The Cave's Archive of Missouri River Flooding 2011 Daily Updates

Saturday, August 13, 2011

USGS Earthquake Center has confirmed a rare South Dakota earthquake centered near the state's capital city on Tuesday afternoon

http://www.kfgo.com/fm-headline-news.php?pageNum_rsTSnews2=1&totalRows_rsTSnews2=4796&ID=0000005004

The Big Bend and Oahe hydro-electric dams along the still flooding Missouri River with their subsequent reservoirs are near Pierre, SD

Thursday, August 4, 2011

AberdeenNews.com | North Dakota governor to broach idea of state compact to manage Missouri River flood control

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

MISSOURI RIVER 2011 FLOODING UPDATE - August 3, 2011

Missouri River dips below 18 feet in Bismarck-Mandan ND

The Missouri River briefly dropped below 18 feet in Bismarck-Mandan on Sunday morning but climbed again overnight.

According to National Weather Service, the river’s elevation was 17.95 feet at 10:45 a.m. Sunday, measured at a river gauge near Bismarck’s water treatment plant north of Memorial Bridge.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been gradually lowering releases from the Garrison Dam since late June, but the river has been falling slowly in response. It fell below 19 feet on July 13 for the first time since June 24. The weather service projects that it will remain around 18 feet until this weekend when it predicts that it will fall to 17.6 feet on Saturday.

Todd Hamilton, meteorologist with the weather service, said the river’s level was tied to dam releases rather than rainfall.

“I think you’d have to have a pretty hefty rainfall,” he said. “It’s not going to make it go up unless there’s a significant extended rainfall over the western part of the state.”

The corps is holding dam releases at 110,000 cubic feet per second until Thursday, when they will lower them to 105,000 cfs.

OMAHA.com | Levees may not be done by spring 2012 and could eclipse $1 Billion.

This is a race the Army Corps of Engineers expects to lose.

Corps officials say it's doubtful all the federal levees on the Missouri River can be repaired in time for next spring's runoff.

There is too much work to get done before next March, but the levees that protect "dense population centers" will get priority, Brig. Gen. John McMahon told The World-Herald Monday.

He also said the cost of repairing the levees and work on the river's six upstream dams in the Dakotas and Montana could eclipse $1 billion.

That includes only the corps' costs.

It excludes the millions of dollars homeowners and farmers lost in property and crops and the millions counties and cities shelled out to fight the flood. It also excludes state and county costs for fixing damaged bridges, roads and other infrastructure.

It's also not the final number.

"It's a running estimate," McMahon said.

The corps is starting to look toward the future as an end to this year's flooding approaches. By mid- to late September, the Missouri is expected to recede back into its banks, ending this spring and summer's flood.

However, McMahon and others cautioned that local and state officials and others need to stay just as vigilant in monitoring the system's levees, including those at Omaha and Council Bluffs.

"We're still fighting a pretty tough fight on some of those levees," said Col. Robert Ruch, commander of the Omaha district, noting a "large and aggressive" sand boil fought recently near Council Bluffs.

He said the threat of a levee breach remains real as long as the levees are holding back water.

Ruch also said the levees need to be monitored aggressively.

In Nebraska, the state in recent days turned over the monitoring of Omaha's levees to the city, removing the Nebraska National Guard. Omaha officials objected but said they would use city workers and private contractors to monitor the levees.

The corps expects to begin work on the levees as soon as the Missouri returns to its banks.

That work will not be easy.

First, it will take time for water on the flood plain to recede. Some of that water may be trapped behind roads, hills and other structures, requiring local officials and others to force the water back into the river.

The volume of water on the flood plain is three times the amount held in the reservoir at South Dakota's Gavins Point Dam, the corps said.

And, once the water recedes, contractors and others will have to wait until the ground is dry enough to get to and repair certain levees.

McMahon said the corps was unlikely to get all the federal levees back into pre-2011 shape for the spring thaw.

The good news is that a repeat of the 2011 flood is highly unlikely. The chances of it happening again: roughly 1 in 500, said Jody Farhat, director of the water management division of the corps' Omaha District.

"This was a rare event, and the chance of getting another event again next year is remote."

