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Blackanthem Military News
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Last Updated:
May 20, 2012 - 4:51:44 PM |
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Blackanthem Military News
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| While meeting with North Dakota State Senator Kent Conrad COL Ruch and members of the media COL Rauch explains the magnitude of the recent Missouri River flooding. |
OMAHA, NE - "Ya' can't pack 150 pounds of potatoes in a hundred pound bag." So observed U.S. Army Colonel Robert J. Ruch, Commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Omaha District.
With that image in mind, now consider the daunting dilemma of the Northwestern Division (NWD) of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). They face nearly twenty four trillion gallons of water - threatening to splash over banks and levees, wave upon wave - as the Mighty Mo shows mere mortals who really owns the Missouri River.
But, in fact, striving to maintain safety for the homes, farms, schools and businesses in the Missouri River Basin, is a significant part of the Corps' demanding daily chores. And even more importantly, if nature's natural flooding is left unchecked or handled incorrectly, lives, literally, lie at risk.
Initially, the "potatoes", in the preceding metaphor, were heavy snowfalls across the upper Midwest plains. They were joined by record amounts of rain - between 300-600% - more than anticipated - in eastern Montana, northern Wyoming and the western Dakotas. Lastly, the situation was capped by the melting of those record setting amounts of moisture rich, snow pack melt which then cascaded down from the high, chilly, eastern slope of the Rockies and Big Horn Mountains.
And this was all "hot on the heels" of the USACE Missouri River Basin Water Management team's 2010 fall and winter efforts to effectively address the third highest runoff season in the 112 years of record keeping!
These elements melded to comprise a "perfect storm" scenario that engorged tributaries, streams and creeks which fed into the Big Muddy, the Missouri River - not generally recognized as, but actually stretching longer than the Mississippi River.
The symbolic "sack" in this analogy is comprised of six mainstem dams that strive to hold in check the river that stretches from Three Forks, MT to St. Louis, MO. These structures were constructed from 1940 to 1955 by Corps. They, along with 582.2 miles of federal and 70.6 miles non-federal levees - in addition to levees not in the federal program - presently strain to hold the overflow from these reservoirs in check. Near its capacity, behind those dams, lies 73.1 million acre feet of water.
Just how large is this rather incomprehensible number? By way of example, if a person lined up one cubic foot jugs of water, back to back, they would stretch to the sun and back nearly six and half times!
As large scale natural disasters go, one Corps authority described it this way, "It's the water equivalent of the Dust Bowl. Then, there was a 'dearth of damp', now - suffice it to say - we're awash with wet! And just like the 'Dirty 30's', the people of the Midwestern heartlands have pulled together with a common purpose."
The Corps presently deals with more interactive ingredients than a hot pot of Mulligan's Stew. It's a complicated recipe which constitutes all that is required to channel, hold, release - and strive to control - the murky, muddy, waters of the Missouri.
With the magnitude of the potential problems evident, Brig. Gen John McMahon, the USACE Northwestern Division Commander correctly stated, "This will be a long, sometimes frustrating and intense effort as the situation evolves and as we work together to avoid loss of life, minimize damage and help communities deal with the situation."
So just how does the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Flood Risk Management Program strive to prevent loss of life, minimize damages and help impacted communities?
Jody Farhat, Missouri River Chief of Water Management elaborated, stating, "We continually monitor the ever changing conditions along the river and its tributaries in order to make timely adjustments to water releases to hold back waters part of our flood damage reduction efforts. During times of high run off when we are facing multiple flooding threats (like we are experiencing now) it is so important that we have the ability to evacuate floodwater as quickly as possible. However - and this is an often misunderstood aspect - once the flood storage in a reservoir is completely used, releases must be increased, potentially exacerbating flood conditions downstream."
OK. Lots of snow and rain a bad flood can make. So what is it that the Corps has/does to help prevent such?
Boiled to its simplest form - outside of those who comprise the Corps professionals - the following components are those which comprise the Missouri River Mainstream Reservoir System and integral to this flood control effort:
- Master Water Control Plan: This is the comprehensive document which the Corps employs in management of the Missouri River. It is based on over 100 years of historical records and was comprehensively revised in 2004 following a fourteen year period of - much participated in - public involvement striving to balance all the competing uses for the Missouri River.
- Dams: Often not understood is the fact that dams do not stop floods. However, the reservoirs behind the NWD dams allow the Corps to capture flood waters and release it in a controlled manner. This Northwestern Division has six main stem dams: Fort Peck (Montana), Garrison (North Dakota), Oahe, Big Bend and Fort Randall (South Dakota) and Gavin's Point (South Dakota and Nebraska). They were created for eight congressionally authorized uses: Flood control, navigation, irrigation, water supply, hydropower, fish and wildlife, recreation, and water quality.
- Levees: These are earthen embankments meant to reduce - not eliminate - flood damages and normally subjected to water loading for but short periods. While built by the corps they are owned and maintained by local "sponsors". They are commonly constructed ten times as wide at the bottom as they in height. Levee problems can come from exceeding their designed limit, overtopping or physical limitations such as being breached. "Freeboard" is the term often used to describe the distance between the water and top of reservoirs or levees.
- Water release: This is, often, a complicated balancing act between rain runoff flowing into reservoirs and water lease effects downstream. This is no simple procedure as localized rainfall, input from upstream tributaries, present reservoir levels, and similar implications to both up and downstream reservoirs all must be considered.
As may indeed be seen - this is no simple challenge.
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