purchase. The nonprofit would be responsible for insurance, repairs and maintenance of the bridge.

"The city has liability, the Coalition has everything else," Brown said.

Murray insisted on having a counsel "with more specific knowledge, a second set of eyes." Second Ward Councilman Noah Heaton seconded him.

"I am asking for someone who would ask questions we wouldn't think of asking," Murray said, replying to Askren and McGuire's question on what he was looking for specifically.

McGuire said she would look into the possibilities of acquiring a second counsel.

Mayor Julie Thacher called a special meeting at 5:30 p.m. on May 9 to discuss the contract to acquire the Katy Bridge before the council members vote on it. The vote is expected at the next city council meeting on May 16.

High Missouri Dam Releases Could Hurt Fisheries

2011-05-06T08:08:00.001-05:00

Originally published in the Dickinson Press on May 6, 2011
Click here for original link
by Associated Press

Fishery managers in North Dakota and South Dakota are nervous about anticipated high water releases from upstream dams on the Missouri River this summer.

The Army Corps of Engineers has said this could be a year of record runoff into the river system that stretches from the mountains in Montana to Missouri, where it empties into the Mississippi River. The Fort Peck, Lake Sakakawea and Lake Oahe upper basin reservoirs are all but full, and dam releases this summer are expected to be higher than they have been in 14 years, The Bismarck Tribune reported.

Fisheries officials in the Dakotas are worried about the effect on rainbow smelt, a main food for game fish such as walleye, when summer releases hit the projected range of 49,000-54,000 cubic feet per second.

"In 1997, summer releases were in the upper 50s and a very large proportion of Oahe's rainbow smelt population were lost downstream," said Greg Power, fisheries chief for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department.

Lake Oahe, which is in both Dakotas, took years to recover, officials said.

"By the spring of 1998, we were seeing a lot of skinny fish," said John Lott, fisheries chief for South Dakota's Department of Game, Fish and Parks.

By 1999, South Dakota had removed the 14-inch minimum for walleyes. By 2001 it had adopted a daily limit of 14 walleyes in an effort to remove the smaller fish from the system.

Today, Lott said, Oahe has a more diverse forage base with perch, white bass, drum and gizzard shad but still retains a four walleye daily limit with only one keeper longer than 20 inches.

"We are still trying to restore balance," he said.

Power is worried about the smelt population and also bank erosion, with Lake Sakakawea forecast to reach an elevation slightly above 1,852 feet above sea level.

"Last year, it peaked at 1851.4 feet, which was the fourth-highest summer elevation on record and caused very significant erosion on the adjoining uplands," he said.

2011 looking to be "one of the wettest on record"

2011-04-27T13:45:00.001-05:00

Originally published in the St. Joseph News-Press on April 26, 2011
Click here for original link.
By Marshall White

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has changed its cautiously optimistic February forecast.

“2011 is lining up to be one of the wettest years on record,” said Jody Farhat, chief of the Missouri River water basin management.

Despite the fact all of last year’s 9.1 million acre feet of floodwaters were evacuated from the dams, the corps already has 8 million acre feet stored from the 2011 plains’ snowpack. And the mountain snowpack is 130 percent of normal and still rising, Mrs. Farhat said.

The corps ran out of storage capacity fast, said Tom Waters, president of the Missouri Levee and Drainage District Association. Changing the storage capacity for floodwater isn’t under consideration at this time. Mrs. Farhat wants to evacuate water from the dams as soon as possible.

“We could be in real trouble,” said Mr. Waters, who farms east of Kansas City. “Worse than last year.”

The corps’ current plan is to increase Gavins Point releases, from 42,500 cubic feet per second today to 45,000 cubic feet per second on Thursday.

With the Missouri River water level rising again to 17.5 feet at St. Joseph, it’s having an impact on local farmers.

Gravity drains don’t work when the river is this high, and a levee district can’t discharge water into the Missouri River unless the water level is below 13 feet, said Lanny Frakes, a local farmer and vice president of the state levee and drainage association. “Diesel fuel already is $1 a gallon higher than last year, and we can’t pump all spring and summer. That’s pretty discouraging,” he said.

That means a lot of prime bottomland won’t be farmed, and that’s disheartening, Mr. Frakes said. There is a large expense to putting a crop in, and if you don’t have many bushels to sell, it doesn’t matter how high the bushel price rises, he said.

The corps will hold its high discharge rate until it re-examines the monthly runoff forecast and reviews other studies Monday and Tuesday. River watchers are expecting increased discharges.

“Our current estimate is that we will need to be on a 50,000 to 60,000 cubic feet per second release from now through December to evacuate all the stored floodwater,” Mrs. Farhat said.

The corps anticipates that Missouri River tributaries below Gavins Point will begin dropping off, so the additional flow won’t have a negative impact, said Kevin Grode, reservoir regulation team leader.

“Unless it’s a very odd year, we’re going to have some thunderstorms, and on rare occasions I’ve seen the Missouri rise 10 feet in 36 hours from thunderstorm runoff,” Mr. Frakes said. If the river is already at 16 or 17 feet when that happens, you’re in a flood situation, he added.

Missouri River Clean-up Set for May 7

2011-04-27T13:42:00.002-05:00

Originally published in Sioux City Journal on April 27, 2011
Click here for original link.

SOUTH SIOUX CITY – Missouri River Relief will host its annual Siouxland River Cleanup from 9 a.m. to noon on May 7, coinciding with South Sioux City’s annual PACE Day cleanup of city parks for the first time.

Keep Northeast Nebraska Beautiful, the cities of Sioux City and South Sioux City and LP Gill Hauling and Landfill, are partnering in the local cleanup effort, as well.

Sally Rienert, who is co-organizing the river cleanup on the South Sioux City side, said that organizers are contacting the larger companies and large groups in the area to get involved in the river cleanup and be recognized as a group doing good things for the community.

She said organizers didn’t want to take volunteers from South Sioux City Parks Director Gene Moffit’s detailed plan for the spring spruce-up of city parks.

Reinert also pitched the river cleanup as a worthwhile family outing, which would be fun, productive and teach the next generation the value of taking care of the natural resources.

Boats at the boat ramp will ferry volunteers to the riverbanks and islands to pick up trash washed up on shore. Other volunteers, including youth groups, will pick up trash along the banks, trails and roads.

Gloves, trash bags, life jackets and lunch will be provided.

The Missouri River Cleanup has a limited number of youth life jackets, and volunteers with children are urged to bring a properly fitting child’s life jacket.

The cleanup on the South Sioux City side of the river will be based at the city boat ramp east of the Marina Inn.

Sign up online at riverrelief.org is encouraged, especially for those bringing a group of volunteers, but it is not necessary.

ND lawmakers approve plan for pipeline project

2011-04-27T13:40:00.001-05:00

Originally published by Forbes on April 27, 2010
Click here for original link.
By Trevor Born - Associated Press

BISMARCK, N.D. -- Lawmakers on Tuesday approved using a patchwork of loans to finance a $150 million water pipeline project that would supply western North Dakota's oil industry and a number of cities in the region.

House members approved the bill 81-12 on Tuesday, followed by passage in the Senate, 39-8. It now goes to Gov. Jack Dalrymple.

The Western Area Water Supply project will take water from the Missouri River near Williston and pipe it into rural western North Dakota.

Supporters say it will take advantage of the oil industry's insatiable demand for water to finance a pipeline network that can supply quality drinking water to rural areas. The proposal's critics say the state is shouldering the financing risk for the project and that it would compete against private water suppliers. Construction could begin as early as July.

"This is going to position northwest North Dakota with good, usable water for the next 40 to 50 years," said Rep. George Keiser, R-Bismarck. "That's an amazing accomplishment out of one legislative session."

Keiser headed a panel of House and Senate negotiators that met 19 times before settling on a final version of the legislation Tuesday.

Their plan says the state-run Bank of North Dakota will loan the project $50 million and be paid back first. The state's general treasury will lend $25 million, and a separate trust fund will supply another $35 million.

The legislation suggests that the 2013 Legislature approve another $40 million loan to finish the project.

The North Dakota House had favored selling state-guaranteed bonds to finance the project, which supporters said would make trust fund money available for other projects. Opponents of that approach disliked issuing debt for the pipeline.

"It gets the needs of that area taken care of in a timely manner," said Sen. Rich Wardner, R-Dickinson. "By going through the bank and the general fund, we're speeding things up and lowering the cost, compared to bonds."

The bill creates an 11-member board to operate the pipeline. If the project defaults on its loans, the state Water Commission would take over its operations and be responsible for repaying its debts.

Robert Harms, a lobbyist who represents independent water companies, said the state financing money gives the project an unfair advantage over private water sellers that have invested money in their own supply network for oil companies.

"It's a terrible public policy choice long-term," Harms said. "First of all, if we use that that model, why shouldn't we use it to meet infrastructure needs in other areas, like roads? Number two, it's putting the public sector in competition with private enterprise. That's a problem."

Sen. Margaret Sitte, R-Bismarck, compared the plan to the federal takeover of General Motors and said the $150 million price tag is too large.

"This is just so above and beyond anything we've ever considered before, and I really don't think that it should be the state's business to be looking at making money off the oil industry by selling water," Sitte said. "I really believe that we have been suckered here."

The project will expand the Williston water treatment plan to handle 21 million gallons per day, up from the current capacity of 10 million gallons. The pipeline will extend to Grenora to the northwest, Ray to the northeast and Alexander and Watford City to the south.

Smaller lines will bring water to individual properties that don't currently have access to river water, said David Johnson, the project's chief engineer. Those pipes should be carrying water by the end of 2012, he said.

"There will be several benefits, including getting more water to the oil industry that is helping our state and reducing the trucks on the road," Johnson said. "But the biggest thing is getting people quality water who have never had quality water before."

Scientists write about their pallid sturgeon work

2011-04-26T17:52:00.002-05:00

Blogmaster's Note: There's a lot of work being done this spring on the river to collect endangered pallid sturgeon for breeding and restocking and tracking gravid pallid sturgeon as they move upriver to spawn. The Missouri Dept. of Conservation, US Fish & Wildlife Service, South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks, Nebraska Game & Parks, US Geological Survey and US Army Corps of Engineers are all involved and partnering together on the projects.

Click here for the excellent blog by the US Geological Survey River Studies Branch on their Comprehensive Sturgeon Research Project:http://www.usgs.gov/blogs/csrp/

Below is a reprint of an article published by Bill Graham of the Missouri Dept. of Conservation.

Primitive fish a precious catch to save the species
By Bill Graham, MDC.
A pallid sturgeon born in the muddy flows of the Missouri or Mississippi rivers and surviving more than a decade to reach reproductive maturity is among the rarest fishes in North America, an endangered species facing extinction.

Which is why a researcher who nonchalantly handles dozens of big fish daily got excited when he saw the flat snout and staggered barbels on a pale, three-foot-long fish thrashing in the Missouri River.

“Ooh, big pallid,” shouted Thomas Huffmon, a resource science assistant for the Missouri Department of Conservation seeking hatchery brood fish to save a species.

Right: Missouri River Relief's Vicki Richmond and Missouri Master Naturalist Mark Chambers show off a hatchery pallid sturgeon they helped catch with Thomas Huffmon's MDC crew this spring.

Boat operator Darby Niswonger quickly shifted the motor to idle and prepared to help land the prehistoric fish.

“I’ll get the net,” said Niswonger, a resource staff scientist for MDC’s Missouri River Field Station.

