North Dakota's US Senators say they want an immediate investigation of how so much water was allowed to flow through the Souris-Mouse River complex i

Jul 4 2011 8:58PM

KXMCTV Minot

The river set records at every location along its path through north-central North Dakota - most often three or four feet over previous high levels.

In addition, they are part of a working group involving senators from all states along the Missouri River - a river that is also experiencing major flooding this year.

Senator John Hoven says there are answers that need to come from the US Army Corps of Engineers, which regulates the Missouri and Mouse Rivers in flood situations.

(Sen. John Hoeven, -R- ND) "We're going to want to know from the Corps, what happened, why did it happen, and how can we prevent it from happening again in the future. That what Senator Conrad and I are going to ask because we have to take steps to prepare for next year." Senator Kent Conrad says Corps officials point to unprecedented snowmelt and rain storms as causes of the Mouse River flooding. But he says it's important to revise working orders to deal with unexpected problems.

(Sen. Kent Conrad, -D- ND) "The management of the reservoirs is based on previous data, how high did the river get in previous years. That's all changed because there is going to have to be a re-doing of the manual that guides how these reservoirs are run because the facts have changed and changed dramatically."


The senators say they'll be pressing the Corps of Engineers for a quick start to the investigation to assure flood protections of some sort are in place before next spring.

But those protections would not be any permanent fixes - those projects are likely to take years to come

http://www.kxnet.com/custom404.asp?404;http://www.kxnet.com/t/corps-of-engineers/800603.asp

RELATED:

Western Flood Control Sites – North Dakota: Lake Ashtabula, Homme Lake, Souris River

Location/Project Components

Homme Lake is 2 miles west of Park River, North Dakota, on the South Branch of the Park River. It has an earthen embankment, intake works, control gate, and overflow concrete spillway. Walsh County, North Dakota, leases land to operate a recreation area with overnight camping, a day-use area and a boat launch. Lake Ashtabula (Baldhill Dam) is 12 miles northwest of Valley City, North Dakota, on the Sheyenne River. It is comprised of an embankment; concrete overflow emergency spillway; service spillway with three tainter gates; significant land holdings; and several overnight camping, swimming, boat launching, picnic and playground facilities. About 2,500 acres are used for wildlife management.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service owns and operates the Souris River complex (Lake Darling Dam/Upper Souris and J. Clark Salyer National Wildlife Refuges). Lake Darling is approximately 20 miles northwest and J. Clark Salyer is 65 miles northeast of Minot, North Dakota. The Corps has operation, maintenance, rehabilitation and replacement responsibilities as defined in a 1989 memorandum of understanding and subsequent defining documents. Homme and Ashtabula are multiple-purpose sites with flood risk management, recreation and environmental stewardship business functions. Lake Ashtabula site staff provides operation and maintenance activities for all three sites. The Fish and Wildlife Service staffs Souris River; the Corps supports some cyclical and noncyclical maintenance costs. Lake Ashtabula also provides significant support to readiness (emergency) response activities in local river basins and discharges’ impact on flood response in downstream cities. Lake Ashtabula provides a backup water supply for communities on the Sheyenne and Red Rivers.

http://www.mvp.usace.army.mil/recreation/default.asp?pageid=1468