Archive for the 'levees' Category

An Army Corps of contradictions

Published on 04/19/2012 in displacement of people, levees and management. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Retrieved from: Sacbee

“Even as it clings to a policy requiring state and local agencies to clear trees from levees, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has granted one of its own districts a variance to plant 30,000 trees along the levee-lined Sacramento River.

Huh?

“The Corps has always been an agency of internal contradictions, but this one suggests a higher level of Dilbert-like bureaucratic incongruity. How can the top leadership of the Corps reasonably expect flood agencies to strip trees from riverbanks – putting themselves in conflict with environmental laws, and possibly undermining the structural integrity of levees – when the Corps is letting one of its own act like Johnny Appleseed?

“Ever since New Orleans was inundated during Hurricane Katrina, the national Corps office has aggressively enforced vegetation removal on levees, attempting to make trees a culprit for other institutional failings that led to the flooding of the Big Easy.

“Here in California, flood agencies and environmental groups have objected.

“Friends of the River has sued, and the California Department of Fish and Game has filed notice of intent to sue.

“Such lawsuits stand a good chance of success, partly because the Corps’ own research has shown that trees planted at the toe of levees can actually benefit public safety. Their roots help reinforce the levees’ integrity.

“The stakes are particularly large here because, as The Bee’s Matt Weiser noted in a story Saturday, early 20th century engineers built California’s levees close together to scour out old mining sediment. That has left us with little riparian forest – essential for fish and wildlife. The Corps, if its national office were to have its way, would mow down that remaining forest.

Read more here: Sacbee
sammykayed

Protecting Bay Area’s Water Supply in Event of Major Earthquake

Published on 04/18/2012 in levees and management. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Retrieved from: Llnl

“One day before the 106th anniversary of the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, Mayor Ed Lee was in San Mateo County on Tuesday to mark a major milestone in securing the region’s water supply in the event of a future major earthquake.

“Lee joined San Francisco Public Utilities Commission general manager Ed Harrington and San Mateo County Supervisor Adrienne Tissier on the banks of the Lower Crystal Springs Reservoir, where improvements to the 124-year-old Crystal Springs Dam have just been completed.

“The dam improvements — which doubled the width of the main spillway and raised the height of a parapet on top of the structure by 9 feet — were part of the SFPUC’s $4.6 billion Water System Improvement Program, which consists of 81 seismic improvements to water delivery pipelines, dams and reservoirs from Hetch Hetchy to San Francisco.

“Harrington said the seismic upgrades “virtually guarantee” the reliability of safe drinking water for 2.6 million Bay Area residents within 24 hours of a major earthquake.

“These projects now serve as our reinforced lifeline to deliver Hetch Hetchy water around the Bay,” Harrington said.

“Five years ago we would not have had the same reliability we have today,” he said.

Read more: Bay citizen

sammykayed

Toxic Floods Hit US Northeast Coast

Published on 09/09/2011 in contaminated water, floods, groundwater, levees, rivers and wastewater. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Photo retrieved from: www.aljazeera.net

“Relentless rain has caused catastrophic flooding in the eastern United States, killing at least five people and forcing the evacuation of more than 130,000 in three states.

Remnants of Tropical Storm Lee swamped homes and businesses from Maryland to New England on Thursday and dropped up to 30cm of rain outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, which declared a state of emergency.

Floodwaters are now polluted with sewage and other toxins and officials warn that public health in parts of the northeastern US could be at risk from direct exposure or contaminated private water wells.

Flood warnings were in effect in northern Virginia, Delaware, Maryland and upstate New York, and flood watches were under way in other areas from Massachusetts to Washington DC, according to the National Weather Service.

In Vermont, a dozen towns flooded by Irene are still on boil-water orders 12 days later, though no waterborne illness has been reported. Similar precautions have been taken in other storm-damaged states.

Vermont’s state health department is giving away free test kits so residents can check their wells for bacteria.

Al Jazeera’s senior meteorologist, Steff Gaulter says that despite the intense activity the hurricane season is not over yet.

“The Atlantic hurricane season lasts until the end of November, so there’s plenty of time for yet more storms to strike the US and cause yet more flooding.”

Read more: Aljazeera

lily victoria

11,000 people ordered to evacuate North Dakota town as bloated Souris River threatens levees

Published on 06/22/2011 in climate change, floods, levees, management and rivers. 0 Comments Tags: .