A few minutes later, both researchers carefully lowered the pallid sturgeon into a large plastic tub filled with river water.

“Because it’s so big, it’s probably pretty old,” Niswonger said. “There’s a good chance it’s a wild fish.”

Wild in this case means a pallid sturgeon hatched from eggs laid on a sand or gravel bed, one that floated helplessly with the currents as larval fish and then as a small fry found some slack water to grow and avoid predators such as catfish. Pallid reproduction became rare after the 1950s when completion of dams on the upper Missouri River and construction of a navigation channel from Sioux City, Iowa, to St. Louis, made the river less turbid and eliminated natural habitat.

Pallids evolved 150 million years ago when dinosaurs roamed the river shores and they remained a common fish into the 1900s.

Today though, they’re scarce, and a multi-state, multi-agency Missouri River Recovery Program funded and led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers aims to help pallid sturgeons and other fish and wildlife species affected by river modifications.

As part of that program, MDC fisheries crews this month are catching wild pallids from the river as brood fish for spawning at the Blind Pony Hatchery near Sweet Springs, Mo. If they’re lucky, they’ll catch at least one or maybe a few each day. Those fish carry genetic diversity that’s needed if hatchery-raised pallids are to help the species survive in their native rivers.

Pallid sturgeons are elongated fish with cartilage rather than bones, including a flat, pointed snout and tough plates resembling scales on their backs and sides. They feed along the river bottom and use a tube-like mouth to suck up fish, insects and vegetation. The similar but smaller shovelnose sturgeons, which rarely top five pounds, remain numerous. But the larger pallid sturgeons are endangered nationwide..

Pallids can live 50 years or more and weigh more than 60 pounds. But biologists in recent decades have found only older fish and few young. Now they worry that with low numbers of pallids remaining, the chances of males and females finding one another during the spring spawning season are remote, Niswonger said. Plus, pallid males and females don’t reach reproductive maturity until 7 to 13 years, and both only reproduce every couple of years.

So stocking hatchery-raised fish is one hope for helping pallids rebound.

MDC fisheries crews use trotlines baited with nightcrawlers to catch potential brood fish. Niswonger and Huffmon on Tuesday ran and then reset lines in the river near Missouri City, downstream of Kansas City. They caught several shovelnose sturgeon, catfish and drum. All were weighed and measured to be part of an overall fisheries data base for the river.

But they only caught the one pallid sturgeon and it received special attention.

The biologists weighed and measured the fish at 6.6 pounds and 38 inches. Then they measured and counted the rays in the fins. They measured the distance between barbels, the whisker-like appendages near the mouth.

Niswonger ran an electronic scanner over the pallid to see it if had an implanted microchip, which would indicate that it is a hatchery-reared fish. She found none. So a microchip was inserted into the fish, which enables its reference number to be read with a scanner if the fish is caught again in coming years. That enables researchers to track a fish’s growth and movement in the river. Fish taken to the hatchery are later returned to the river.

But the biologist also clipped a portion of fin for DNA testing at a laboratory. Even if the fish is a male or female ready to spawn, it will not be utilized until a DNA test ensures that it is different from the hatchery-reared pallids released since into the river. More than a million young pallids have been released into the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, with three stockings in the 1990s and annual stockings since 2001.

“We’re stocking a lot of brothers and sisters,” Niswonger said. “They get a head start without having to make it as fry in the wild.”

The crew also recorded the location where the river-born pallid was caught using satellite technology, and they lowered instruments into the water to measure temperature and flow velocity.

Just raising pallids in a hatchery and releasing them won’t make the population sustainable. Biologists want to know what underwater habitats the fish prefer during spawning. Research crews from MDC and other agencies also study the fish in other seasons, such as following some with radio telemetry, so habitat can be modified along the river to help them.

The fate of pallids is tied to solving mysteries beneath a churning river’s surface.

“We still don’t know for sure what the bottleneck is,” Niswonger said, “what’s keeping them from growing and maturing and spawning on their own.”

-Bill Graham, Missouri Dept. of Conservation

Famous Author Saved Riverboat Pilot's Life

2011-04-26T11:12:00.001-05:00

Originally published in the column "Did You Know That" on Inforum, a North Dakota based news website.
Click here for original link.
By Curtis Eriksmoen

Blogmaster's Note: This column is a bit of history about Grant Marsh, often called the greatest "Mountain Pilot" on the Missouri River. Love to see this old river history revisited!

The man called the “finest riverboat pilot who ever lived” claimed that his life was saved early in his career by the wise decision of his boatmate and good friend, Sam Clemens.

In his biography, “The Conquest of the Missouri,” Grant Marsh told the author that in the winter of 1858-59 he, Clemens and other members of the A.B. Chambers No. 2 ran aground in the Mississippi when their boat ran out of fuel (wood) in the ice-crested river.

Marsh, Clemens and other members of the riverboat climbed aboard a flatboat to go to shore to replenish their wood supply. While in the smaller vessel, an ice-jam broke and the ice surged down upon them. Marsh yelled, “Turn back quick, Sam, we’ll be crushed!” Clemens shouted back, “No, go ahead as fast as you can!”

The crew rowed on ahead of the surging ice and safely reached shore, where they loaded up on wood. Marsh told his biographer, “But for Clemens, the lives of all would undoubtedly have been lost.” Clemens later became better known as Mark Twain.

Marsh was born May 11, 1834, in Pine Grove, Pa. His family later moved to Phillipsburg (now called Monaca) on the Beaver River in eastern Pennsylvania. Marsh spent many days watching the steamboat traffic. In spring 1852, he was hired as a deckhand on a steamer named Beaver, which transported passengers and goods between Pittsburgh and St. Louis. In 1854, he worked on the F.X. Aubrey that traveled the Missouri River between St. Louis and St. Joseph, Mo.

The next year, Marsh was transferred to the A.B. Chambers. He was promoted to watchman and eventually became a cub/apprentice pilot. In 1858, he became friends with Clemens, a cub pilot of the John J. Roe.

During the Civil War, Marsh served the Union fleet by hauling troops and supplies on the lower Mississippi. At the Battle of Shiloh on April 6, 1862, he helped ferry Union troops across the Tennessee River. He also helped transport troops and supplies during the siege of Vicksburg in summer 1863.

He was then transferred by the Army to St. Louis, where he helped transport supplies and troops who were engaged in combat against Indians in Dakota Territory. In spring 1864, he was assigned to the Marcella to bring supplies to Gen. Alfred Sully, his first trip to the upper Missouri River, a place that was to be his base of operation for the next 20 years.

Because of his work during the Sully expedition, Marsh was given command of his first steamboat, the Luella, in early spring 1866. In 1870, he went into riverboat partnership with Elias H. Durfee and Campbell K. Peck, Indian traders on the upper Missouri. In 1871, this partnership turned out the steamboat Nellie Peck, and Marsh was named captain. Later that year, Marsh, Durfee, Peck, three Coulson brothers, and two other riverboat captains joined to form the Coulson Packet Co.

In 1873, CPC bid on the military contract for carrying troops and supplies on the Missouri River and “easily beat all competition.” One of the main concerns of Gen. William Sherman, commanding general of the Army, was “to protect the construction and operation of the railroads from attack by hostile Indians.”

He ordered Gen. George A. Forsythe to meet with Marsh to explore sending a riverboat up the Yellowstone River so the boats could carry supplies and troops to protect surveyors and workers as the railroad moved westward.

Marsh chose the steamer Key West and asked his friend Yellowstone Kelly to serve as guide. Marsh sailed up the Missouri from Fort Abraham Lincoln and stopped at Fort Buford to pick up two infantry companies to provide protection. On May 6, 1873, he entered the Yellowstone River and, on the voyage, encountered Sitting Bull. Marsh asked Sitting Bull for permission to continue to travel on the Yellowstone and the Sioux leader agreed. Marsh navigated to the confluence of the Yellowstone and Powder rivers.

During the next two years, Marsh made regular trips into Montana Territory transporting troops and supplies. In 1875, he received a new steamer, the Josephine, which was designed for the shallow and treacherous Yellowstone River. Marsh was able to travel to the site of present-day Billings, Mont.

In 1876, Marsh began piloting the Far West, which was commissioned as the mobile headquarters for Gen. Alfred Terry. Terry commanded the U.S. Army column ordered to confront Sitting Bull and other Indians who refused to settle on established reservations. Terry was joined by columns led by Gen. George Crook and Gen. John Gibbon. Within Terry’s command was the 7th Cavalry under Col. George Custer. Marsh piloted the Far West to supply all three columns.

By late June 1876, Marsh had navigated the Far West near the mouth of the Little Big Horn River. On June 21, Terry held a strategy meeting with Custer and his other officers aboard the Far West concerning the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians thought to be in the Little Big Horn Valley. Little did Marsh know what historic challenges awaited him during the next few days.

We will conclude our look at Marsh next week as we examine his career following the Battle of the Little Big Horn and the numerous commemorations he received.

“Did You Know That” is written by Curt Eriksmoen and edited by Jan Eriksmoen of Fargo.

Middle School Students Clean River's Edge Trail

2011-04-26T11:07:00.000-05:00

Originally published by KFBB Channel 5 in Black Eagle Montana on April 15, 2011
Click here for original link.
By Charlie Keegan

The River's Edge Trail is a little cleaner today after a group of middle schoolers picked up trash along the Missouri River.

Holy Spirit Catholic School received a grant from the Governor's Office of Community Service to participate in Global Youth Service Day. The program tries to push children toward improving their communities through service.

The 55 middle schoolers took a break from the classroom and collected trash along both sides of the river.

Friday’s students were surprised at the amount of litter they found. “They are amazed at the amount of trash that is out there. Actually, I think they're kind of shocked that our city would have this much trash just lying around,” teacher Sue Sargent says.

“I was expecting some garbage, but definitely not this much garbage. People drove by and gave us thumbs up or said good job. It's rewarding when we drive by in the future to see it look cleaner and we know we helped out,” 7th grader Gavin Austin says.

The City and the River's Edge Trail donated the trash bags used in Friday’s cleanup effort.

Missouri River Flooding Reports from the Web

2011-04-25T11:40:00.000-05:00

Published April 25, 2011.

blogmaster's note: Here's several links related to current flooding on the lower Missouri River (below Gavin's Point Dam). I'll keep posting stories here for several days as things develop. Luckily, the Missouri River so far has not been hit nearly as hard as the Upper Mississippi, but the potential for flooding exists if there is a lot of rainfall in the basin below Gavin's Point Dam. For now the highest levels are in the Omaha to St. Joseph reach of the river.

