Col. John Hudson, Commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District provides a Public Service Announcement regarding the Missouri River Basin. (Recorded by Zane Ecklund and Dr. Michael Izard-Carroll, USACE Omaha District Public Affairs). Duration: 00:58
The cross-section of a pipe showing a buildup of zebra mussels found at Gavins Point Dam in Yankton, SD, photo taken Sept. 4, 2019. (Photo by Zane Ecklund)
When you’re talking about the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ six mainstem dams on the Missouri River, the word small is a relative term.
While the dams and their powerhouses vary in size, they are all imposing structures. For instance, Gavins Point Dam, near Yankton, South Dakota, is the smallest of the six, yet it took 7 million cubic yards of earth to build and its three Kaplan generators are capable of generating electricity for 68,000 homes.
This makes it that much more ironic that something as small as a zebra mussel could give it such big problems.
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Zebra mussels grow to a maximum length of 1.9 inches and according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are native to the Caspian, Black, and Azov seas. They were first...
OMAHA, Neb. - The Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District broke ground on levee improvements for the R-613 and R-616 levee systems at Haworth Park, in Belleville, Oct. 15.
Record rains in the Upper Missouri Basin during the first two weeks of September, has prompted changes to releases from the Missouri River Mainstem dams.
An ad-hoc conference call was held Monday, Sept. 16, to provide an update to basin stakeholders. About 100 callers representing elected officials, emergency managers, levee sponsors and the media participated in the call.
OMAHA, NE – All 2018 stored flood waters were evacuated from the Missouri River mainstem reservoir system (System) as of Jan. 29. The full 16.3 million acre-feet (MAF) of designated flood control storage is available to manage 2019 runoff. “The System stands ready to capture spring runoff, reducing flood risk while providing support to other authorized project purposes. Current Gavins Point releases are 20,000 cubic feet per second (cfs)...
