Posted on 07/01/2015 1:00:48 PM PDT by markomalley
Ameren Missouri has opened the flood gates at Bagnell Dam at Lake of the Ozarks.
Consulting engineer Alan Sullivan said 11 of the dam’s 12 flood gates were opened to 10 percent after the area recorded three inches of rain in the overnight hours. More than 40,000 cubic feet per second are flowing through the gates. Operators also ordered Truman Dam to close its gates to relive the pressure downstream on Bagnell Dam.
Sullivan said Ameren is working with the Army Corps of Engineers to reduce the impact of the flooding on farmers and property owners downstream, but added that the release may raise levels on the Osage River about four feet. He said that will likely cause some minor flooding on low-lying cropland downstream.
“We’re doing everything we can to mitigate the impact of this flooding on farm families downstream,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan said it’s the first time Ameren has opened the flood gates at Bagnell Dam in several years. The last time came after the area received about eight inches of rain in a short time.
Ameren is required by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to manage the flow of water through Bagnell Dam’s turbines. The overnight rain pushed the lake level up over the 660 foot mark, which is too high for the turbines.
Sullivan said he’s in constant contact with the National Weather Service watching the forecast. He points out that with a couple of more inches of rain in the forecast, it’s possible Bagnell Dam may have to increase the flow of water through the flood gates. He said he's not sure how long the gates will remain open.
California could sure use some of that rain.
The cost of fruits and vegetables is really gonna rise unless the reservoirs and aquifier there are replenished soon.
Well, California should have a surplus of the mud smelt they protected.
Maybe Moochie can somehow work the smelt into her school lunch program.
There hasn’t been much drought in Missouri and none in most of it. It’s a better state for orchards and vegetables grown in a more distributed, less centralized industry.
Walnuts!
California needs rain and where I am in Texas we’ve had over 60 inches so far this year.
Your problem is that you’ve got shaman level pagans who believe spirits dwell in the shells of turtles and want to destroy civilization to return it to wilderness. These pagans masquerade as environmentalists.
What area of Texas is at 60” so far?
Deep SE Texas, Liberty County.
We’ve had about 3 inches so far this week and thunder is talking to me again right now.
We had over 16” is just a couple of days when Houston only had, IIRC, 4”-5”. That was before Houston flooded.
Chambers county just south of me had 18”-20” maybe more.
That rain and a lot of others are coming up from the Gulf through Chambers county and missing for the most part Harris county/Houston.
We have certainly had our share this year, I’m fine with some passing us by now and then.
I work in Mont Belvieu, what I haven’t seen at home seems to be over there most days.
Cheers!
There were a mere five (5) - 24 hour periods/days without rain in the metro Kansas City, MO area, in the month of May and continuous rain for the month of June!
A lot of the rain we are getting is a case of rain generating rain.
The area isn’t developed so there isn’t drainage like developed areas and water is left standing.
As the clouds move in the hot moist air is sucked up and the moisture is then dumped on us as more rain.
We’re getting a lot of the water from one rain as another rain.
that ain’t crap..
what happened in the state of Michigan this week...
earthquakes...tornadoes...severe thunderstorms...monsoon style rains...flooding....
we got California beat hands down...
look what mark posted.
For the uninitiated, those flood gates are only open 10%
I should add that the out-flow is about ten times the normal discharge. It jumped the Osage River below about six feet in an hour or two it took to open them.
In the 51 flooding they kept them closed as long as they could to help the Missouri river downstream of the Osage but when they did open them it was TWICE this flow and stayed open for a week as I remember my Dad’s account.
oh, damn. I just looked at the radar for down there again.
Holy cow!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.