First, though, is a link to a couple useful resources from the National Weather Service.
Missouri River Advanced Hydrological Predictions page (select the gages you want to see on the left, select the information you want from that gage on the river, then click "Make My River Page" at the bottom):
http://water.weather.gov//ahps2/glance.php?wfo=eax&gage=kcdm7&riverid=203276&view=1,1,1,1,1,1

Here' is their map overview of the Missouri River Basin, just another way to access the above information:
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/mbrfc/?n=RFC_observed

News Stories:
Missouri River Flooding Threatens Iowa and Nebraska - Action 3 News - Omaha (April 24, 2011):
http://www.action3news.com/story/14505545/missouri-river-threatens-iowa-and-nebraska

Missouri River Running High: Plattsmouth Project Delayed - Channel 6 WOWT - Omaha (April 19, 2011):
http://www.wowt.com/news/headlines/Missouri_River_Running_120198854.html?ref=854

Corps of Engineers Bumps Up Missouri River Releases Because of Runoff - Sioux City Journal (April 21, 2011):
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/news/state-and-regional/iowa/article_e4ac6b98-6c35-11e0-afbe-001cc4c002e0.html

Missouri River On the Rise - St. Joseph News-Press (April 22, 2011):
http://www.newspressnow.com/localnews/27644555/detail.html

National Park Service Serves With Innovation

2011-04-22T12:29:00.001-05:00

Originally published on April 22, 2011 in the Yankton Press-Dakotan
Click here for original link.
by Randy Dockendorf

blogmaster's note: Often, the trashiest places along a river are at the river accesses, where there are often no trash cans for people to use. Many public land managers say that they don't have enough people resources to keep up with trash cans. Overflowing trash cans attract more trash, they say, and then the trash blows all over. Here, the National Park Service has come up with an awesome alternative.
This article also discusses the upcoming Missouri River Watershed Festival in Yankton, followed by the Missouri River Clean-up. Awesome!

VERMILLION — Steve Mietz talked trash to his audience Thursday at the University of South Dakota.

The National Park Service (NPS) uses the “Big Belly Solar Trash Cans” at selected sites, said Mietz, the Yankton-based superintendent for the Missouri National Recreational River (MNRR).

The system compacts trash in cans along the MNRR, then uses a sensor to notify NPS officials when the cans are full and ready for collection.

“It’s wicked cool,” Mietz said. “There’s a cost to get from our Yankton headquarters to the far reaches of the park to empty trash. This system saves gas, time and personnel.”

Mietz spoke during Thursday’s annual research symposium sponsored by the Missouri River Institute (MRI). He used the “trash talk” to illustrate just one of the many innovations for better serving the MNRR and those who live along or visit the stretch from Pickstown to Ponca, Neb.

As part of that mission, the NPS will conduct a visitor studies survey from July 28 to Aug. 3, Mietz said.

*
“We have the people tell us what they like about the park and what they don’t like,” he said. “We want to know how we can refocus our resources along the river.”

Mietz plans to make greater use of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to connect with the public and provide more information about the river. The NPS is working on more visitor contact stations, and additional signs will be placed this summer along the Missouri River water trail between Yankton and Sioux City, Iowa.

“We want to expand our recreation opportunities,” he said. “We have day-trip ideas. It’s a big, challenging river. We can give you ideas if you have only a day or two.”

In that respect, the NPS is encouraging the public, particularly young people, to explore the great outdoors, Mietz said.

“We have the ‘Let’s Move Outside’ program,” he said. “We want people to get away from the computer for a while, to see beyond four inches in front of their face and to get outside.”

To gather input on offerings, the NPS is holding meetings on its visitor services programming plan. Upcoming meetings are scheduled for 7-8:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Wagner Armory and for 7-8:30 p.m. Thursday at the Niobrara, Neb., fire hall.

The current draft of the plan is available for review at www.nps.gov/mnrr. For questions or more information, email the project coordinator at Anne_Doherty-Stephan@nps.gov or call her at 605-665-0209, Extension 29.

The NPS plans to move forward in a number of other areas, Mietz said. Those areas include water quality, invasive species, cottonwood regeneration, bank erosion, soil bioengineering and monitoring the impact of endangered species habitat.

The NPS works with Nebraska and South Dakota to coordinate river access for visitors, Mietz said. In addition, the NPS finds opportunities for additional work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, he said.

At the federal level, the NPS and U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) are working together on Ponca State Park, Mietz said. The park in northeast Nebraska attracts 500,000 visitors annually, he said.

Mietz plans to increase the NPS presence with more law enforcement rangers along the river. The rangers will work with issues such as the ban of personal watercraft on the MNRR, he said.

The rangers will focus on public awareness during the first year, then tougher enforcement in the following years, Mietz said.

“How can we best educate folks and then move to enforcement?” he asked.

Mietz also promoted major events at Yankton during the next month. They include the National Junior Ranger Day and Fishing Derby on April 30 at the Gavins Point Fish Hatchery, the Watershed Education Festival on May 6 at Riverside Park, the Missouri River Clean-Up on May 7 kicking off at the Riverside Park boat ramp, and the Clean Boat Event on May 21 at sites below Gavins Point Dam.

The Watershed Education Festival anticipates 389 students in grades 7-12 from Yankton Middle School, Sacred Heart School of Yankton and Vermillion Middle School in South Dakota and Crofton, Lynch and Laurel-Concord in Nebraska.

The attendance has soared for the three-year festival, increasing from 165 students its initial year to 289 last year and 389 this year, said organizer Mary Robb with the City of Yankton.

“The kids love it, and the teachers look forward to it each year,” she said. “It’s free, it’s close to all the schools in the area and it’s a very educational experience right here in their back yard.”

The festival provides unique opportunities, said NPS Ranger Dugan Smith.

“It’s more than having someone speak at you. There is interaction and hands-on learning,” he said. “And people learn what our agencies do.”

The festival will adjust to the greater demand and shouldn’t have problems, said Paul Lepisto of Pierre, regional coordinator with the Izaak Walton League of America.

“Our group size has gone from 15 students the first year to 22 the next year and 30 to 35 this year,” he said. “Our presenters will need to deal with a much larger group of students, but we can handle it with our teachers and volunteers.”

The festival features 11 presenters, with students able to attend six of the 15-minute sessions. The morning will conclude with the keynote address by Vicki Richmond, director of Missouri River Relief. The Columbia, Mo., organization will also provide equipment and personnel for river clean-up while in the area.

The festival will broaden its topics this year, Smith said.

“We are emphasizing the cultural and historical as well as the environmental,” he said. “Jerome Kills Small from the University of South Dakota will give a presentation on the Native American relationship with the Missouri River.”

The festival has already become a tradition, Robb said.

“We had teachers from Vermillion and Sacred Heart tell us the first year, before they even got on the bus to return home, that we should make sure to invite them the next year,” she said. “And that was before we even decided to have it another year.”

Many students return with their families for the next day’s river clean-up, Lepisto said. The clean-up, now in its eighth year, picked up 2.6 tons of trash in just its first year.

“Missouri River Relief said this is one of their favorite places to come to,” he said.

This year’s clean-up faces a critical challenge, Lepisto said.

“The river is really going to run high this year, and that’s going to make it much more difficult for the clean-up. The snowpack will continue melting,” he said.

“The Corps just announced (Thursday) that it was ramping up its Missouri River releases to 39,500 cfs (cubic feet per second). We’re dealing with high water. We have to be careful where we drop off people for the clean-up, and they have to be careful where they walk.”

The three May events at Yankton have created a river awareness that may have been lacking even among lifelong area residents, Lepisto said.

“People learn the different issues that the river is facing,” he said. “They weren’t aware that the Missouri River was facing those challenges. Now, they open their eyes and ears to what is going on in their back yard.”

For more information on the events or to volunteer, contact Robb at mrobb@cityofyankton.org or (605) 668-5211; Smith at dugan_smith@nps.gov or (605) 665-0209; or Lepisto at plepisto@iwla.org or (605) 224-1770.

Funds sought for river gauges

2011-04-06T11:37:00.000-05:00

Originally published on April 6, 2011 in the Omaha World-Herald
Click here for original link.
By Nancy Gaarder

Blogmaster's Note: These cuts are not restricted to Nebraska and Iowa, but include Missouri and Kansas as well. There is a meeting in Council Bluffs about the proposed cuts: Thursday, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Iowa National Guard Armory, 2415 E. Kanesville Blvd., Council Bluffs

The number of Missouri River gauges in Nebraska and Iowa could be reduced under an Obama administration budget proposal.

The gauges are important to such things as flood forecasting, electric power generation and municipal water supplies.

But because so few barges ply the Missouri River, the gauges aren't as important to their original purpose — navigation. This is why some are at risk of being shut down.

To avoid that possibility, the two federal agencies responsible for the gauges are appealing to communities, states, utilities and others to consider setting aside money to cover any lost federal dollars.

The Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Geological Survey will host a public meeting Thursday in Council Bluffs to discuss the river gauges.

“We want to lay it all on the line and say, ‘Here's what we're looking at,' so that they have more time to see if they can scrape up the funding,” said Greg Nalley, data chief for the U.S. Geological Survey in Iowa.

Nalley said the Geological Survey and Corps of Engineers have a history of working with local governments on funding for gauges. Each gauge costs about $14,900 a year to operate, he said.

That hasn't kept all gauges operating, however. Nalley said Iowa has 18 gauges along the Missouri River and its tributaries, but at one time had about 26.

Tim Temeyer of the Corps of Engineers in Omaha said the gauges are funded through a portion of the Corps budget that pays for bank stabilization and navigation on the Missouri River.

Temeyer, chief of the water control and water quality section of the Omaha corps, said the agency is proposing to set priorities by making cuts based on a program's purpose.

Because the Missouri River sees relatively few barges, proportionately more gauges would be cut along the Missouri River than along a river with significant barge travel, such as the Mississippi or Ohio.

Like Nalley, Temeyer said the goal of the Thursday meeting is to get ahead of any potential cuts.

As it stands now, no one knows what will happen with next year's federal budget, he said. However, the budget year starts in October, so it's possible that funding for gauges could be lost as early as this fall.

As currently proposed, the Missouri River program could see a 40 percent cut, said Dick Taylor, operations program manager for the corps.

The cuts would also affect gauges in the State of Missouri.

Bob Swanson, director of the Geological Survey's Nebraska Water Science Center, said the gauges are important on both sides of the river.

“As these gauges get dropped, they're very hard to replace,” he said.

Swanson said he is hopeful that others agencies will step up.

Opinion Editorial: City could generate its own electricity

2011-04-05T12:48:00.002-05:00

Originally published by the Leavenworth Times on April 5, 2011
Click here for original link
Editorial by Matt Nowak

Leavenworth, Kan. — The City of Leavenworth is so fortunate to sit on the edge of the Missouri River and on the edge that is fairly deep because of the river channel.

If it had underwater turbines that were designed to work for that location, the city could be generating electricity for itself.

I am familiar with at least two possible ways to put turbines in the river based on communications with a company that builds them. One method is to place pylons in the river bed. They are placed in an array that allows multiple generators to be placed on the pylons like putting a glove over a hand.

The company demonstrated via the web how it can maintain the generators by piloting a maintenance barge over the arrays, lifting the generators up onto the deck and immediately replacing them with new generators as it repairs the ones just removed on the deck of the barge.

Using this method, they can regularly replace and maintain numerous arrays of generators on a large river like the Mississippi River, for example, while having very little down time.

Another method is to suspend a generator from the bottom of a barge-like vessel that would remain in place, but it would allow the generators to rise and fall with the level of the river. In other words, a barge with a generator could be tied to the Leavenworth edge of the river above the channel and could be generating electricity. An enormous advantage over coal-fired or wind-powered generation is that the electricity would be generated very near where it would be used and would not need extensive transmission lines.

Obviously, this system would work best for cities located on the very edge of a major river with enough depth to allow the suspension of the generators from below a barge or enough constant depth to allow the deployment of a permanent array mounted on pylons in the bed of the river.

But, oops, navigation on the Missouri takes precedence over all other uses and cancels out any good ideas that might benefit Leavenworth. Former North Dakota Senator Dorgan created a five-year, $25 million river study called the Missouri River Authorized Purposes Study (MRAPS) in 2009 (Public Law 111-8).