RadiationNetwork.com

Missouri River Dams and River Levels Flood Map

http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?q=https://sites.google.com/site/gmap4files/p/news/missouri_river.txt&ll=43.761599,-101.071993&t=h&z=6&label=on

US ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS FORECAST SCHEDULE OF RELEASES OF 6 MAINSTEM MISSOURI BASIN DAMS

Updated Daily

http://www.nwd-mr.usace.army.mil/rcc/reports/twout.html

NOAA Hydrologic

http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/river.php?wfo=abr&wfoid=18696&riverid=203276&view=1%2C1%2C1%2C1%2C1%2C1%2C1%2C1&toggles=10%2C7%2C8%2C2%2C9%2C15%2C6&pt[]=145640&pt[]=142853&pt[]=144098&pt[]=144183&pt[]=142396&pt[]=143355&allpoints=143990%2C145585%2C145025%2C145026%2C144876%2C145027%2C143234%2C143184%2C145519%2C145640%2C144217%2C142150%2C142780%2C142853%2C145202%2C141586%2C144582%2C143543%2C144796%2C144098%2C144240%2C141320%2C141614%2C142968%2C144183%2C142574%2C143478%2C142193%2C142760%2C142003%2C142610%2C142396%2C144496%2C147345%2C141899%2C143355%2C142050%2C141570%2C144165%2C143476%2C141703%2C142023%2C144123%2C141863%2C143539%2C143436%2C141917%2C143009%2C142688%2C142640%2C143925%2C143734%2C142729%2C143790%2C142668%2C141962%2C142132&data[]=hydrograph&submit=Make+my+River+Page!

FT. PECK DAM - MONTANA

GARRISON DAM - NORTH DAKOTA

FT RANDALL DAM - NEAR CHAMBERLAIN SD

GAVINS POINT DAM - NEAR YANKTON SD

MISSOURI RIVER NEAR NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS

BLAIR, NEBRASKA NEAR FT. CALHOUN NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

BROWNVILLE, NE - NEAR COOPER NUCLEAR PLANT

RESERVOIR CONTROL CENTER REPORTS

The following is the latest Reservoir Readings on the Upper Missouri River. This report is updated daily. Click on the picture for today's readings in reference to Gavins Point Dam, Ft. Randall Dam in SD, Big Bend Dam in SD, Oahe Dam in SD, Garrison Dam in ND and Fort Peck in Mt.

Link to daily report:

http://www.nwd-mr.usace.army.mil/rcc/reports/showrep.cgi?3MRDTAP7

August 3, 2011

August 2, 2011

June 13, 2011

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

MISSOURI RIVER 2011 FLOODING UPDATE - August 2, 2011

Missouri River dips below 18 feet in Bismarck-Mandan ND

Posted: Monday, August 1, 2011 5:20 pm

The Missouri River briefly dropped below 18 feet in Bismarck-Mandan on Sunday morning but climbed again overnight.

According to National Weather Service, the river’s elevation was 17.95 feet at 10:45 a.m. Sunday, measured at a river gauge near Bismarck’s water treatment plant north of Memorial Bridge.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been gradually lowering releases from the Garrison Dam since late June, but the river has been falling slowly in response. It fell below 19 feet on July 13 for the first time since June 24. The weather service projects that it will remain around 18 feet until this weekend when it predicts that it will fall to 17.6 feet on Saturday.

Todd Hamilton, meteorologist with the weather service, said the river’s level was tied to dam releases rather than rainfall.

“I think you’d have to have a pretty hefty rainfall,” he said. “It’s not going to make it go up unless there’s a significant extended rainfall over the western part of the state.”

The corps is holding dam releases at 110,000 cubic feet per second until Thursday, when they will lower them to 105,000 cfs.

OMAHA.com | Levees may not be done by spring 2012

August 2, 2011

This is a race the Army Corps of Engineers expects to lose.

Corps officials say it's doubtful all the federal levees on the Missouri River can be repaired in time for next spring's runoff.

There is too much work to get done before next March, but the levees that protect "dense population centers" will get priority, Brig. Gen. John McMahon told The World-Herald Monday.

