Missouri River rise

[wstnodak]

What can the Missouri handle for flow in the Bismarck area before damage starts to occur....50k?

 

[Wallike]

The higher water on Oahe should hopefully help the walleye and crappie, as long as all the bait fish don't get flushed through the damn again.

It is really interesting to me how the different overflow options between Garrison and Oahe have such diverse effects on bait fish as explained by the GF&P and C of E.

 

[dukgnfsn]

They have more room in her so they are holding at 38,000 So the smelt shouldn't be to bad. Of the big three she's the only one rising through the full forecast period.

they have been pushing over 38,000 for a week or two now, at 40,000 and as stated above going to 44000 in next week
http://www.nwd-mr.usace.army.mil/rcc/reports/twregfcast.pdf

 

[Allen]

What can the Missouri handle for flow in the Bismarck area before damage starts to occur....50k?

The Missouri River at Bismarck hits what's called Action Stage at around 57k CFS, and Flood Stage at around 75k CFS.

Granted, there are plenty of people who get nervous as the river approaches Action Stage, however I am not aware of any major impacts between 57 and 75k CFS, just more fear amongst the river dwellers.

 

[Wirehair]

As a River dweller (north end of Fox Island), I sleep better when flows through Bismark are less that 55k. There are areas that are not rip rapped very well and there may be some shoreline erosion in some of those areas at current or increased release rates. But what the hell, the COE has everything under control right?

 

[wildeyes]

when the water is up fishing next to the bank is good. going into areas that were sandbars now have water less then 5' is were i'm starting any current seams close to shore like KDM says. The heart river is still kicking out walleyes yea me like high water as long as its not to full of trees and stuff.

 

[dean nelson]

they have been pushing over 38,000 for a week or two now, at 40,000 and as stated above going to 44000 in next week6
http://www.nwd-mr.usace.army.mil/rcc/reports/twregfcast.pdf

Actually no it's 35,000 on there. ;:;boozer

- - - Updated - - -

It is really interesting to me how the different overflow options between Garrison and Oahe have such diverse effects on bait fish as explained by the GF&P and C of E.

Yeah oahes intake is in the middle column of the water versus Sakakaweas down at the bottom so oahe is far more prone to sucking smelt out of itself. Luckily the forage base in oahe is getting more diverse every year and that is helping to smooth things out a little bit.

 

[Obi-Wan]

 

[( deleted account )]

Allen, any truth to some rumors about Peck being full and Sak close, so a perfect storm, like a few years ago is possible if they get heavy rains in Mt and Sask?,. Oahe is sure pretty full.

 

[Kurtr]

We still have lots of room on Oahe we are longs ways from full down here.

 

[Fritz the Cat]

Allen, any truth to some rumors about Peck being full and Sak close, so a perfect storm, like a few years ago is possible if they get heavy rains in Mt and Sask?,. Oahe is sure pretty full.

Some friends in Montana said Fort Peck is full and the gates are open. Yellowstone is roaring.

Sak is going to be filling significantly but, everyone will have to wait patiently to see what the COE Master Manuel says.

 

[Obi-Wan]

Kurtr Oahe may have lots of room but to get the water out of Sak it has to go through Bismarck and the only way to do that now is to crank up the releases

 

[Kurtr]

Kurtr Oahe may have lots of room but to get the water out of Sak it has to go through Bismarck and the only way to do that now is to crank up the releases

sounds good we will take it down here in mobridge and south nothing to flood down here we built our towns high enough

 

[KDM]

Looks like another episode of KDM's Muddin' Minute

Just finished filming a clip catching walleyes within a foot of the bank due to really high water. They weren't huge, but fun nonetheless. High water does provide some unique challenges I'll grant that.

 

[Obi-Wan]

sounds good we will take it down here in mobridge and south nothing to flood down here we built our towns high enough

That depends on which side of the dam you are on.

 

[Wild and Free]

sounds good we will take it down here in mobridge and south nothing to flood down here we built our towns high enough

Pissed of some people who I did not feel sorry for when the 2011 flood happened when they were complaining when their river front and bay homes were close to getting flooded when i simply told them to look at where all the indian villages are located along the entire missouri river system. They knew where flood stages were hundreds of years ago and anyone living at any elevation lower than that next to the river system gets no sympathy from me. Some just started talking to me again recently and I will not change my feelings about it. I am sure there is flood insurance to be bought...................................

People hold too much faith in the dam system.

 

[ifish4iz]

It's not just about the inflows, the outflows obviously have a significant impact on the elevation of each reservoir. 44k out of garrison when they are releasing 40k + in the downstream dams is far different than 44k and having the normal 20k released below us. Yes, with the higher releases, there will be a lot of water and current ripping through Bismarck, but if they keep the dams below us at similar release schedule, theoretically we shouldn't see a crazy difference in river levels in town. Not only do we have to be concerned about an eastern Montana-western ND rain event, but we also need to watch what is going on in Neb, IA and Missouri. Should they get a significant rain event in the next few weeks, they aren't going to want our water either.

 

[dean nelson]

What they let out of oahe has no baring on river levels unless oahe is full and even then she only backs up to around Washington Street. Downhill is downhill and they are only letting out between 35 and 38,000 from her but she is far to low to have any effect on Bismarck. Hell shes got to flood out the gun range first and she hasn't done that in years.

Barring any large precipitation events we're already on the backside of this surge of water. The Yellowstone is already dropping considerably although there is a smaller second crest coming in a couple days but well below flood stage. Neither Sakakawea or Fort Peck are full but they are however going into their exclusive flood control zone. If the corp know what they're talking about which is obviously always up for debate inflows are already decreasing daily coming into sakakawea and like Alan said the corp seem to be fixated on 51 foot level leaving them around 4 feet of extra room before they hit the record crest levels.

 

[Allen]

Allen, any truth to some rumors about Peck being full and Sak close, so a perfect storm, like a few years ago is possible if they get heavy rains in Mt and Sask?,. Oahe is sure pretty full.

Those "rains" were pretty near record rainfall across the eastern half of Montana. While Peck and Garrison are both going to reach what is called the Exclusive Flood Control zones of their respective reservoirs, that still leaves an awful lot of room for just about anything other than another record breaking 2-3 month period. And as Kurtr noted, Oahe is still not even expected to reach its own Exclusive Flood Control zone.

I would say that it looks like there will be an abundance of water in the Missouri River system, but that it is still a long, long ways away from it being problematic.

 

[Bauer]

Some friends in Montana said Fort Peck is full and the gates are open. Yellowstone is roaring.

Sak is going to be filling significantly but, everyone will have to wait patiently to see what the COE Master Manuel says.

Ft Peck is full, but with the gates open, it is deceiving. We all look at it like here where we can push 50-55 through the generation plant before needing to worry about the spillway. Ft Peck can only run 14k through the plant, so if they are in action stage, they have no choice but to open the spillway up. They have to run 30k CFS through their spillway just to match our 44k we are letting through our plant. Pretty crazy when you think about it. Biggest issue is the Yellowstone and the snow melt.

Lets just say this, a shallow water fisherman I shall become, there is lots of flooded trees and vegetation on the big lake now. Its amazing how much extra hiding spots show up with 5 feet of extra water!

Like Dean says, were over the hump and on the downhill, my concern is letting it out too quickly and losing all these good fishing spots in July and August as levels start dropping.