The study is to review all eight authorized uses of the river including flood control, water supply, navigation, water quality, irrigation, fish & wildlife, hydropower, and recreation. Oops again. Representative Leutkemeyer of Missouri recently introduced an amendment, adopted by the House, that prohibits the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from proceeding with the study even though at least one year and $5 million have already been spent on it.

Missouri is apparently so concerned about the potential affects of the Corps’ study that it would rather kill the study than allow the truth to be discovered. South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson is attempting to reverse the House amendment so that the study can continue because the upriver states all realize that there are practically no real benefits from navigation to them and navigation holds back any developments that they could be making with respect to hydropower, fish & wildlife, and recreation.

In my opinion, any Missouri City that sits on the river above Jefferson City and any Kansas city on the river has good reason to join with those other upriver states to see that the Corps’ MRAPS study is allowed to continue. The budget has to be approved by April 8, so there is very little time to contact your federal legislators to insist that they kill the amendment to allow funding of MRAPS.

We can only blame ourselves for inaction if one Missouri Representative can stop a very important study on the authorized uses of the Missouri River which may deny cities like Leavenworth from benefiting from hydropower generation.

Matt Nowak lives in Lansing and works as a natural resources manager.

Runaway barge hits Ike Skelton Bridge

2011-04-04T11:10:00.001-05:00

Originally published in Kansas City Star on April 2, 2011
Click here for original link.

A runaway barge moving down the Missouri River on Saturday evening struck the Ike Skelton Bridge on Missouri 13, causing minor damage.

The Missouri Highway Patrol closed the bridge for two hours but reopened it about 8 p.m.

The barge, origins unknown, continued down the river, Highway Patrol dispatchers said, before hanging up on a dyke east of Lexington before 9 p.m.

For Blue River cleanup, organizers hope for 1,000 volunteers

2011-04-04T09:57:00.002-05:00

Originally published on April 2, 2011 in the Kansas City Star (front page!)
Click here for original link
by Ian Cummings

When scouts went out this week to walk Blue Valley Park, they found leaves starting to bud and freshly cut grass.

But a few steps into a wooded area overlooking the Blue River, they also found toilets, tires and refrigerators. They had to step carefully to avoid broken bottles.

Today organizers hope up to 1,000 volunteers will come out to the river to help clean up tons of litter and trash left by illegal dumping.

It could be one of the biggest cleanups ever in Missouri.

In fact, a spokesman for American Rivers, a national organization for river conservation, said today’s cleanup could be one of the biggest she’s seen.

“That would be an amazing show of force,” said Amy Kober.

The effort today is boosted by help from Missouri River Relief, a group that promises a major cleanup this year along the Missouri from Kansas City to St. Louis.

In March, the group did aerial photography along the Missouri banks to find the greatest concentrations of garbage and to detect trash that’s hard to see otherwise. Later this year, a barge will float down the river collecting refuse.

Today’s cleanup sounds like it could be a landmark effort, said Ken Midkiff, a Sierra Club official and an author on water quality who lives in Columbia.

“That’s huge,” Midkiff said. “If you have a thousand people show up, that would be one of the largest cleanups in the state.”

Vicki Richmond, coordinator of today’s Project Blue River Rescue, said she expected volunteers to include students, families, Boy Scouts and church groups. From 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., they will remove garbage and debris from 21 different sites from the mouth of the Blue River to 103rd Street and Interstate 435.

Four of those sites will be in Blue Valley Park.

Richmond, who is also a regional manager for Missouri River Relief, was among the scouts this week who found evidence of illegal dumping in the wooded ravine where the park meets the river. In the oxbow lake at the bottom of the ravine, where beavers have built a dam next to one constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers, hundreds of tires have accumulated in the water.

Richmond, now of Kansas City, grew up playing and catching lighting bugs along river banks in Louisiana.

“Now, here, I don’t know that it’s safe to do that,” she said.

Glenn Banks, an employee of the Parks and Recreation Department, stopped by to bring a truckload of large rocks for the volunteers. They regularly use rocks, or sometimes telephone poles, as barriers to prevent trucks from backing up to the woods and dumping garbage.

Banks said he often witnessed illegal dumping in the park. Even if the cleanup was successful, he said, the garbage is likely to keep coming.

Richmond said the city’s help was critical. Today the Water Department will arrive with heavy equipment to help in the cleanup.

Volunteers will meet at the Lakeside Nature Center, 4701 E. Gregory Blvd., at 8 a.m. to organize work groups for the various cleanup sites. Trained supervisers will work with volunteers, who will be assigned to sites according to their age and ability.

Evan Smalley, a Kansas City volunteer, has created a rope and pulley system for hauling the toilets and tires up the steep sides of the ravine. The volunteers will take a boat into the oxbow to carry tires out of the water. For larger items, such as a refrigerator, there is nothing for it but muscle.

“When you finish, you can look back and it’s amazing, the difference it makes,” Smalley said.

He said that even if people continued to dump garbage in the river, it’s not everyone who does it.

“It’s just a few who don’t care,” he said.

Besides, he said, it’s important for volunteers to work together because it changes their attitudes toward the river and their neighborhoods.

Richmond has seen some heavy jobs in her time. On one of her Missouri River cleanups, volunteers removed 13 cars from an area that had been an illegal dump for years. Other sites produce strange collections of refuse, from propane tanks and computers to love letters and the occasional message in a bottle.

Missouri River Relief will celebrate its 10th anniversary with Big Muddy Clean Sweep, its first river barge cleanup tour.

From September through October, the group will steer a barge from Kansas City to the Mississippi River, near St. Louis, in a continuous cleanup effort. The barge will stop in river towns along the way for community cleanups, educational events and barge tours.

The aerial survey in March was conducted with GPS-synchronized cameras from a six-seat Cessna airplane operated by EcoFlight of Colorado.

The details
To learn more about Blue River cleanup efforts, call Friends of Lakeside Nature Center at 816-513-8960 or send an email to folnc@crn.org.

For more information about Missouri River Relief, call 573-443-0292 or go to www.riverrelief.org.

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/04/01/2769905/for-blue-river-cleanup-organizers.html#ixzz1IZB3qzOC

Mo. River Priorities Questioned At Meeting

2011-04-04T09:51:00.001-05:00

Originally published in Yankton Press-Dakotan on April 2, 2011
Click here for original link
by Randy Dockendorf

blogmaster's note - This meeting was one of a series of public comment meetings about the Draft Scoping Summary of the Missouri River Authorized Purposes Study (MRAPS). Check out MRAPS website here: http://mraps.org/ . You can download the draft summary by clicking here.
Remaining meetings:

Apr 4	Nebraska City, NE	Lied Lodge Conference Center, 2700 Sylvan Rd.
Apr 5	Kansas City, KS	Hilton Garden Inn, 520 Minnesota Ave.
Apr 6	St. Louis, MO	Doubletree Hotel St. Louis at Westport, 1973 Craigshire Rd.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Bill Smith questions the current priorities for the millions of dollars spent each year on operating the Missouri River.

“The Corps of Engineers receives $6.5 million annually to manage the river for us, and then you multiply it by 67 years (since passage of the 1944 Flood Control Act),” the Sioux City man said.

Smith thinks upstream states could gain much greater attention — and resources — with the Missouri River Authorized Purposes Study (MRAPS) under way. Congress directed the Corps of Engineers to conduct the study of Missouri River usage.

However, Smith — the president of the Missouri Valley Waterfowlers Association — sees navigation interests and other parties fighting to block any changes in the river’s uses.

Smith pressed for the study during this week’s MRAPS public feedback meeting in Sioux City. He blasted those who are fighting a change of river priorities or blocking the discovery of new priorities altogether.

“They just want to protect the status quo. They don’t want the study to reveal anything new,” he said. “Special entities are keeping this low key. If the public knew more information, they would come unglued.”

MRAPS marks the first review of the authorized river uses since passage of the 1944 Flood Control Act. The study will determine if changes to those purposes are warranted.

The eight originally authorized purposes are flood control, hydropower, water supply, irrigation, navigation, recreation, water quality, and fish and wildlife. Infrastructure operated by both the Corps and the Bureau of Reclamation is included in the study.

A lot has changed since the eight purposes were established, Smith said.

He pointed to the need to prioritize recreation as a river use, particularly for South Dakota which he said realizes $200 million annually from recreation in the Missouri River basin.

“Iowa, Nebraska and other states would love to have a $200 million economic engine like that,” he said.

Even states drawing fewer recreation dollars still see it as a much greater impact than provided by the navigation industry, Smith said. Railroads and other transportation sources are better used than barges, he said.

“We have fishing and wildlife at stake. We need to put it above navigation in terms of its impact on the region,” he said. “Some past studies since 1977 have shown the navigation industry has been in a steady decline. Yet we continue with the same priorities that we have for the past 67 years.”

Navigation continues as a high priority on river usage despite its declining use, Smith said.

“We are supporting an industry (navigation) that never materialized. We are subsidizing a failed industry,” he said. “We have been trying hard to keep the river managed as a ditch.”

The policies also create problems for power plants, which affects electric costs, Smith said. “All because they need to maintain a channel for navigation purposes,” he said.

Even with recognition of reduced barge tonnage, the current navigation figures are still misleading, said Howard Paul of Canton, technical coordinator for the Missouri Sedimentation Action Coalition (MSAC).

“We are looking at 10 million tons a year for navigation and barge traffic, and 9 million of it is for sand and gravel that is hauled off shore,” he said.

Even navigation supporters at one meeting were not making the Missouri River a priority, Paul said.

“During an MRAPS meeting in Worthington, Minn., last fall, people were talking not about navigation on the Missouri River but on the need for a flow below St. Louis, Mo., to maintain navigation on the Mississippi River,” he said.

MSAC doesn’t comment on the Corps’ annual operating plan (AOP) or its authorized purposes, Paul said. However, MSAC — which held its annual meeting last week in Niobrara, Neb. — does push for greater priority on sediment, he said.

“As sediment accumulates in the reservoirs, it uses up space which could be used to store water,” he said. “That means that space is lost to store water to be used in a beneficial manner.”

Each year, the reservoirs accumulate 89,700 acre-feet of sediment, according to the Corps’ AOP, Paul said. That means a total storage loss of 5,139,200 acre-feet to sediment since the dams went into operation. That is enough loss to store the water from a flood 100 miles long, 10 miles wide with an average depth of 8 feet.

“As each dam fills with sediment, that lost space is volume that could be used for supplying water to domestic water systems,” he said.

Each acre-foot of water serves about nine people with 100 gallons of water per person per day for an entire year, Paul said. At 89,700 acre-feet of sediment accumulation each year, the amount of water storage lost could provide that 100 gallons per person per day for an entire year for 801,918 people.

Lewis and Clark Lake loses 2,600 acre-feet per year to sediment, Paul said. That would provide the water supply to 23,244 people each year. The loss is cumulative, he said, meaning a lost supply for 46,488 people during the second year and so on.

“The world is fast running short of potable water. Big business will get its hands on it and control it. Water supplies are now commonly piped hundreds of miles,” Paul said. “We cannot ignore this loss of storage. We must act now to even begin to stop this lost storage. We cannot afford to take another 50 years to act.”

Sediment wasn’t the only concern raised at the Sioux City meeting. Increasing erosion was cited by Jim Peterson of Vermillion, representing the Missouri River Bank Stabilization Association.