He also said the cost of repairing the levees and work on the river's six upstream dams in the Dakotas and Montana could eclipse $1 billion.

That includes only the corps' costs.

It excludes the millions of dollars homeowners and farmers lost in property and crops and the millions counties and cities shelled out to fight the flood. It also excludes state and county costs for fixing damaged bridges, roads and other infrastructure.

It's also not the final number.

"It's a running estimate," McMahon said.

The corps is starting to look toward the future as an end to this year's flooding approaches. By mid- to late September, the Missouri is expected to recede back into its banks, ending this spring and summer's flood.

However, McMahon and others cautioned that local and state officials and others need to stay just as vigilant in monitoring the system's levees, including those at Omaha and Council Bluffs.

"We're still fighting a pretty tough fight on some of those levees," said Col. Robert Ruch, commander of the Omaha district, noting a "large and aggressive" sand boil fought recently near Council Bluffs.

He said the threat of a levee breach remains real as long as the levees are holding back water.

Ruch also said the levees need to be monitored aggressively.

In Nebraska, the state in recent days turned over the monitoring of Omaha's levees to the city, removing the Nebraska National Guard. Omaha officials objected but said they would use city workers and private contractors to monitor the levees.

The corps expects to begin work on the levees as soon as the Missouri returns to its banks.

That work will not be easy.

First, it will take time for water on the flood plain to recede. Some of that water may be trapped behind roads, hills and other structures, requiring local officials and others to force the water back into the river.

The volume of water on the flood plain is three times the amount held in the reservoir at South Dakota's Gavins Point Dam, the corps said.

And, once the water recedes, contractors and others will have to wait until the ground is dry enough to get to and repair certain levees.

McMahon said the corps was unlikely to get all the federal levees back into pre-2011 shape for the spring thaw.

The good news is that a repeat of the 2011 flood is highly unlikely. The chances of it happening again: roughly 1 in 500, said Jody Farhat, director of the water management division of the corps' Omaha District.

"This was a rare event, and the chance of getting another event again next year is remote."

RadiationNetwork.com

Missouri River Dams and River Levels Flood Map

http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?q=https://sites.google.com/site/gmap4files/p/news/missouri_river.txt&ll=43.761599,-101.071993&t=h&z=6&label=on

US ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS FORECAST SCHEDULE OF RELEASES OF 6 MAINSTEM MISSOURI BASIN DAMS

Updated Daily

http://www.nwd-mr.usace.army.mil/rcc/reports/twout.html

NOAA Hydrologic

FT. PECK DAM - MONTANA

GARRISON DAM - NORTH DAKOTA

FT RANDALL DAM - NEAR CHAMBERLAIN SD

GAVINS POINT DAM - NEAR YANKTON SD

MISSOURI RIVER NEAR NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS

BLAIR, NEBRASKA NEAR FT. CALHOUN NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

BROWNVILLE, NE - NEAR COOPER NUCLEAR PLANT

RESERVOIR CONTROL CENTER REPORTS

http://www.nwd-mr.usace.army.mil/rcc/reports/showrep.cgi?3MRDTAP7

August 2, 2011

June 13, 2011

Monday, August 1, 2011

MISSOURI RIVER 2011 FLOODING UPDATE - August 1, 2011

ArgusLeader.com | Missouri River Flooding 2011 flood questions pinned the US Army Corp of Engineers in a swirl of politics

http://www.argusleader.com/article/20110731/NEWS/107310314/Flood-questions-pinned-corps-swirl-politics

Jody Farhat had a problem.

It was June 3, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' water management chief for the Missouri River basin had just received word that construction on a private levee in Dakota Dunes had been delayed.

The contractors needed the corps to postpone stepping up releases from Gavins Point Dam - pivot point in the battle between upper and lower basin interests on the Missouri River - for an extra day.

"Don't feel we have much choice here," Farhat wrote other corps officials.

Brig. Gen. John McMahon, commander of the corps' Northwestern Division, replied soon after: "Roger. Thanks. This is a smart 'political' move IF it's supportable from a (water management) perspective."

The next day, another official jumped on the email thread: "You know the politics - We'll do what we need to do."