Photo retrieved from: www.thewashingtonpost.com

“About 11,000 Minot residents are being ordered to leave their homes even earlier than expected this week as the Souris River gets closer to swamping the North Dakota city with the worst flooding in four decades, officials said Tuesday.

Mayor Curt Zimbelman said about a quarter of the city’s residents were being told to evacuate by 6 p.m. Wednesday, and officials plan to sound the warning sirens if water spills over Minot’s protective levees before that looming deadline. Authorities had previously encouraged people to be gone later that night.

“Public safety is paramount,” Zimbelman said during an afternoon news conference. “The water is rising fast, and people need to get evacuated as soon as possible.”

The Souris River that loops down from Canada through north central North Dakota is bloated by heavy spring snowmelt and rain on both sides of the border.”

Read more: The Washington Post

 

 

lily victoria

All that hydropower, but no rate cuts, as Missouri River roars through dam systems

Published on 06/09/2011 in dams, hydropower and levees. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Retrieved from: Washington Post

“The torrents of water pounding through the Missouri River’s six dams are generating surplus electricity for utilities across the upper Great Plains, but ratepayers can mostly forget about seeing any benefit on their monthly bills.

“Utility officials say power prices already are low, and the federal agency that markets the electricity has to make up losses from years of drought.

“From a long-term standpoint, this will help us, but right now the (electric power) market is depressed,” said Vic Simmons, general manager of Rushmore Electric Power Cooperative in Rapid City, S.D.

“Electric demand is “probably at the lowest part of the year right now,” Simmons said. “There’s no grain drying, there’s no irrigation, there’s no air conditioning going yet.”

“Heavy spring rains in western states and a mammoth Rocky Mountain snowpack have set up the Missouri River for a summer of flooding, with temporary levees being thrown up and permanent dikes checked along the river’s length.

“Enough water is powering through the dam to meet Bismarck’s normal summer water needs for nearly a week in a single minute. Of more interest to utilities, the water flowing across all six dams will produce about 14 billion kilowatt-hours of power this year. That’s 40 percent greater than the dams’ normal output, and enough to supply almost 1.3 million homes for a year.”

Read more:  Washington Post

sammykayed

‘Unprecedented’ Summerlong Flood Threatens Missouri River Dams and Levees

Published on 06/07/2011 in climate change, dams, floods, levees, management and rivers. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Photo retrieved from: www.latimes.com

“The resulting flooding could last along the river until mid-August, they said, threatening communities stretching from Montana to Missouri.

“There are some extremely high water levels that will persist for quite a period of time,” said Lynn Maximuk, director of the National Weather Service’s central region. “The rises along the Missouri have been caused by really a year’s worth of rainfall across the basin over the last two weeks. In addition, snowfall in the mountains is at about 140 percent of normal.”

That has created “unprecedented” runoff that federal officials say can no longer be contained within the six dams built to tame the Missouri’s flows.

The Army Corps of Engineers is planning to release record amounts of water at all six dams, said Kevin Grode, Missouri Basin Reservoir Regulation Team leader for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Flows at Fort Peck Dam in Montana, the highest dam in the Missouri River system, will reach 50,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) tomorrow, besting the previous record of 45,000 cfs set in 1975.”

Read more: The New York Times

 

lily victoria

Levees going up to protect South Dakota cities

Published on 06/01/2011 in dams, displacement of people, floods, levees, management and rivers. 0 Comments Tags: .

Photo retrieved from: www.hosted.ap.org

“Crews raced approaching floodwaters Tuesday to complete emergency levees aimed at protecting South Dakota’s capital city and two other towns as the swollen Missouri River rolled downstream from the Northern Plains. Meanwhile, the mayor of Minot, N.D., ordered a quarter of the city’s residents to evacuate areas along the flooding Souris River.

Residents of the upscale community of Dakota Dunes in southeastern South Dakota, below the final dam on the river, have been told to move their possessions to higher ground and be ready to leave their homes by Thursday, a day before releases from the dams are set to increase again.

Several thousand people in Pierre, the state capital, and neighboring Fort Pierre on the west bank have been working day and night since late last week to lay sandbags around their homes and move to safety.

Those forced to leave their homes may not be able to return for two months or more. No evacuation orders had been issued Tuesday in South Dakota, but many people in the three cities had already moved to safer places.”