The bank erosion has become particularly acute below Gavins Point Dam, Peterson said. He cited current river use practices and the actions taken by federal agencies. Other priorities outweigh bank stabilization, he said.

The Sioux City meeting marked the fourth in a series of seven scheduled meetings in the Missouri River basin, said Mark Harberg, MRAPS project manager for the Corps’ Omaha District.

The Corps also met this week with the Yankton Sioux Tribe and the White Swan community, Harberg said. The tribes, as sovereign nations, represent an important part of the MRAPS process, he said.

The tribes were represented on the committee determining the scope of the MRAPS study, Harberg said. Tribal members are now learning more about the summary report, he said.

The tribes have been supportive of the MRAPS study and of being included in the process, said Cathy Warren, a Native American consultation specialist for the Corps’ Omaha District.

“We have 29 different tribes, each with different issues and concerns,” she said. “This has been a good opportunity for them to hear the presentation.”

However, MRAPS’ future could end quickly, as the process currently operates on financial life support.

Congress has authorized $25 million for the five-year study, and the Corps has received $7.3 million so far, Harberg said. The project has received no funding during fiscal year 2011, and the Corps has used some remaining funds to keep MRAPS going, he said.

The current continuing resolution for operating the government runs out next week. If additional funding is not received, the MRAPS process will become dormant, Corps officials said.

Despite such uncertainty, Smith said he believes the MRAPS study will continue. The timeline may be extended to seven years given the funding issues, he said.

“I am optimistic that the remaining funding will be found for MRAPS,” he said. “The (remaining) $17 million may be scaled back, but they will continue the process of information gathering, detection and analysis. It’s beneficial for the process to go forward.”

The stakes are too high for the process to fail, Smith said.

“I want to see the dollars invested in the best way, not fruitlessly wasted on policies set 67 years ago,” he said. “I hope everyone contacts their senators and congressmen about this.”

Feedback on the process may be submitted online through April 30 at http://www.mraps.org.

St. Joseph Tent City Closing

2011-03-28T08:04:00.001-05:00

Officials assisting residents with finding new housing

Blogmaster's Note - At Missouri River Relief's 2010 river clean-up in St. Joseph, we delivered a bunch of trash bags to the extremely nice folks living at St. Joseph's Tent City, right on the banks of the river by the old railroad bridge. They filled those bags with trash and asked for more. This is another bit of sad news.

Originally published by St. Joseph News-Press on March 26, 2011
Click here for original link
by Kim Norvell

Kenneth Paxton, who has lived on the river adjacent to Tent City for more than a year, was busy cleaning up some of the trash left in another encampment Friday afternoon. Mr. Paxton will soon be leaving his own tent as have all but two other Tent City residents. The Social Security Administration will pay for a motel room, Mr. Paxton says, until permanent housing can be found.

The official answer as to who owns the territory inhabited by homeless men and women remains unclear. However, the process of finding permanent housing for Tent City residents has been expedited, because the Union Pacific railroad believes the land belongs to them.

A few weeks ago, an anonymous citizen alerted Union Pacific authorities to the homeless encampment by the Missouri River, said Mark Davis, director of corporate relations and media for the railroad’s northern region.

Mr. Davis said it is unclear if the territory is in fact owned by Union Pacific, but is “close enough” to the railroad that the company felt something needed to be done. On top of that, city officials are concerned with health and safety issues of the men and women living there, and felt a change needed to be made.

Railroad officials surveyed the territory. Because the remaining three residents were a safe distance from the tracks and were not defacing equipment, Union Pacific agreed to give them until May 1 to find alternative housing, rather than force them off the property immediately.

“It’s the right thing to do as long as their safety is not in jeopardy,” Mr. Davis said.

Ashley Howery, a homeless advocate, said the Continuum of Care for Homeless Services asked the railroad for an extended amount of time before any action would be taken, in order to “quickly and effectively carry out plans to meet the needs of the citizens remaining in Tent City.”

“For a long time now, agencies and other advocates like myself have been reaching out a helping hand to extend our efforts in reducing homelessness in St. Joseph,” Ms. Howery said.

A former resident of Tent City, Lynne, said she got help finding an apartment by the Continuum of Care after living by the river for nearly three months. She said she was not interested in living at a shelter because of the established rules, which is why a lot of homeless people choose to stay in the area.

While she admitted the area was unkempt, she believes it’s best to have an established spot for the homeless to live outside of the rules of existing shelters.

“The way I look at it, people are going to be living all over town, underneath bridges and in parking garages,” she said. “That’s not really good. They’ll have to go somewhere.”

Mr. Davis said the railroad’s real estate department is working on verifying that the area is in fact owned by Union Pacific. A representative of the Buchanan County assessor’s office said they have been asked by several people in the past week who owns the patch of land, but the answer remains unclear.

If it is found that the land is the railroad’s property, anyone remaining after May 1 will be removed by Union Pacific police. The land will be cleaned up and, depending on the size of the property, closed off with a fence. If the land is too small to configure boundaries, the area will be patrolled by railroad and local police, Mr. Davis said.

“If it would be determined that it’s not our property, then any action taken would be up to the owner,” he said.

Concerns raised about Missouri River Reactors

2011-03-28T07:54:00.001-05:00

Concern is in reactors’ design

Originally published on March 27, 2011 by Omaha World-Herald
Click here for original link
By Nancy Gaarder

Midlanders don’t have to look far to find the type of nuclear reactors that are in crisis in Japan.

Nebraska and Iowa each has one similar to the Japanese reactors that released significant radiation after being damaged by an earthquake and tsunami.

Are the Midlands’ reactors — Nebraska’s largest and Iowa’s only one — vulnerable to similar releases during an extraordinary crisis?

The two Midlands reactors that rely on the design in question are Cooper Nuclear Station and Duane Arnold Energy Center.

Cooper sits along the Missouri River in southeast Nebraska, about 70 miles from Omaha and Lincoln. Duane Arnold is about nine miles from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The general design of this kind of reactor has been dogged by criticism for more than 30 years — criticism that has prompted significant safety retrofits.

But subsequent concerns have arisen. Research by Sandia National Laboratories has found a “high probability” that a prolonged, complete loss of power at this type of plant would result in fuel melting through the reactor’s thick shell.

Also of concern: Many of the U.S. reactors like this, including Duane Arnold, are substantially boosting output. They’re doing that on the basis of calculations that have determined the reactors’ safety margins are more robust than was believed 30 years ago.

The boosting of output has been authorized by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, but over objections by the agency’s own advisory panel on safeguards.

One thing is certain, a former nuclear regulator said as the Japan crisis unfolded.

“There’s no way that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission won’t be taking a very close look at those plants,” said Peter Bradford, a former commissioner of the NRC.

Of the nation’s 104 reactors, 35 have the general design of those in crisis in Japan and 23 of those, including the two in the Midlands, are most similar.

At issue with this type of plant’s original design: the system to contain radiation in event of an accident.

For all reactors, the containment system is the final defense against high amounts of radiation being released into the atmosphere.

There are different types of containment, and each has its strengths and weaknesses. The General Electric Mark 1 reactor at Duane Arnold and Cooper is smaller and more complex than the completely different type of reactor found at Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station north of Omaha.

At Cooper and Duane Arnold, a highly reinforced tank around the reactor is the vessel that would contain radiation. The building around the reactor vessel is considered secondary.

At Fort Calhoun, the entire building around the reactor is reinforced and considered the primary means to contain releases of radiation.

Both types of nuclear plants have additional equipment that kicks in to help contain radiation.

But at Cooper and Duane Arnold, this extra equipment is more complex because it compensates for the smaller size. As a result there are more moving parts and thus more points of vulnerability.

Back in the early 1970s, regulators debated banning new plants of this type. The idea didn’t get off the ground, in part because it was feared doing so would stop nuclear power in its tracks.

Cooper came on line in 1974 and Duane Arnold in 1975.

Alan Dostal, corporate nuclear business manager for Nebraska Public Power District, which owns Cooper, said the criticisms made in the past are no longer relevant.

From the 1980s forward, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has required significant safety retrofits of these reactors, he said.

The criticism “might have been appropriate 30 years ago, but things change, and we’ve changed,” Dostal said. “The industry stepped up and addressed those issues.

“Where it’s appropriate to make modifications, we’ve made those and until we see something that’s significant, we’ll just have to wait and see,” Dostal said. “We’re confident in the equipment, systems and people we have.”

Those modifications include:

>> Bolting down the containment vessel, an enclosed steel moat at the base of the reactor. The water in this moat cleanses radiation from steam that is being created.

As originally designed, the moat, known as a torus, rested in supports that sat on concrete. Now those supports have been bolted 10 feet into concrete so that the torus doesn’t bounce and rupture from the tremendous forces unleashed by a problem at a reactor.

>> Installing screens to catch debris created by an accident. The screens are intended to keep pumps from clogging, which otherwise would prevent the free movement of water.

>> Building a hydrogen vent to prevent a buildup of explosive gas. Cooper’s stack is 325 feet tall.

General Electric has defended the design of its plants.

“The Mark 1 meets all regulatory requirements and has performed well over 40 years,” GE said in a statement. Since no one knows the full chain of events at the Japanese reactors, GE says, it’s too early to draw conclusions.

Edwin Lyman, senior scientist for global security at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said plant modifications don’t mean “the problem’s over.”

Specifically, he cited the Sandia report.

Bill Borchardt, executive director of the NRC, told his commissioners last Monday that he sees no reason to change the way the 104 U.S. reactors are regulated.

“We have a sufficient basis to believe, to conclude, that the U.S. plants continue to operate safely,” said Borchardt, who also briefed a U.S. House committee on the Japan situation.

Borchardt said the United States drew lessons from the Three Mile Island partial meltdown in 1979 and the Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and significantly improved nuclear safety.

Dostal said nuclear reactors are individually designed to withstand — and then some — the worst expected natural disasters that could strike the plant.

At Cooper, that includes a 1 in 1-million-years flood, which takes into account a burst dam upstream on the Missouri River; 300 mph winds, which are the equivalent of an EF 5 tornado; and earthquakes of 6.0 magnitude.

Duane Arnold likewise is designed to withstand 300 mph winds, an earthquake and flooding well beyond what Iowa has experienced in its recorded history, said Renee Nelson, a spokeswoman for the plant.

Duane Arnold is jointly owned by NextEra Energy Resources, Central Iowa Power Cooperative and Corn Belt Power Cooperative.

Nelson said this much is clear: The plant’s design didn’t initiate the problem.

“The Japanese event was caused by extraordinary natural forces that could not likely happen in Iowa,” she said.

The loss of emergency backup power — as a result of the earthquake and tsunami — is believed to be the primary reason the Japanese safety systems were overwhelmed.

President Barack Obama has ordered a review of U.S. reactors, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will do a two-phase review. The first is a quick 90-day review to see if something requires immediate action. The second and more thorough review will take much longer.

One question for U.S. regulators is whether a different set of circumstances could trigger a similar loss of safety systems in American reactors. If so, what reasonable steps can be taken to be better prepared?

David Lochbaum, director of nuclear safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the answer is clear. Lochbaum will testify this week before a Senate committee on the nuclear plant safeguards.

“If our reactors were faced with a similar challenge, the outcome would be similar,” he said.

