It’s the fight against the flood.
A gaggle of bipartisan politicians are throwing down the gauntlet on the US Army Corps of Engineers who plan to go ahead with a man-made flood on the Missouri River. Dubbed the “spring rise,” the purposed flooding comes at pretty atrocious time considering Missouri is in the midst of a major flood crisis after a fierce storm last week.
Gov. Matt Blunt, Attorney General Jay Nixon and Senator Kit Bond are all feverishly calling for a cancellation of the flooding. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is reporting that Nixon filed a lawsuit Monday to stop the spring rise. Bond has written President George W. Bush and Blunt is appealing directly to Colonel Steven R. Miles with the Army Corps of Engineers.
“When I am getting several updates a day on our response to mother nature’s flood, man-made flooding makes about as much sense as fighting a forest fire with gasoline,” Blunt said in a recent press release.
Blunt also said the flooding has affected “tens of thousands of Missourians,†including five flood-related deaths and damages to property.
Missouri’s rivers have caused major flooding, impacting 70 of Missouri’s 114 counties as well as St. Louis city.
“It is unthinkable that just as we are beginning damage assessments and the recovery process, the federal government has authorized a man-made flood in Missouri,†Blunt said in the release. “The Army Corps of Engineers should stop this reckless action which will only aggravate the flooding that has already hurt many Missouri families.â€
The spring rise is a scheduled flooding meant to encourage the spawning of the pallid sturgeon, an endangered fish, by fabricating natural seasonal flooding which will start at midnight tonight, lasting 48 hours and causing a 6 inch rise in flood waters. This is supposed to having every March and May under Fish and Wildlife Service guidelines, but it has routinely faced opposition from state politicians.
March 25th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Personally, I think we should get rid of the levies and let the rivers do what they were meant to do. The lasted for millenia with out us interfering. Flooding provides valuable nutrients to our rich farm land naturally. Without it we are forced to use more chemical methods of fertilization.
People who live/opperate a business in designated flood areas should either leave, or make sure their insurance is paid up. I don’t want my tax money to pay for people who are not smart enough to do one of those two things.
It’s nice to know our Govenor now thinks he should control nature
March 26th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
I am a public affairs specialist working for the headquarters of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and I just want to offer some important clarification. I completely understand why people are concerned, and I just want to assure you that there really isn’t anything to be concerned about.
We wouldn’t be doing this if we felt that there was any risk to the people down river.
At this time, none of the gauges on the Missouri River are at flood stage. In Herman, MO, which is about a hundred miles above the spot where the Missouri and Mississippi rivers meet, the water is currently registering at 14 feet. Flood stage is 21 feet. So the water in the affected areas is well below flood stage – 7 feet below, and the increased releases are not going to add enough water to change that. Bottom line – the water is going to stay in the river basin.
The whole point is to help mimic what nature would be doing if there were no dams on the river, which we need to do, per the Endangered Species Act, to help the pallid sturgeon spawn. The upper reaches, where the fish are, have not experienced the heavy downpours that created all the flooding downstream. So the upper reaches really need the water.
But, to help alleviate any worries about the water levels, we are also reducing the amount of water we release from five other reservoirs in the Kansas City area that feed into the river system farther down the line. This will eliminate the effect of the pulse below Kansas City completely, and remove any risk to the areas impacted by the recent flooding.
Again – we would never do this if we had any indication that we would be adding to the flooding. Feel free to come join in the conversation on our blog, at: https://eportal.usace.army.mil/sites/blog.