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.



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.