Weekend river cleanup nets everything and kitchen sink

2011-03-27T09:52:00.001-05:00

Here's a few links of news stories about the Confluence Trash Bash on Saturday, March 26. The massive urban cleanup was organized by Confluence Partnership, St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District, St. Louis Audubon and a long list of partners. Missouri River Relief took 32 volunteers out on the Missouri River to clean-up two sites. One of these sites was an abandoned farm dump on the Cora Island Unit of the Big Muddy National Fish & Wildlife Refuge. We've been working on cleaning up that site for three years.

Here's a link to the Fox Channel 2 story on the cleanup

The St. Louis Post Dispatch published this following story on March 27, 2011.
Click here for original link
by Blythe Berhard

Volunteers picked up everything and the kitchen sink at the annual Confluence Trash Bash river cleanup Saturday at Old Chain of Rocks Bridge.

Ben Duncan, 10, won the prize for weirdest article of trash for spotting a ceramic sink in the bushes off Hall Street near the Mississippi riverfront in north St. Louis.

The fourth-grader came with his Cub Scout pack to get dirty and collect junk. The boys scaled their hill of garbage bags and discarded tires to pose for pictures before public works staffers hauled it away.

"It's fun because we do stuff that guys like us like to do," Ben said.

About 540 people showed up to hunt for rubbish and clear away debris alongside several creeks that feed into the Mississippi, Missouri and Illinois rivers. Snow flurries and temperatures in the low 30s may have scared off many others among the 800 who registered. Last year's event attracted 600 people.

Organizers said the final weight of the trash collected would be tallied on Monday. Nearly 41 tons of refuse were picked up last year.

"Although we may not have reached the same amount of tons as we did last year, with so much of the 'floaty, blowy' paper trash that was picked up and so many volunteers seeing what a remarkable difference it makes, that's good in my book," said Natalie Johnson of the Confluence Partnership, a conservation group for the region where the rivers meet.

Along with the beautification benefits, the goal of the event is to raise awareness of the effects of littering and inspire volunteers and passers-by to advocate for clean waterways, Johnson said.

They gained a believer in Brianne Benson, who volunteered through AmeriCorps Trail Rangers.

"I won't be littering, because this is a hard job," said Benson, 20, whose haul included tires and battered furniture.

Other discarded items ranged from the scary (Halloween mask) to ironic (vacuum cleaner) and depressing (bag of dead puppies). Workers also found an opossum skull, a deer jawbone and a tennis racquet.

A Metro employee identification card turned up, along with a toy light saber and several well-loved teddy bears.

Some volunteers hiked across Riverview Drive from the bridge and foraged through invasive bush honeysuckle plants to snag polystyrene foam, plastic and paper waste. Others ferried out in boats to collect trash from riverbanks and islands in the Mississippi.

David Kuechenmeister of the Missouri Stream Team wore thigh-high waders for his foray into the chilly water.

"This is your drinking water, and everybody doesn't realize they're polluting it by throwing this stuff out," said Kuechenmeister, 49, of Jennings.

When asked what kind of stuff he pulled from the water, Kuechenmeister replied, "You name it."

After three hours of garbage picking, volunteers gathered at Old Chain of Rocks Bridge for a lighthearted awards ceremony to honor the biggest, weirdest and most valuable catches of the day — a 3-by-4-foot mirror, the sink and a plastic baggie of marijuana, respectively.

Afterward, the illegal drugs got an appropriate disposal.

Yankton’s ‘Great Flood’

2011-03-27T09:20:00.001-05:00

130th Anniversary Of Flood Highlights Threat River Once Posed

Originally published in Yankton Press Dakotan on March 26, 2011.
Click here for original link.
by Nathan Johnson

As the waters of the Missouri River rose, dozens of people could be seen clinging to the steep roof of John Nelson’s brick house.

Hours earlier, the residents of Green Island had been singing a Psalm led by the Rev. Charles Seccombe, hoping that the rising water would recede. But it had not.

Despite the fact that Nelson’s house sat on high ground, the villagers found themselves being forced to the attic and then through a window onto the roof.

Fortunately, rescuers arrived by boat to take the frightened individuals to safety and avoid any fatalities.

The scene played out 130 years ago this weekend, during what became known as the Great Flood of 1881. While the extent of its devastation has been exaggerated in some accounts, there is no doubt it was a tremendous event that changed the course of local history.

The village of Green Island was settled on the southern shore of the Missouri River just east of where the Meridian Bridge now stands. It was connected to Nebraska, so it wasn’t an actual island, and by the early 1880s it had an estimated 150 residents.

The winter of 1880-1881 had been a cruel one. A ferocious blizzard struck the Yankton area on Oct. 15, and storms continued to blow across the region into February. Because of the early onset of snow, residents were caught unprepared for winter. Furthermore, the continued onslaught made it difficult for trains to bring in supplies because of huge drifts across the railways.

Relief was finally granted in March, but it wouldn’t last for long.

It was after church services on Sunday, March 27, 1881, that Green Island residents heard the ice on the river begin to groan and crack. Little did they know that those earthly cries would set off a string of events that would destroy the community.

In a strange turn of events, the ice had begun to melt upstream before it did downstream. The ice gave way at Yankton but was jammed up by the frozen river downstream. This caused the water to back up and flood the lowlands. Eventually, a massive amount of jagged ice piled up from Yankton to Springfield.

It was around noon Wednesday when the ice jam gave way, and it did so with a tremendous force that destroyed everything in its path. Water and large chunks of ice pummeled Yankton’s shores and the buildings that comprised Green Island.

The village’s Congregational church was pounded off its foundation and carried down the river while its bell still tolled.

Those who remained in Green Island — perched upon the roof of the Nelson house — were rescued by boat. But the village’s residents had only its memory to hold onto after that fateful day, as Green Island was never rebuilt.

In Yankton there was flooding, and water vessels were crushed by the ice. However, a local historian says the situation was not as devastating as some accounts have claimed.

“It has been said incorrectly over the years that the steamboat business in Yankton died as a result of the flood,” said Doug Haar, a history teacher at Yankton High School who has written extensively about the area’s steamboat past. “That is a fallacy. There were two steamboats that were destroyed. The rest of them survived. The majority of the Coulson Line boats were on an island where Lake Yankton is now. They survived with minor damage. The boats like the Peninah, the Big Horn, etc., were rebuilt in Yankton.”

The Western of the Coulson Line and the Fontenelle of the Kountz and later the Peck Line did not survive the natural disaster. A ferry was also destroyed.

“The majority of the boats, like the Nellie Peck, the Big Horn and the Peninah, all sailed again,” Haar said. “They needed repairs but did float again.”

Some newspaper accounts, especially those published in the East, made it sound as if most of the steamboats in Yankton had been decimated, he stated.

“It was simply blown out of proportion” Haar said. “Each time the story got retold, it got worse and worse. It was hardly the demise of the steamboats here. It was the railroads that really got rid of the steamboats.”

The majority of the steamboat business here was to fulfill two government contracts. The first was a contract for the Indian agencies upstream, while the second was for military forts.

However, as railroads expanded their reach, steamboats could not compete. The industry peaked in the Yankton area from 1872-1884, and faded away after that.

“They could ship things a lot cheaper by rail than they could by steamboat,” Haar said. “And there wasn’t the risk of the steamboat sinking.”

The flood did take its toll on the Yankton area. Thousands of animals were left dead, and hundreds of people were made homeless. Vermillion, which had been located below the bluffs of the Missouri River, was ravaged and had to be rebuilt on higher ground.

It was a situation that is almost unfathomable to residents along the Missouri today, but the experience did not prevent those early Dakota Territory settlers from forging ahead with life on the merciless prairie.

———

“Yankton: The Way It Was!” by Bob Karolevitz was used in the writing of this article.

S.D. hasn't seen a flood like 1881

2011-03-27T09:17:00.002-05:00

Vermillion moved to higher ground after the deluge

Originally published on March 22, 2011 in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader
Click here for original link.
by Jill Callison

Blogmaster's note: This article published on the 130th anniversary of this massive ice gorge flood of Vermillion and Yankton. It doesn't note that the reason such a flood is unlikely these days (other than the fact people moved out of the floodplain) is that the Gavin's Point Dam was built not far upstream, completed in 1957. The resilience of these communities is inspiring.

In its March 24, 1881, edition, the Dakota Republican noted that the Missouri River had risen 6 feet during the week but had not flooded.

A few days later, the newspaper's office in Vermillion was gone, swept away by a flood. The Dakota Republican would not print again until July 1, 1881.

That came after Vermillion residents had voted to move the town of more than 600 residents to higher ground, Vermillion historian Tom Thaden says.

"The original site was right next to the Missouri," he says. "Now we're pretty much in the same area, just on the bluff rather than below it."

Vermillion was established in 1859, and the Dakota Territory community had seen small floods before 1881. Fires had been a bigger threat to survival.

That changed in 1881 after a winter that began with a foot of snow in mid-October 1880.

More blizzards and frigid weather followed, and by March the ice on the rivers was 2 to 3 feet thick.

"The prospect for a flood of major proportions was just right," A.H. Lathrop wrote in a booklet for the Clay County Historical Society. "Melting weather arrived in March and on the last Sunday in the month the break-up came."

Since earlier floods had caused little damage, most Vermillion residents thought this flood would be much the same.

They were wrong.

It was almost midnight on March 27, 1881, when the tolling of the Baptist church bell awoke residents. An ice gorge had formed below a Missouri River island south of Vermillion, and water had begun to flood the streets.

And the Missouri was not the only river that was causing concern given that the town also was located near the Vermillion River.

Some people evacuated after that first alert, but others stayed in their homes.

By March 29, the water was subsiding.

On March 30, though, it became clear as the water rose that the danger was not over.

According to an account by Judson Graves, editor of the Vermillion Standard, on March 31 "about nine in the morning the buildings commenced moving. Butler's photograph gallery moving first and going to pieces in the rapids."

Other buildings followed, until 40 of them had been moved off their foundations and smashed against the ice, all in one day's time.

Making the day worse was a blizzard that made it "almost impossible to row a boat against the fierce northwest wind."

For a week, the floodwaters tugged at the buildings of Vermillion. Wood or brick, they tumbled down.

"Seventy-five percent of all buildings were swept away," Thaden says.

"When the water was at the highest at least 20 buildings were floating off at the same time," Lathrop's account says.

Finally, on April 5, the Vermillion River cut a channel through the gorged ice to the Missouri River's center. A strong current carried away the backwater, which had run up to Vermillion.

On April 14, the ice weakened enough so the Vermillion broke through the ice to a narrow open channel. The water drained off, leaving ice from 1 to 6 feet deep in the streets.

But on April 16 and 17, the Vermillion River entered the town, taking away houses that had survived earlier flooding.

When the flood ended, 132 buildings were totally destroyed with many others badly damaged.

Not only that, but the landscape had changed.

"The flood actually took the river about 3 miles south of town," Thaden says.

Today, railroad tracks and grain elevators mark the original site of Vermillion.

Vermillion residents voted on May 2, 1881, to move the town to atop the bluffs. The vote took place in the Methodist Church, one of the few buildings that had chosen a higher location.

"They were really resilient after what happened there," Thaden says. "They salvaged what they could of the buildings that were left and moved it up to the bluff. For example, there was a large brick building and they salvaged the bricks."

A few buildings were undamaged, and they were moved on rollers up to the bluffs.

