The following is from the NAFB News Service:
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it will change its approach to managing the Missouri River. The corps hopes to avoid a repeat of this summer’s record flooding that destroyed crops, damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes, led to millions of dollars in road repairs and forced communities to scramble to build temporary levees. During the coming months the corps says it will work to get as much water out of the river basin’s reservoir system as possible before spring and aggressively releasing more water in the spring, if needed. The corps is also reviewing available reservoir space.
The changes come in response to concerns voiced by residents, many of whom lost crops or were forced out of their homes for weeks by the flooding. Brigadier General John McMahon, the commander of the corps’ northwestern division, says recent public meetings held in Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Montana and North Dakota were – incredibly beneficial.
Corps officials said they had the reservoirs at desired levels last spring, but a late buildup of snow in the Rocky Mountains and unexpectedly heavy rains in Montana and other upstream areas in May led to record runoff. That prompted to the corps to release massive amounts of water from dams along the river, resulting in massive flooding downstream.
Source: NAFB News Service
Posted by Haylie Shipp
