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Mississippi Up

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Tex

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The river is up and has been on the levee for a while. My uncle and everyone else who has cattle on the levee are required to get them off the levee so there is a bit of a liquidation here. The seep water is making a mess out of the "dry" side of the levee and there are seep springs showing up all over. I heard they were going to open the Atchafalaya Rviver at at the Morganza spillway, northwest of Baton Rouge.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atchafalaya_River

They should probably be sending a lot more down the Atchafalaya instead of the Mississippi anyway to restore the wetlands but this is a rare event. Look at the MS in the link above and you will see that we blocked off the Atchafalaya some time ago which allows the MS to go out to the open Gulf of Mexico instead of restoring the wetlands that are being lost.

Tex
 
Well- Tex--most of the waters up here on the Milk are back in the channel- altho it is still pouring down a lot of water...
And it appears more is coming because the Corps opened the Spillways on Fort Peck Lake for the first time in 14 years...

Water Releases To Increase From Fort Peck Lake
Saturday, May 7th 2011
Omaha, Neb.– The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Water Management Division announced today that it plans to gradually increase releases out of Fort Peck Reservoir this month.


"The reservoir ended the month at the highest end-of-April level since the spring of 1996," said Jody Farhat, Chief of the Water Management Division here. "Higher release rates are necessary to evacuate water already stored in the reservoir from the melt of plains snowpack and runoff that is yet to come from the above normal mountain snowpack."

Normally, the mountain snowpack peaks in mid-April, however this year it continued to accumulate into early May. Although it appears to have peaked recently at 141 percent of normal in the reach above Fort Peck and 136 percent of normal in the reach between Fort Peck and Garrison, cool weather coupled with additional snow could push those figures even higher.

The Corps plans to gradually increase releases from Fort Peck from the current rate of 9,000 cfs to 20,000 cfs by mid-May. Releases will remain at that rate through June and July.


Increased releases are necessary as the reservoir level is currently less than 5 feet from its exclusive flood control zone. The exclusive flood control zone, which extends from elevation 2246 feet to the top of the spillway gates at elevation 2250 feet, is maintained exclusively for flood control. Water is released from this zone as quickly as downstream channel conditions permit so that sufficient storage remains available for capturing future inflows. Fort Peck reservoir is expected to crest this summer 2 feet into the exclusive flood control zone at elevation 2248 feet. The top of the dam is at 2280.5 feet.


When all the generating units and transmission facilities are available, the release capacity of the powerplant is 15,000 cfs. However, current on-going maintenance efforts are limiting releases to approximately 10,000 cfs through the powerplant. Releases above the powerplant capacity will be made through the spillway. The Fort Peck spillway has not been used since 1997.


"Releases haven't been this high in more than 10 years so we are asking the public to be cautious in and around the river. "There is also the potential for bank erosion adjacent to the river," said John Daggett, Fort Peck Operations Manager.


Daggett advised irrigators to monitor irrigation pumps regularly as changes in releases may affect pump intakes. "As releases are increased, the stages on the river below Fort Peck are expected to rise several feet. However, once they reach the desired rate only minimal fluctuations in daily stages are expected."


Fort Peck rose by 2.2 feet in April, ending the month at elevation 2240.9 feet. It is expected to increase by 2.2 feet in May, ending the month near elevation 2243 feet. The reservoir is currently 16 feet higher than it was a year ago at this time. Fort Peck was the last of the Corps' mainstem dams to recover from the drought. The reservoir, which had been low since 1999, reached the normal operating level in July 2010.


Similar conditions are being experienced throughout the mainstem reservoir system. Three other Corps' dams on the Missouri River (Garrison, Oahe and Fort Randall) have significant volumes of flood water to evacuate, and all six mainstem reservoirs will see much higher releases in the coming days. The other two Corps' dams on the Missouri River (Big Bend and Gavins Point) have little to no flood control storage and essentially pass inflow.


"Our goal is to evacuate the water as quickly and as safely as possible so that we are ready for the next flood event," Farhat said. "Public safety is our number one concern."

And it appears there will be a long spring/summer mountain runoff....

SPRING RUNOFF


Mont. hydrologist predicts 'sensational' runoff


(Information in the following story is from: Great Falls Tribune, http://www.greatfallstribune.com)


GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) - A National Weather Service hydrologist says Montana is in for a "sensational" spring runoff and recommends people who live along the state's rivers prepare for high water.


Gina Loss tells the Great Falls Tribune that people living in lower areas might want to consider sandbags.


She also says recreationists wanting to float rivers will face safety concerns due to increased flows.


Loss says the Madison is the driest river basin in the state, and that it's at 138 percent of average snowpack.


She says a sudden warming spell could create a real threat.


Forecasters say another storm is heading for the state with up to 2 feet of snow in the mountains starting Sunday.

And its pouring down rain outside right now !!! :?
 
Is that spillway the one you cross going south towards Hiway 200?

I was across there a year ago Sept and the water had a long way to rise to get close to the bottom of the spillway and farther to get to the top. :shock:
 
Big Muddy rancher said:
Is that spillway the one you cross going south towards Hiway 200?

I was across there a year ago Sept and the water had a long way to rise to get close to the bottom of the spillway and farther to get to the top. :shock:

Yep- thats it... You wouldn't believe how high the lake is now compared to a year or two ago... Its been raising at a rate of about 6 inchs a week this spring -- and that takes a lot of water to do that when you think the Lake is over 134 miles long- has 1520 miles of shoreline- and is over 220 feet deep at the deepest..

The fishermen and recreationists are sure grinning.....
 
Tex said:
The river is up and has been on the levee for a while. My uncle and everyone else who has cattle on the levee are required to get them off the levee so there is a bit of a liquidation here. The seep water is making a mess out of the "dry" side of the levee and there are seep springs showing up all over. I heard they were going to open the Atchafalaya Rviver at at the Morganza spillway, northwest of Baton Rouge.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atchafalaya_River

They should probably be sending a lot more down the Atchafalaya instead of the Mississippi anyway to restore the wetlands but this is a rare event. Look at the MS in the link above and you will see that we blocked off the Atchafalaya some time ago which allows the MS to go out to the open Gulf of Mexico instead of restoring the wetlands that are being lost.

Tex

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91Eb3FiebTs

Oops!! Wrong link. Here's the right one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGs2iLoDUYE&feature=related
 

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