Opinion Editorial: More than just a few things have changed since 1944

2011-03-24T12:42:00.001-05:00

Blogmaster's note: this is an editorial published in the Bismark Tribune about the MRAP study. Click here for more on MRAPS. Click here for other locations of public meetings and a link to download the draft scoping summary.
Originally published on March 24, 2011, in the Bismark Tribune
Click here for original link
by Brian Gehring

A few weeks ago the Army Corps of Engineers released its draft scoping summary report on the Missouri River management known as MRAPS.

It stands for Missouri River Authorized Purposes Study. The study got it beginning back a couple years ago when Sen. Byron Dorgan called for a review of how the river system was managed.

That management study was based on a document adopted in 1944 when the dams were built along the river.

Dorgan said it when he led the push to have Congress study how the river has been managed: things have changed since 1944.

The MRAPS draft study, all 340-some pages, is available online at www.mraps.org. For those who do not have Internet, the draft study is available at the Bismarck Public Library through April 30.

The draft is the culmination of public meetings that the corps hosted up and down the river last summer, giving the public and various state and tribal representatives the opportunity to comment.

There is another set of meetings scheduled to allow the public and others another chance to comment.

That meeting is coming up Tuesday at the Doublewood Inn. The format of the meeting is same with a presentation from the corps from 5 to 6 p.m. and then public comment afterward.

Things have changed along the river in 60-some years but it’s not just the river. Usage has changed on our two reservoirs that are a part of the system.

The eight original authorized purposes are flood control, hydropower, water supply, irrigation, navigation, recreation, water quality and fish and wildlife.

Water quality, irrigation and hydropower are still top issues as far as North Dakota is concerned. The same goes for water quality, recreation and fish and wildlife.

The area that has been questioned over the years is that of navigation. Little or no navigation of consequence happens downstream.

When dollars are compared to what the water generates from fishing and recreation and navigation, you would think one would have a difficult time arguing in favor of navigation and managing the river for that purpose.

We have water back in our reservoirs now but the thing with people’s memories is they can be short when times are good.

We don’t mind sharing our water when the need is there and justified. And, we don’t mind holding the water back when, as has been the case in recent years, there is too much of it downstream in the spring.

We just don’t want to be charged for storing water that is ours.

And when you think about it, the Missouri River, post-dam era, is still in its infancy when it comes to a river.

Sixty-some years is a mere drop in the bucket comparatively speaking when talking about the age of a river.

We are still learning a lot about how management practices are affecting the overall health of the river system and those who derive benefits from, and often rely on the river for survival.

We have seen how fish like pallid sturgeon and paddlefish and shore birds like terns and plovers have been negatively affected.

They are the first species to give an indication something may not be right. It takes us humans a bit longer to come around most times.

A lot has changed since 1944. And now we are in the position to be there as it changes and hopefully do something positive as it is happening.

If you have a stake or an interest in the river, this is one of those issues or causes, call it what you will, to become involved in. Or, at the very least, become informed about what is on the line.

Birds rest, feed at DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge

2011-03-24T12:35:00.001-05:00

Originally published on March 23, 2011 in the Omaha World Herald
Click here for original link
by Mike Brownlee


photo - Mike Davis, Omaha World Herald

MISSOURI VALLEY, Iowa — Waterfowl and other migratory birds are making a brief stop on the 7,500 acres of wetlands, forest, lakes and ponds at DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge on the Missouri River north of Omaha.

“The Missouri River valley, historically, has been a migration corridor,” said Tom Cox, refuge manager. “I liken it to a family vacation trip. And we're like a hotel and restaurant for migration.

“We provide an area for them to rest and replenish fat reserves. So when they hit their nesting spot up north they're ready for breeding. They need to be healthy for breeding and hatching.”

Bald eagles usually migrate along with the geese, feasting on the frail, and Cox said many have been seen on the refuge.

The waterfowl northern migration season began toward the end of February, Cox said, and ends in early April. During the peak days in early March, there were about 50,000 ducks and geese at the refuge.

“We've broken records for white-fronted geese this year,” Cox said.

In 2010, DeSoto restored 500 acres of wetlands, giving waterfowl more area to inhabit during their stay.

On a bird-seeking drive at the refuge this week, the sounds and sights of nature abounded.

Red-tail hawks flew overhead often, while whitetail deer sprinted out of the thickets, crossed the road and headed back into the cover. The rustling of turkeys passing through tall grass in the woods was heard nearby, while above a woodpecker intermittently tapped away and sang.

Flocks of ducks and other water birds rested on DeSoto Lake and other small- to medium-sized bodies of water at the refuge. Geese, which had stayed in large groups early on, were seen in groups of two.

“They're pairing up and staking out their territory,” Cox said, noting that Canada geese, along with wood ducks, often nest at DeSoto.

“Two geese we saw sounded like trumpets,” said Caiden Brown, who stopped by DeSoto with his mother, Jennifer, and sister Bailey. “And I never realized how many different ducks were here.”

The family hails from just across the Missouri River in Blair, Neb., and decided to take in the migration.

“It's so nice down here because it's quiet,” Bailey said. “I like that the animals can roam free and we get to see them in their world.”

Out at Bullhead Pond at DeSoto, Cox pointed out a muskrat nest, which is a rounded hut made of cattails and tall grass. Canada geese prefer to make their nest on top of the muskrat dwelling.

“You'll see the geese up on their nest,” Cox said. “Then after that you'll see little yellow fluff balls following them around.”

A flying V of snow geese passed by above. Cox said about 10,000 snow geese have stopped at the refuge this year. They had around that number during the fall migration, too, but for about a decade before that their numbers were smaller.

At one time, he said, 500,000 to 700,000 snow geese stopped by DeSoto during migration.

“It's nice to see some stop here for refuge again,” Cox said.

The waterfowl migration will end soon, with wading birds — such as herons, egrets and bitterns — the next scheduled visitors to DeSoto. Other types will follow.

“During the fall the birds stay longer, the migration is more drawn out,” Cox said. “Spring migration is fast. They're in and out in a week or so. The biological clock is ticking.”

Missouri River shipping season starts

2011-03-23T11:50:00.000-05:00

blogmaster's note: First barge transit of the season! The Mary Lynn hits the river today for a fertilizer haul to Brunswick Terminal. The Mary Lynn is a really cool, sleek towboat designed with a shallow draft for the Missouri River.

Originally Published in St. Louis Business Journal on March 22, 2011
Click here for original link.

AGRIServices is starting its shipping season early, with eight barges of fertilizer set to leave St. Louis on Wednesday and arrive Sunday in Brunswick, in Chariton County in north-central Missouri.

The shipping season officially begins April 1, when the U.S. Coast Guard places navigational buoys on the river.

But “the water levels are good enough to get our shipping season started early, and we expect to be busy through mid-December,” said Kevin Holcer of Brunswick-based AGRIServices, in a statement. “We expect to increase our shipping efforts by up to 15 percent.”

AGRIServices will start pushing more than 9,000 tons of fertilizer up the Missouri River on Wednesday via the M/V Mary Lynn, a 3800-horsepower shallow draft boat.

The Missouri Department of Transportation, which supports waterways shipping on the Missouri River, said Jefferson City’s River Terminal expects to receive 6,000 tons of cement Tuesday, and that Hermann Sand and Gravel plans to start moving freight later this week.

"Our goal is to increase the freight moved on the Missouri River, increase connections to other transportation modes, and provide economic development opportunities along the river corridor,” Ernie Perry, freight development administrator for MoDOT, said in a statement.

MoDOT said expectations are for the biggest shipping season on the Missouri River in a decade. In 2010, about 334,000 tons of goods, or the equivalent of 13,000 tractor-truck loads, was shipped on the Missouri River, a 24 percent increase compared with 2009, according to MoDOT.

Perry said one barge carries the same amount of cargo as 70 semi-trucks or 16 rail cars.

Cleanup group goes to the air to map Missouri River trash

2011-03-23T10:20:00.000-05:00

blogmaster's note: For more info on this effort, click here: http://www.riverrelief.org/updates/entry/river-relief-conducts-aerial-trash-scout/. As we post photos and maps from the scout, you'll be able to access from that page.

Originally published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on March 23, 2011
Click here for original post
by Mark Schlinkmann

To prepare for its 10th annual Missouri River cleanup later this year, an environmental group recently launched its first aerial mapping survey of most of the 380 miles of the river from Kansas City to St. Louis.

"We saw a lot of trash accumulation we were not able to see" in past surveys by boat, said Jeff Barrow, director of Columbia, Mo.-based Missouri River Relief. "The photos will give us a plan on how to approach it."

There weren't many surprises in the St. Louis area, he said. One exception was a heap of junk near Howell Island west of the Daniel Boone Bridge that carries Highway 40 between St. Louis and St. Charles counties. That area will be targeted during the cleanup.

The overhead views are of particular help in finding large accumulations of debris that wash into nearby woodlands during flooding and stay when the water recedes, he said. Much of that was found in low-population areas in western Missouri, such as near the mouth of the Grand River near Brunswick.

"There must have been 10 acres of driftwood and trash, including refrigerators and 55-gallon drums," said Barrow, who took part in the survey.

He said various riverside dump sites obscured by vegetation also were pinpointed, including one near New Haven in Franklin County.

The survey was conducted March 11-12 with GPS-synchronized cameras in a six-seat Cessna run by Colorado-based EcoFlight, which does aerial scouting for various environmental causes.

This year's cleanup campaign, called the Big Muddy Clean Sweep, has another twist.

For the first time, the organization has chartered a barge to cruise the length of the river and serve as the common receptacle for trash picked up in various drives along the way.

The trash will then be taken to a terminal for transfer to landfills or recycled. In the past, trash from each local drive was disposed of separately.

"This will be a lot more efficient," Barrow said.

He added that "it makes a powerful visual statement when people see that barge with a mountain of trash."

This year's effort begins Sept. 10 in Kansas City. Three of the stops and local cleanups will be in the St. Louis area — at Washington, Mo., Oct. 15, St. Charles on Oct. 22 and around the confluence with the Mississippi River on Oct. 29.

The confluence area also will be the subject of a trash collection campaign this Saturday overseen by another group, the Confluence Partnership, and involving Missouri River Relief and other organizations. That event is called the Confluence Trash Bash. For more information, go to confluencegreenway.org.

North Dakota: Legislature Urges Army Corps of Engineers to Give the State Back Water Control

2011-03-23T10:09:00.000-05:00

Originally published in PlainsDaily.com on March 22, 2011
Click here for original link
By Kate Bommarito

The Senate passed HCR 3019 today, a resolution urging the Army Corps of Engineers (COE) “to immediately cease wrongful denial of access and wrongful requirement of payment for the natural flows of the Missouri River,” and demands that the COE “forgo any attempt to charge water users in North Dakota a fee to use water from Lake Sakakawea or Lake Oahe.”

Both the Governor and the Attorney General had testified at the resolution’s committee hearing. At the House hearing, Dalrymple called the US Army Corps of Engineers’ new policies both “unjustifiable” and “utterly inappropriate for the state of North Dakota.”

The Corps has had a long and contentious history when it comes to their management of the Missouri River water. Most recently, the COE has been attempting to charge North Dakota water “storage fees,” for water held in Lake Sakakwea and Lake Oahe.

State Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem stated “It is not just nor I think legal to demand that we get permission to use water that naturally flows through our state, and it borders on insult to demand that we pay for it,” when he addressed the House Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

At the same time the Senate was voting on HCR 3019, the House was voting on a related resolution, SCR 4002, urging Congress “to provide a legal process to return to the state of North Dakota land controlled by the Army Corps of Engineers which is not necessary for authorized purposes.”

