Guess what, Bill Janklow is again on TV and public radio blasting the US Corps of Engineers and reminding us of how he sued the arrogant US engineers. Now he thinks the Corps needs to be sued again because of water releases now and failure to release water sooner previously..
What Janklow is not saying is that he sued the US Corps of Engineers in order to make them maintain HIGHER water levels on Oahe Reservoir.
Check the links below:
Omaha River Front News of 2002
South Dakota State Government News, HIV, river water releases, etc.
The real problem is that a bunch of rich Republicans including an ex SD Governor (not Janklow as far as I know) have built expensive houses too close to the Missouri River and on ground too low for safe building. The Republican failure to plan for Mainstem dam water releases in determining safe building areas is the problem...and that includes the Janklow administration.
Ever since the dams were built, the water release of the spill gates and generators has been known. The Corps may make a lot of mistakes, but they most likely designed the water release capability for good historical flow reasons. That information is still available.
Long study on Dams including a chart (Table 2)with peak flows from various failure scenarios.
CNN Article on "Collapse" of Ft. Peck Dam?
Wikipedia on Oahe (nothing on peak discharges, but interesting data on dam and construction
There is information in above for more reading than I have time right now.. I suspect that research in old newspapers at the time the dams were built and dedicated may tell more about design maximum flow cubic feet per second releases. If you find such information, I would appreciate you using comments here at Dakota Today.
NOTE of June 16, 2011: Check the comment by Mack on this post. The post has some good links. I will try to get them copied into this post, but until then read the comments. Weather is getting so I better shut down computer.
*** Stay tuned for the conservative enemies of big government pleading for money from that big government to siphon taxpayer money to pay for influential Republicans with excess hubris and houses built on flood plains --- Doug Wiken
Janklow is an odd point man on this event. It makes me wonder what he is trying to cover up. What is his role in the permitting of Dakota Dunes?
Posted by: Interested-party.blogspot.com | Jun 15, 2011 at 08:49 AM
Through my studying of the Pick-Sloan Plan two books I would recommend if you want a comprehensive history on the dams and the Corps are THE HISTORY OF LARGE FEDERAL DAMS:
PLANNING, DESIGN, AND CONSTRUCTION IN THE ERA OF BIG DAMS, and Big Dam Era. Chapter 6 (p235-292) in Large Federal dams covers the Missouri River. Big Dam Era covers the Missouri River from the implementation of the Pick-Sloan Plan to the 1990s. That book is about 200 pages. Granted they are written by the Corps, but they good comprehensive background histories. Luckily, they are now online in PDF format.
Large Federal Dams
http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/dams/federal_dams.pdf
Big Dam Era
http://www.nwd-mr.usace.army.mil/rcc/reports/pdfs/BigDamEra.pdf
If political history is more of your thing then I would suggest; Dammed Indians Revisited by Michael Lawson, Unruly River by Robert Kelly Schneiders, Cadillac Desert by Mark Reisner(Chapter 6 p170-213), and River of Promise River of Peril by John Thorson. It is alot of reading, but they are interesting books to give a perpective of the Corps and Janklow. Finally, if your interested in the legislation of the Pick-Sloan Plan I would recommend The Missouri Basin's Pick-Sloan Plan A Case Study in Congressional Policy Determination by Marian E Ridgeway. In my opinion the best book that describes the legislative process of the Pick-Sloan Plan. I know these are huge books and more time is required then the average reader might want to put in, but these are the best.
Posted by: TCMack | Jun 15, 2011 at 10:16 AM
I have often wondered what the fascination with building on water is. Of course I was raised with a healthy respect for water. Basically according to my late Dad, stay away from it. lol
Posted by: Joan Brown | Jun 15, 2011 at 08:38 PM