Read more: Associated Press

 

lily victoria

Satellite Images Show Large Sediment Plumes From Flooding

Published on 05/28/2011 in aquatic ecosystems, floods, lakes, levees and oceans. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Satellite image shows the large amount of sediment that has been deposited along the coastline and wetlands of Louisiana. Retrieved from: www.cnn.com

“Dramatic satellite images show large deposits of sediment in coastal Louisiana, the receiving end of the massive flooding on the Mississippi River.

The sediment gush has a down and up side in region known for its seafood and delicate wetlands, a federal official said Friday.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and NASA recently provided the stark imagery of the sediment plumes to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Louisiana to assist them with flood response.

“We live in historic times,” said Phil Turnipseed, director of the USGS’s National Wetlands Research Center in Lafayette, Louisiana.

The tan and brown plumes resulted from millions of gallons of sediment-laden freshwater rushing to the Gulf through spillways, river channels and levees.

See flooding map from USGS

A map on the USGS website allows users to call up the plumes and see flood data collected by government agencies.

The opening of the Bonnet Carre spillway caused a sediment plume in Lake Pontchartrain above New Orleans. Another plume resulted from the opening of the Morganza Spillway and flooding on the Atchafalaya River. The third is where the Mississippi River meets the Gulf of Mexico.”

Read more: CNN

 

lily victoria

Considering the future of Louisiana’s levees

Published on 05/20/2011 in floods, hydrology, levees and management. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Louisiana flooding

Retrieved from: LA Times

“Put in place to protect land along the Mississippi, the system has also been funneling sediment from the delta, to be replaced by seawater. New Orleans could be practically an island by 2100, scientists say.

“Earl Billiot guides his boat down a quiet bayou and explains how it used to be, when the water that runs as wide as a two-lane highway was so narrow you could reach out and touch the land. Branches heavy with Spanish moss draped over the bayou, and forests covered marshes that are bare now except for the skeletons of dead cypress trees.

“Eighty miles away, tourists and locals gather atop a levee in New Orleans to gape at the magnificent Mississippi River, swollen by floods and higher than most have ever seen it. They relax in the afternoon sun with plastic cups of daiquiris and beer, certain that the structure they sit on will keep the water back

“Two worlds, each dependent on the Mississippi River, each face a far different future as a result of the levees put in place generations ago to protect land along the waterway. They’ve done their job, but for decades they also have deprived the world’s seventh-largest delta of land-sustaining sediment by funneling it straight into the Gulf of Mexico.

“From 1932 to 2000, about 1,900 square miles of land were lost and replaced by seawater. At the current rate, scientists say, more than 500 additional square miles will be gone by 2050. By 2100, they say, New Orleans could be little more than an island.”

Read more: LA Times

sammykayed

Rural Louisiana flooded to save New Orleans

Published on 05/14/2011 in displacement of people, floods and levees. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Retrieved from: abc local

“The Army Corps of Engineers is releasing water from a spillway along the rising Mississippi River in Louisiana, diverting water into the countryside in hopes of avoiding a potentially bigger disaster in heavily populated areas downstream.

“A gate at the Morganza spillway was raised Saturday afternoon for the first time in 38 years. The water came out slowly at first, then began gushing like a waterfall.

“About 3,000 square miles of land known for small farms and fish camps could wind up under as much as 25 feet of water. As many as 25,000 people and 11,000 structures could be in harm’s way. Sheriffs and National Guardsmen warned people in a door-to-door sweep through the area, and shelters were ready to accept up to 4,800 evacuees, Gov. Bobby Jindal said.

“Some people living in the threatened stretch of countryside – an area known for small farms, fish camps and a drawling French dialect – have already started fleeing for higher ground.

“Now’s the time to evacuate,” Jindal said. “Now’s the time for our people to execute their plans. That water’s coming.”

“By opening the floodgates on this spillway, the hope is to lessen pressure on the floodwalls down to the Gulf of Mexico and prevent a catastrophe. Officials say the move will ease pressure on levees protecting New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and oil refineries and chemical plants downstream.

“They haven’t opened the spillway at Morganza, La., since 1973, reports CBS News correspondent Dean Reynolds, but with the river still rising, they have to do it again.”

Read more: CBS news

sammykayed