SCR 4002 specifies that the COE “has acquired certain lands around the Missouri River water system, including Lake Oahe and Lake Sakakawea,” and demands that the land be returned, giving the state of North Dakota full control over the land, including access to the river’s water.

The Corps’ plan to charge the state for its water has been met with public outcry in the state and has far reaching implications, especially considering the current water pipeline projects and the oil industry’s increased need for access to water.

Both resolutions passed their respective chambers unanimously

Columbia couple racing to clean Missouri rivers

2011-03-22T09:39:00.000-05:00

Blogmaster's note: This is a great article about a couple River Relief volunteers (Sarah is also a board member) that are using their participation in the Missouri River 340 to raise funds for Missouri River Relief and awareness of river issues. You can support their efforts by donating to Missouri River Relief through our website and checking the "Team MoDak 340 Pledge" box. Here's the donation link: http://www.riverrelief.org/donate/
Here's a link to their Team MoDak blog: http://supportthebigmuddy.weebly.com/index.html

Originally published in the Columbia Missourian on March 22
Click here for original link


Sarah "The Icebreaker" Pennington. Photo by Josh Pennington

by Sara Johnson

COLUMBIA — Josh and Sarah Pennington are no strangers to adventure.

After receiving their bachelor's degrees from MU, they sold their house and traveled the western United States in a minivan for six months with their two Labrador retrievers, $5000 and two simple rules: no interstates and no shopping or eating at chain restaurants or grocery stores.

"We have the same interests," Sarah Pennington said. "We're best friends. Our personalities match in a way that we want to do the same things anyway."

This summer, the Penningtons are embarking on their next journey together — participating in the sixth annual Missouri River 340, the world’s longest nonstop canoe race. They are asking people to pledge money for each mile of the race to raise money and awareness for Missouri River Relief, an organization they've been involved with for five years.

Missouri River Relief is a volunteer-based group that focuses on cleaning up the Missouri River and educating citizens on the importance of caring for their rivers.

“They are really just spark plugs in our motor, just full of energy," Missouri River Relief director Jeff Barrow said of the Penningtons.

The Columbia couple has firsthand experience with the impact polluted rivers have on a community. They are veterans of the National Guard and served a year in Iraq in 2004.

“That experience really opened our eyes because we saw how degraded the rivers were there and how important it was to take care of our rivers," Josh Pennington, 28, said.

Sarah Pennington, also 28, agreed.

“It opened our eyes to the importance of taking care of our natural resources,” she said.

The Penningtons started paddling the Missouri River on a canoe clean-up trip with Missouri River Relief in 2006 but became even more engaged within the organization in 2009.

Barrow said the Penningtons quickly learned the procedures for cleaning up the river and are at the point where they can teach the same procedures.

“The fact that they are participating in 340 and asking friends and family to donate to Missouri River Relief shows their deep connection (to the cause)," Barrow said.

The Penningtons' goal is to raise $3,400, and they've raised $650 to date. They initially thought they could find 1,000 people to pledge one penny per mile, but donors have offered 10 cents to one dollar per mile.

“Every little bit adds up,” Josh Pennington said.

Jodi Pfefferkorn, the couple's top sponsor, is making a documentary on the race from the Penningtons' point of view through her film company, Flaming Fiddle Productions.

“I think it’s a good cause that they are doing the race for, and I like that they’re not only paddling in the race but doing it to raise money for the Missouri River Relief," Pfefferkorn said.

In addition to having people pledge to sponsor them, the Penningtons decided to hold a rummage sale benefiting the Missouri River Relief. After making a few hundred dollars from a personal yard sale of unwanted belongings, they realized a larger sale could raise a significant amount of money.

“We’re trying to make it a neighborhood effort,” Sarah Pennington said. “It has been a good social experience for us to get to know our neighbors.”

So far, they've received four to five truckloads of items such as cribs, skis, exercise equipment, clothes, wedding rings and beds. Missouri River Relief is sending volunteers to help work the sale, and neighbors have offered help and yard space.

"When we clean up on the river, we see how much our society consumes, and a rummage sale enforces the idea of reusing, which to me is kind of elegant," Barrow said.

At 340 miles, the Missouri River 340 is the world’s longest non-stop canoe race, beginning in Kansas City and ending in St. Charles with eight checkpoints along the way. The race, which begins at 8 a.m. on July 19 and ends at midnight on July 22, must be completed in a maximum of 88 hours.

Race director Scott Mansker said an average finishing time is 65 to 70 hours, but the winners finish in about 40 hours. The fastest finish is 36 hours.

The Penningtons have a blog dedicated to their involvement in the race and with Missouri River Relief. They update it regularly with information about their training process.

“The endurance and stamina is going to be the biggest part, trying to stay in the boat that long,” Josh Pennington said. “Teamwork is important too — being comfortable with each other and being able to work together.”

“The better you communicate and the better you know each other’s strengths and weaknesses helps,” Sarah Pennington said. “One of our strengths is communication. I have no doubts about us working together.”

While this will be their first time competing in the race, the Penningtons have been looking forward to it for quite some time. They were ready to compete in last year’s race, but when it was rescheduled because of unsafe river and weather conditions, they were unable to participate.

The couple is ready again.

“It’s not the destination that matters — it’s the journey towards the destination,” Josh Pennington said. “The entire thing is going to be one big adventure."

"I think it’s an opportunity to build our personal relationship stronger," he said. "It’s all about communication in a personal relationship, so it’s a good test. I think someone can really learn a lot about themselves in a race like this — about their morals, will, personal beliefs and what they can physically accomplish.”

Missouri River pedestrian bridge will open April 8 in Jefferson City

2011-03-21T11:50:00.001-05:00

Originally published on March 17, 2011 on KRCG 13
Click here for original link.
by Lucas Bond.

JEFFERSON CITY, MO -- The pedestrian bridge along the Missouri River Bridge is almost done.

MoDOT said the bridge will open to the public April 8th.

The new bridge was designed to help bikers and walkers get to and from the Katy Trail without dodging traffic.

"The job is suppose to go to April 1st. The contractor is on schedule at this point,” MoDOT Charles Sullivan said. “He is going to be granted a few days here and there because the extra piling we put in the ground, and some over runs on the contract allow him a few days."

Sullivan said people have told him they don't like the old pedestrian walkway because they feel it's dangerous.

"The catch is right now it's accessible by car because there is no barrier between cars and pedestrians and bicyclists,” Sullivan said. “The new bridge is going to add a big safety feature of separating pedestrians, bicyclists, or anybody in a wheel chair away from traffic."

Sullivan said the pedestrian bridge cost a little more than the estimated cost of $6.9 million."

"We're a little bit over. It's just that we needed more piling, and a few minor things have run it over,” Sullivan said. “We are really close, we're still under one percent."

Sullivan told KRCG the new pedestrian bridge is strong, sturdy, and much safer than the old walk way.

"The deck portion that is on the bridge is what they call a fiber reinforcement deck which will take all the salt, wear and tare, and all the movements and bending. So it should last a long time,” Sullivan said.

The ribbon cutting ceremony for the pedestrian bridge is April 8th at the Missouri River boat ramp entrance.

Stemming the Overflow

2011-03-21T08:18:00.001-05:00

"Recent equipment failure puts spotlight on St. Joseph’s problematic sewers"
Originally published on March 19, 2011 in the St. Joseph News-Press
by Clinton Thomas
Click here for original link

Most people prefer not to think about the labyrinth of sewer lines running beneath their home.

When those lines bring a nine-figure bill to the doorstep of customers, the system become too big to ignore.

St. Joseph voters will decide April 5 on a bond issue that could reduce projected costs over the next 20 years. Though sewer customers will pay for the bonds, all St. Joseph voters can weigh in on the issue because residents with septic systems within the city limits are allowed convert to the sewer system if they wish — and if they can afford it.

A recent pump station breakdown drew public attention to the system when it caused more than a million gallons of partially treated wastewater to flow into the Missouri River. Though the equipment failure was rare, sewage flowing untreated into the river is anything but. Just look at the numbers. In 2010, St. Joseph’s combined sewer overflow system carried untreated sewage mixed with stormwater into the Missouri River on 198 separate days. The 2009 tally was 117 days, with 160 in 2008 and 73 in 2007.

Federal, state and local governments know a problem when they see one. A federal mandate and potential fines from state regulators have forced communities like St. Joseph, Kansas City and St. Louis into an expensive repair job.

Reba Hebert stressed the importance of the city’s sewer problem last year during her unsuccessful bid for a city council seat. One year later, she serves on the citizen committee that hopes to convince voters a $105 million price tag represents a bargain.

“The work is going to get done. It’s a matter of how we finance it,” Ms. Hebert said. “It’s up to the voters whether we save money or not.”

The city will use the funds for projects related to a federal mandate that it address its combined sewer overflow issues and to meet new regulations concerning the amount of ammonia and other chemicals it may discharge into the Missouri River.

For review, nearly all sewers west of Belt Highway in St. Joseph are combined systems, which accept wastewater from toilets, sinks and showers, as well as stormwater from rain or melting snow. During periods of “dry flow,” both types of water flow together through the system to the wastewater treatment plant. Nearly every time it rains — or when snow melts — the volume becomes too much for the system to handle, allowing a combination of sewage and stormwater to overflow and travel to any one of the 15 sites where the system discharges into the Missouri River.

Public Works Director Bruce Woody estimated the ratio of sewage to stormwater during overflow periods was about .2 to .3 percent sewage and 99.7 to 99.8 percent stormwater.

Though construction has yet to begin on substantial projects, Mr. Woody said past city councils are not guilty of “passing the buck” to other generations. The previous council, for example, commissioned the long-term control plan that will guide the current group and future councils as they address the problem.

“A lot of people think of a study as something that gets put up on a shelf. That’s not what happened,” Mr. Woody said.

If voters approve the bond, the city will apply to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to participate in its State Revolving Fund (SRF) program, which provides low-interest loans for projects such as the ones planned for St. Joseph. To be eligible, applicants must have a complete facilities plan and voter approval.

Voter approval does not guarantee the city will receive low-interest SRF bonds. If the bond fails, the city cannot apply for the reduced rate and will have to settle for a more expensive bond.

The percentages translate into dollars for sewer customers.

If voters approve the bonds, the city will seek $105 million in SRF bonds to complete its list of projects. If voters reject the bond, the city will pursue lease-purchase bonds worth about $131.5 million. If the measure passes but the city cannot secure SRF bonds, it could receive a small discount with conventional revenue bonds worth about $127.6 million.

In a previous sewer rate study, Black & Veatch estimated the average monthly sewer bill would rise from $22 to $66 in the 20 years it will take the city to implement Phase I of its Combined Sewer Overflow Long-Term Control Plan. With SRF bonds, the city could cut $10 to $15 off the increase.

Committee member Ken Reeder has earned a reputation for opposing local bonds and tax measures. This time the long-time river advocate is on board. However, he fears a bill up for consideration at Monday’s council meeting to put a hotel/motel tax on the ballot in June could jeopardize the sewer bond vote.

“The magnitude of the sewer bond is 100 times more important than the hotel/motel tax, and we need to make sure people see that,” Mr. Reeder said. “It’s a smart vote to vote yes for the bond.”

Clinton Thomas can be reached at clinton.thomas@newspressow.com.