They agreed that news of the schedule change should, for now, stay with the corps.

"Of course, nothing public," engineer Paul Boyd wrote.

This exchange - one among thousands of email conversations obtained by the Argus Leader and the Gannett Washington Bureau under the Freedom of Information Act - illustrates the political considerations that underlie the corps' decision-making in the midst of one of the worst flood seasons in the river's history.

Emails include Farhat's communications from June 1 to June 23, when the corps announced that releases from Gavins Point Dam would climb to a peak of 160,000 cubic feet per second. As with email traffic previously released by the Argus Leader, many names were redacted.

The correspondence offers a window into the internal deliberation and political maneuvering behind the flood fight, as corps officials hustled to put out fires and squelch rumors, spin journalists and hold off politicians whose inquiries sharpened as flooding intensified across the basin.

In the end, contractors in Dakota Dunes needed only a few hours of breathing room, not a whole day. "No big deal," Farhat said last week.

She said, moreover, that while the corps strives for transparency in its decision-making, it does not make public all of its internal deliberations.

"We make a decision, then we tell people about it. ... In that case, we didn't change anything. Had we decided to wait a day, we would have made an announcement," she said.

'We don't have time to run what-if scenarios'

As public scrutiny of the corps swelled in June, so did interest from South Dakota's congressional delegation, correspondence shows.

On June 1, Jennifer Greer, a higher-up at the corps' Washington headquarters, set up a meeting between congressional leaders, including Sen. John Thune, and Maj. Gen. Bo Temple, the corps' acting commanding general.

The meeting was June 8, the same day corps officials decided to increase releases from Fort Peck in Montana, following overnight rains that doubled the amount of water flowing into the reservoir. After the meeting, Greer posted her notes.

Thune "didn't advocate the position (that floodwater should have been evacuated sooner), but it is what he is hearing," Greer wrote.

"SEN Thune - asked how influential is Fish and Wildlife would be if there were updates to the manual. ... SEN Thune suggested that if the Corps needed assistance to lessen such influence (including legislation) they were willing to help. MG Temple stated that he did not see this as a problem - it is a balancing issue, but thought all would work together."

A few days earlier, Thune aide David Schwietert had written to ask whether more of the system's flood-control zone could have been freed up sooner. The senator, he wrote, is "curious what the modeling would show if the Corps had released additional water from Garrison/Oahe starting at the beginning of this year. ... Something tells me that based on the amount of precipitation/ runoff that we've witnessed, it would still have likely required 100+ cfs out of both dams."

Schwietert had to follow up twice before getting a response, and corps officials ignored subsequent requests to clarify information, Thune spokeswoman Andi Fouberg said last week.

An official drafted a response June 23 to Schwietert and sent it to Farhat for vetting. "I thought that for this response I'd stick more to the talking points even though I did make a few modifications," the official wrote.

Farhat responded the next day: "I definitely agree with the approach to stick to the talking points. We don't have time to run what-if scenarios now."

Farhat said last week that her office gave Thune's office a preliminary estimate but that she couldn't spare the time or staff to run the analysis.

"We've had many requests like that - a lot of folks were, what if this, what if that - and what we told every one of them is, there's a time to do that kind of analysis, and it's not in the heat of the battle," she said.

On June 13, an aide for Sen. Tim Johnson sent questions about the timing of the releases. Kayla Eckert Uptmor, planning branch chief for the Omaha District, responded that "we had no basis on which to increase flows to historic levels until the extraordinary rainfall event which resulted in a record runoff in May."

'Pounding that message' on upstream rains

Corps officials would come to lean on this talking point as they combated the criticism that more water should have been moved downriver sooner. Considering the amount of flood storage available in the system and the saturating rains in May, releasing the water earlier would have done little good anyway, they said.

http://www.argusleader.com/article/20110731/NEWS/107310314/Flood-questions-pinned-corps-swirl-politics

KNEX.com | US Army Corps of Engineers reduces release from Gavins Point dam in SD

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has started to reduce releases from Gavins Point dam into the Missouri River as it flows between Nebraska and Iowa.

The corps says releases at the dam near Yankton, S.D., were lowered Saturday from 160,000 cubic feet per second to 155,000 cfs.

