I appreciate the opportunity to comment on this article. I am a Army Corps of Engineers spokesman. There has been sharp critism of the Corps regarding our lack of attention to mountain snowpack. Also, critics discount of the impact on the May rainfall in the upper basin. Mountain snowpack went from in real numbers 26 inches (141% of normal)of water content on May 1 in the Fort Peck sub basin to 19 inches (104%) on June 1. The Garrison snowpack was 22 inches (136%) to 21 or 20 inches (132%/129%). This low snowmelt is due to a continuing trend of below normal temperatures including May. May rainfall in the upper subbasins that flow into Peck, Garrison and Oahe was huge. Especially the rain event that we believe to be a 500 year storm event May 22-24. However, throughout the region there was significant rainfall beginning May 19 through May 25. This level of rain storm could not be absorbed by the mainstem dams. This more than any reason is why there was a lack of warning–it is impossible to predict a 500-year storm. This information can be obtained/reached from National Weather Service data. Also, there was heavy rainfall May 8-10 and May 30-31.
I sympathize with the Corps for the exceptionally difficult negotiation among disparate interests. I have also been disappointed in the media coverage, which has lacked much objectivity. Human interest losses have dominated reports. Two key factors are continually overlooked.
1) Imagine if there were no reservoirs, just as it was 100 years ago. The devastation both along the lower Mississippi River in the Spring and the upper Missouri River in the summer would have been exponentially worse. All the water shed area would have been inundated quickly, with little warning, and impacting a vastly broader landscape. The Corps minimized and controlled losses and provided ample warning.
2) Some people have chosen the highest risk areas to live, which is along alluvial plains. With that risk, they benefit some years with superior crop yields, and other years harvest is a total loss. That is the life next to a river. Those who scream that they lost entire multi-generational investment speaking dishonestly. Their ancestors rebuilt many times, including 1993, 1951, 1903, 1877, and 1859.
I sympathize with the Corps of Engineers this year with the balancing act early in the southern Missouri/Mississippi drainage basin and shortly later in the upper Missouri basin.
I have been very disappointed with the media coverage that has tremendously skewed public information toward human interest losses rather than the greater public good. Two factors (one mentioned in this article) are continually neglected:
1) Imagine if there were no flood control reservoirs. The devastation in both southern and northern cases would have been exponentially worse and with little warning. The efforts of the Corps greatly reduced severe blows to river communities.
2) People who live in the river channels seem to ignore this very fact. So do the media. The alluvial plane exists because the river created it and has meandered about it for centuries. The residents assume the highest risk for crop yield, getting outstanding record harvests in some years and zero in others. These people chose to live at high risk and accepted its consequences.
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I appreciate the opportunity to comment on this article. I am a Army Corps of Engineers spokesman. There has been sharp critism of the Corps regarding our lack of attention to mountain snowpack. Also, critics discount of the impact on the May rainfall in the upper basin. Mountain snowpack went from in real numbers 26 inches (141% of normal)of water content on May 1 in the Fort Peck sub basin to 19 inches (104%) on June 1. The Garrison snowpack was 22 inches (136%) to 21 or 20 inches (132%/129%). This low snowmelt is due to a continuing trend of below normal temperatures including May. May rainfall in the upper subbasins that flow into Peck, Garrison and Oahe was huge. Especially the rain event that we believe to be a 500 year storm event May 22-24. However, throughout the region there was significant rainfall beginning May 19 through May 25. This level of rain storm could not be absorbed by the mainstem dams. This more than any reason is why there was a lack of warning–it is impossible to predict a 500-year storm. This information can be obtained/reached from National Weather Service data. Also, there was heavy rainfall May 8-10 and May 30-31.
I sympathize with the Corps for the exceptionally difficult negotiation among disparate interests. I have also been disappointed in the media coverage, which has lacked much objectivity. Human interest losses have dominated reports. Two key factors are continually overlooked.
1) Imagine if there were no reservoirs, just as it was 100 years ago. The devastation both along the lower Mississippi River in the Spring and the upper Missouri River in the summer would have been exponentially worse. All the water shed area would have been inundated quickly, with little warning, and impacting a vastly broader landscape. The Corps minimized and controlled losses and provided ample warning.
2) Some people have chosen the highest risk areas to live, which is along alluvial plains. With that risk, they benefit some years with superior crop yields, and other years harvest is a total loss. That is the life next to a river. Those who scream that they lost entire multi-generational investment speaking dishonestly. Their ancestors rebuilt many times, including 1993, 1951, 1903, 1877, and 1859.
I sympathize with the Corps of Engineers this year with the balancing act early in the southern Missouri/Mississippi drainage basin and shortly later in the upper Missouri basin.
I have been very disappointed with the media coverage that has tremendously skewed public information toward human interest losses rather than the greater public good. Two factors (one mentioned in this article) are continually neglected:
1) Imagine if there were no flood control reservoirs. The devastation in both southern and northern cases would have been exponentially worse and with little warning. The efforts of the Corps greatly reduced severe blows to river communities.
2) People who live in the river channels seem to ignore this very fact. So do the media. The alluvial plane exists because the river created it and has meandered about it for centuries. The residents assume the highest risk for crop yield, getting outstanding record harvests in some years and zero in others. These people chose to live at high risk and accepted its consequences.