Corps emails released; drought eases flooding

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"

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

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.

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

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

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

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. 

• Updated projections by Corps for each gage along river taking into account new 160 kcfs reality.
• Updated inundation maps from Corps Omaha District
• Updated inundation maps from Corps Kansas City District

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

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.

Dam releases spike over weekend

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.

Missouri River 340 cancelled - moved to Kansas River

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.

Opinion Editorial: City could generate its own electricity

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.