It's scheduled to be lowered again on Monday, to 150,000 cfs.

The releases are scheduled to held at that level until mid-August, then gradually cut each day to reach the target of 90,000 cfs by month's end and 40,000 cfs by Oct. 1.

The corps has been releasing massive amounts of water from the dams along the river to deal with heavy spring rains and above-average mountain snowpack. The releases have caused record flooding in Nebraska and Iowa.

http://www.kxnet.com/custom404.asp?404;http://www.kxnet.com/t/corps-of-engineers/814962.asp

OMAHA.com | Latest on the 2011 Missouri River Flood - August 1, 2011

http://www.omaha.com/article/20110606/NEWS01/110609849

Flood relief: The Pottawattamie County Community Foundation is accepting applications for disaster relief from county residents and tax-exempt organizations. Applications for the foundation's newly created Disaster Relief Grants are available at ourpccf.org or by contacting the foundation office at 712-256-7007. Donations in support of the flood relief effort can be made at the website.

Guard praised as levee duty ends

Crisis experts share expertise

Getting ahead of flood scamsters

RadiationNetwork.com

Missouri River Dams and River Levels Flood Map

http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?q=https://sites.google.com/site/gmap4files/p/news/missouri_river.txt&ll=43.761599,-101.071993&t=h&z=6&label=on

US ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS FORECAST SCHEDULE OF RELEASES OF 6 MAINSTEM MISSOURI BASIN DAMS

Updated Daily

http://www.nwd-mr.usace.army.mil/rcc/reports/twout.html

NOAA Hydrologic

FT. PECK DAM - MONTANA

GARRISON DAM - NORTH DAKOTA

FT RANDALL DAM - NEAR CHAMBERLAIN SD

GAVINS POINT DAM - NEAR YANKTON SD

BLAIR, NEBRASKA NEAR FT. CALHOUN NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

BROWNVILLE, NE - NEAR COOPER NUCLEAR PLANT

RESERVOIR CONTROL CENTER REPORTS

http://www.nwd-mr.usace.army.mil/rcc/reports/showrep.cgi?3MRDTAP7

August 1, 2011

June 13, 2011

Friday, July 29, 2011

MISSOURI RIVER 2011 FLOODING UPDATE - Friday July 29, 2011

Sioux City Journal | Gavins Point Dam releases will be reduced this weekend

DAKOTA DUNES - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to cut releases from Gavins Point Dam this weekend, the first such reduction since the Missouri River began its historic flood on Memorial Day weekend.

The reduction is good news to officials in Dakota Dunes, who have been monitoring six miles of levees protecting the southeast South Dakota community around-the-clock.

"It'll help in the sense that any time you can reduce the amount of water pressure that you have on your levees, that's beneficial," said Steve Long, public information officer for Dakota Dunes.

WHAT'S NEW: On Saturday, officials at Gavins Point Dam will cut releases to 155,000 cubic feet per second.

The current plan calls for releases to be cut to 150,000 cfs on Monday.

WHAT WE KNEW: The other five dams upstream of Gavins Point have already begun reducing releases.

As of Thursday, releases on those dams were 35,000 cfs at Fort Peck (Mont.), 115,000 cfs at Garrison (N.D.), 140,000 cfs at Big Bend and Oahe (S.D.) 159,000 cfs at Fort Randall (S.D.).

WHAT'S NEXT: Corps officials plan to announce the floodwater release schedule for the rest of the year during a conference call this morning.

RIVER LEVEL: 34.13 feet at Sioux City on Thursday, down from 34.21 feet Wednesday.

DAM RELEASES: 160,000 cfs from Gavins Point Dam in Yankton, S.D.

FORECAST: Storms in Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri on Thursday night. Forecasters from the National Weather Service say it will be hot and humid again on Saturday with heat index readings between 100 and 105 degrees. There also will be a chance of thunderstorms in the region on Saturday night.

Rain heightens Okoboji worries

Rescue training on flooded I-29

Omaha.com | Guard done with levee patrol

Biker alert — Nebraska motorists are being encouraged to watch for heavier motorcycle traffic on state roads.
Interstate 29 flooding is likely to send a number of motorcyclists headed to Sturgis, S.D., through Nebraska this year.

