Missouri River Flooding

The Missouri River is expected to drop nearly three feet at Omaha at the end of this week as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers inspects Gavins Point Dam.

John Remus, chief of the Omaha District’s hydrologic engineering branch, says the spillway slabs sustained some damage during last year’s Missouri River flood event. The Corps plans to cut water releases from Gavins Point to zero on Wednesday. "This will allow us to get our contractors out on the spillway slab, do our geophysical explorations, some corings, as well as minor repairs to the drain system. This operation will result in stage decreases below Gavins Point Dam."

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to build a new, three-mile long levee near Nebraska City.

The $12.9 million project will re-align levee L-575 along Highway 2. It’ll be built further away from the Missouri River than the existing section of levee. Once it’s built, the existing levee at that location in Fremont County, Iowa, will be torn down. The Corps of Engineers awarded a contract earlier this week for the levee setback project.

Bret Budd, chief of the Omaha District’s systems restoration team, says building a new levee there is a better option than repairing the existing one. He says the levee held up during last summer’s flooding, but is compromised.

Three breaches happened along the L-575 levee system near Percival and Hamburg, Iowa.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will hold seven public meetings next month in cities along the Missouri River.

The meetings will be held April 16th through 20th. Each is an opportunity for the public for hear from Northwest District officials about this year’s runoff season. The 2012 runoff season began March first.

Omaha’s meeting is April 18th at the Marriott. It begins at 6 PM.

Missouri River flooding devastated parts of Nebraska and western Iowa last spring and summer. Omaha was under a flood threat for 104 days, and the Missouri River crested seven and a half feet above flood stage.

On the web: Corps of Engineers Omaha District

Army Corps of Engineers officials say so far, this year’s Missouri River runoff season appears normal.

Missouri River Forecasting team leader Kevin Grode says water releases from Gavins Point Dam in South Dakota are at 27,000 cubic feet per second. It was at 21,000 CFS at this time last year. But he cautions that it’s still early in the runoff season and conditions can quickly change. “The risk of snow melt-driven flooding may be low this year, but there is still the potential for rainfall-induced as was seen this time last year and as was seen this week in the lower basin.”

The runoff season continues through July.

The Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District is contributing $2 million toward additional upgrades and a study of Omaha’s levee system.

The study is required for FEMA recertification of the levee system. That’s separate from what’s done by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. FEMA began requiring levee certifications after Hurricane Katrina.

John Winkler, General Manager of the Papio-Missouri NRD, says last summer’s Missouri River flood taught the city and NRD valuable lessons.“And one of those is without collaborative partnerships with the NRD and with the city that we would have faced a very devastating event.  And the work of a lot of folks and some great efforts on behalf of the city and the NRD, we were able to protect the city and protect the metro area.”

The 2012 spring runoff season is underway along the Missouri River.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials say releases from Gavins Point Dam averaged 22,000 cubic feet per second during February. It’ll stay at that level through the middle of this month, and then increase for the start of the navigation season. Last year’s record runoff season led to devastating flooding along the Missouri River in Nebraska and Iowa.

Work began last fall to repair the damage caused by record flooding. Brett Budd, Chief of the Systems Restoration Team for the Omaha District, says ongoing work includes installation of new flap gates on discharge pipes at a pump station in far northern Omaha.

OPPD officials say the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station won’t reopen until they’re confident safety issues at the plant are resolved.

Utility leaders met in Washington, D.C., Wednesday with the NRC to update performance issues at the plant. Fort Calhoun Station has been closed since last April. Since then, the NRC has cited OPPD for multiple violations at the plant, including being ill-prepared for a flood. NRC officials say a fire at the plant last June also wasn’t reported within the required time frame.

The leader of the Corps of Engineers’ Omaha District believes the agency is better prepared in the event of flooding this year.

About 70 emergency managers and levee sponsors gathered Tuesday in Omaha for the annual Missouri River flood fight preparedness training. Last year’s Missouri River flooding inundated farms, businesses, and homes in western Iowa for more than three months.

Colonel Robert Ruch, Commander of the Corps’ Omaha District. He says last year’s flood provided some valuable lessons. “We’ve seen what sponsors do, what their closure plans are, and we see where the hiccups are because, you know, we have not had a major flood on this system in a very long time, especially north of the Platte River.”

Western Iowa residents forced out of their homes by Missouri River flooding may have another option for temporary housing.

Iowa Finance Authority spokeswoman Ashley Jared says flood victims can apply for a waiver to live in housing usually restricted by the federal government to low-income families.

Jared says the waiver applies to flood victims in Monona, Harrison, Pottawattamie, Mills, and Fremont counties. People who lived in those counties between May 25th and August first of 2011 can apply for the housing waiver.

Flood victims don’t have to be registered with FEMA to apply for the housing waiver. A list of eligible properties is available at www.iowafinanceauthority.gov/emergencyhousing.