Corps of Engineers Continues Assistance in Missouri River Flood Fight (ContributorNetwork)

The Army Corps of Engineers continues its efforts to reduce the damage created by the record water levels along the Missouri River and its tributaries. Six major dams and hundreds of miles of levees have been tested by the historic runoff the river basin is experiencing. Fifteen levees have been breached or overtopped at this time along the lower Missouri.

Main Stem Dams

Fort Peck: The Fort Peck reservoir is at capacity. The current plan is to lower discharges during the remainder of July. The reservoir is currently 2.5 feet below its record height in June.

Garrison: The Garrison reservoir is above the height of the spillway when closed. The open gates are providing surcharge storage and allowing the reservoir to hold additional flood water. Discharges are expected to be reduced slightly during the remainder of July.

Oahe: The Oahe reservoir is very close to capacity. The Corps plans to reduce the water discharge slightly during the rest of the month of July.

Big Bend: The reservoir created by the Big Bend dam is slightly below capacity at this time. Discharges have been reduced by about ten percent for July from the record amount set in June.

Fort Randall: The Fort Randall reservoir is continuing to fill though still below capacity. The Corps plans to increase discharges to offset the increase of water entering the reservoir.

Gavins Point: The reservoir remains about three feet below its record, set in June. Discharges will remain at 160,000 cubic feet per second, a record output, for the foreseeable future.

Lower Missouri River Levees

Federal Levees: 48 federally controlled levees line the Missouri River and its tributaries downstream of Rulo, Kan. Only one has breached or overtopped, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. One additional levee, near St. Joseph, MO, is within two feet of overtopping.

Non-Federal Levees: These 100 levees currently have a number of issues. Fourteen of them have been breached or overtopped. An additional 26 are within two feet of being overtopped.

The levees are under continued pressure from the flood waters. Most are saturated with water, making their integrity an issue. The Kansas City Star quotes a number of experts who expect additional levee failures. Most of the ten states in the Missouri River basin have activated National Guard units for flood fighting duties, including patrolling levees.

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Army Engineers, National Guard Fight Missouri River Flooding (ContributorNetwork)

The Missouri River flows for 2,341 miles, the longest river in North America. Its watershed covers all or part of 10 states and it is regulated by six major dams operated by the Army Corps of Engineers. Heavy rains and a large winter snow pack have brought the river to record levels. States throughout the watershed have activated National Guard units to assist local and state authorities in the ongoing flood fight.

Montana

The Montana National Guard is working at several sites in the state. Troops are working traffic control points in the Crow Agency and near Roundup, according to the Billings Gazette, preventing civilians from using roads or bridges that are unsafe due to flooding. Both the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers in the state are continuing to rise.

The Fort Peck dam and reservoir represent the largest of the Corps projects on the Missouri. The dam is releasing excess water from the reservoir.

North Dakota

In North Dakota, both the Missouri and its tributaries are rising. Minot and Bismark are the major cities impacted, according to the Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System. The North Dakota National Guard has spent weeks raising levee heights and preparing temporary levees. The troops are now concentrating on levee patrol and traffic control checkpoints. 15.5 miles of levees are being patrolled by the Guard, looking for damage, sand boils and seepage. 1,200 National Guard soldiers and airmen are activated at this time.

Water levels remain high in Bismark. Flooding in Bismark is due to water releases from the Garrison Dam. The Corps of Engineers has been forced to open the spillway gates at the dam for the first time. The Missouri River is above flood stage at this time and is expected to crest in mid-June at least two feet higher than its current level.

South Dakota

In Pierre, S.D., the Missouri River remains nearly six feet above flood stage. Located just up river from the city is the Oahe Dam and Reservoir, another Army Corps of Engineers flood control project. Water releases from this dam began in late May. The spillway gates at Big Bend Dam have also been opened. This is the first time in history the spillway gates have been opened to release flood waters. This dam and lake are downstream from Pierre.

The South Dakota Army National Guard has almost 1,300 soldiers and airmen working on flood control activities. The missions are identical to those in other states: sandbagging, levee construction and patrol, traffic control and potential rescues.

Nebraska

Both the Platte and the Missouri rivers are flooding in Nebraska, reports the Omaha World-Herald. The City of Omaha has extensive levee protection from the Missouri, and the Corps of Engineers projects that the river will remain at least four feet below the levee tops through August. 59 National Guardsmen have been activated, most to help seal a levee breech along the Platte.

Iowa

Some 400 members of the Iowa National Guard, with Air Guardsmen from Minnesota and Illinois, are working on a number of flood control projects, including sandbagging, flight operations in support of flood control missions and levee patrols. The Missouri is currently 2.8 feet above flood level in Sioux City, Iowa.

Missouri

Missouri is where the Missouri River finally empties into the Mississippi. Missouri National Guard personnel are waiting, according to the Monitor. While still involved in the recovery efforts from the EF5 tornado that struck Joplin, Mo., they are moving back into flood fighting mode. They have already spent weeks on Mississippi River flooding, with the last unit ending its work the morning after the Joplin tornado.

The Missouri is five feet above flood stage at St. Joseph. At Jefferson City, it is just inches below flood stage.

Upstate New York resident Charles Simmins brings 30 years of accounting and finance experience and a keen interest in military affairs to the news of the day. His years of experience working with the personnel of the Secretary of Defense's New Media activity on Bloggers' Roundtables provide insights often overlooked by other reporters.

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