The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally draws thousands annually from around the country. This year's rally will be Aug. 8 to Aug. 14, but motorcycle traffic could pick up as soon as next week.

AAA is advising motorists to provide motorcyclists with the space they need to operate safely. Petro Gas Station in York will serve as a travel aid station the weekend before the rally. Water, sunscreen, neck coolers and tools for repairs will be provided.

WinnaVegas open: The WinnaVegas casino near Sloan, Iowa, has reopened, thanks to amphibious “duck boats” that are ferrying gamblers safely over the Missouri River floodwaters. The boats can hold more than two dozen people. Casino officials say the water is shallow enough over the casino access road that it’s unlikely the vessels’ propellers will be used. The service began Thursday as the casino reopened. Duck boat tickets cost $10, but passengers get $10 vouchers for gambling once they reach the casino. Woodbury County closed the road into the casino last month because of the flooding. That forced the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska to close the operation. A berm was built to protect the casino, which has become an island in a sea of floodwater.
Schuyler protection — The Army Corps of Engineers is proposing to build 5.6 miles of levees and some channel shaping near Schuyler, Neb., to protect the community from flooding.

The work would cost about $1.9 million and lessen the flood threat to to more than 760 buildings.

Northeast Schuyler has been flooded by Shell Creek. The Platte River and Lost Creek are a flood threat to southern Schuyler.

Two public meetings will be held Aug. 16. The meetings will be at the Oak Ballroom, 175 Higgins Drive in Schuyler. Information will be posted on the Omaha corps' website and placed at the Schuyler Public Library and City Hall.
Breach location clarified — Harrison County, Iowa, authorities clarified a report that a July 20 levee breach was along the Soldier River.

The breach actually occurred along the Missouri River, just upstream of river mile marker 664. The breach is approximately 80 feet wide, and water has stopped flowing it. Water levels on the dry side of the levee have stabilized.

Shelter — The American Red Cross will open a new shelter Friday in Council Bluffs to assist those affected by flooding.

The shelter will be at First Congregational United Church of Christ, 611 First Ave., and will open at 6 p.m. If there are no overnight guests by 11 p.m., the shelter will close and reopen at 8 a.m. the next morning.

The Red Cross will transition the shelter at Iowa School for the Deaf to standby status at noon Friday.

For help finding a shelter in the region, call 1-800-RED-CROSS (1-800-733-2767) between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Sandbagging — Council Bluffs is resuming sandbagging on Saturdays. Volunteers are sought from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. this Saturday at the Mid-America Center.

Sandbagging continues to be done on weekdays; volunteers will work from 8 a.m. to noon Friday.

Those interested in volunteering are asked to register by calling 712-325-4736. At the close of Wednesday's work session, the city's inventory of sandbags stood at 90,045.

Unsafe roads — The Iowa Department of Transportation is asking travelers not to move or drive around barricades on roads closed because of flooding.

Though floodwaters have begun to recede on some roads, they remain unsafe for travel. Some roadways will have missing segments, and others could have damage below the pavement surface or around bridges. Such damage can cause the road to collapse at any time.

Highway engineers will begin inspection work in the coming weeks.

For links to each of the highway agencies' websites and travel information phone numbers, visit iowadot.gov/floods/index.html.

RadiationNetwork.com

Live National Radiation Network Map

Updated in real time every minute. This is the first web site where the average citizen (or anyone in the world) can see what radiation levels are anywhere in the USA at any time

Missouri River Dams and River Levels Flood Map

http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?q=https://sites.google.com/site/gmap4files/p/news/missouri_river.txt&ll=43.761599,-101.071993&t=h&z=6&label=on

US ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS RELEASES NEW FORECAST SCHEDULE OF RELEASE - 6 MAINSTEM MISSOURI BASIN DAMS

Updated Daily

http://www.nwd-mr.usace.army.mil/rcc/reports/twout.html

NOAA Hydrologic - Water Level at Gavins Point Dam, near Ft. Calhoun and Cooper Nuclear Plants

FT. PECK DAM - MONTANA