Ok, so last weeks ending to the column entitled, “Corps fiddles ‘The Plood’ while local officials and leaders dance to the tune,” was a little strong, true in terms of results but strong. In talking about the actions Branson areas leaders and officials had taken regarding obtaining relief from the US Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the abnormally high lake levels that have persisted since the Spring, the Ole Seagull asked, “Is there any official record anywhere that even one petitioned the Corps, on an emergency basis, for a temporary exception to lowering the Regulatory Stages at Newport until the Tri-Lakes levels, especially Bull Shoals, were back to safe levels? Did even one initiate official action with the Corps requesting a process be set in motion to evaluate changes to The Plan?”
Basically, those were rhetorical questions, the answers of which the Ole Seagull was relatively certain. Things would have been alright if he had stopped there but, alas, he didn’t and went on to say, “At least Nero fiddled while Rome burned. In the opinion of an Ole Seagull our areas leaders and officials are doing nothing, absolutely nothing while the very real danger of plooding casts its cloud over the Tri-Lakes area.”
“Nothing” was a bad choice of wording because of course they did something, they “talked.”As was pointed out to the Ole Seagull this week, on more than one occasion, there has been a lot of talk with the Corps and others. Just for the record, to an Ole Seagull, in terms of the seriousness of the situation, “talk without official action is nothing.”
On May 29 the Ole Seagull went to a meeting sponsored by the US Army Corps of Engineers where the speakers were personnel from its Reservoir Control Branch in Little Rock, AR. They shared information on the regulatory plan they are using to manage the Branson Tri-Lakes area lakes and said that the plan is working. Well, in an Ole Seagulls opinion, if this is an example of the Plan working the Ole Seagull sure doesn’t want to see what happens when it fails and, dear reader, if the levels of Branson Tri-Lakes areas lakes are not drastically reduced, we all just might get a chance to see what happens when it does.
From April until now, the Plan and its dependence on the regulatory stage at Newport AR., has restricted the amounts of water that can be released from the Tri-Lakes area lakes. It hasn’t been the Plan that has saved us it has been the hand of God. It is His hand that has directed the rains away from the Tri-Lakes area, caused the leafing that slows the fall of the rain, given us at least a few days for the ground to dry some before the next rain, etc..
He has given the Tri-Lakes area plenty of time to take action to get the levels of its lakes down and yet, even at this late date, a comparison of the actual current lake levels to their historic 5 Year Seasonal Conservation Pool averages should cause concern for what would happen if the lake levels are not lowered drastically. How much do they have to be lowered? The July 3 Daily Reservoir Report of the Corps indicates that Beaver lake is 7.0 feet above its Seasonal Conservation Pool of 1121.4 feet, Table Rock over 10.5 feet above its 917 seasonal pool, and, startlingly, Bull Shoals is 35.6 feet above its seasonal pool of 656.4.
May an Ole Seagull suggest that the math on how many feet the Tri-Lakes area Lakes have dropped since April 25 as compared to how many feet they have to drop to get to their Conservation Pool levels would prove interesting if not alarming. Another interesting figure would be how much rain will it take to get to the top of the Flood Pools? Why does anyone care? Could it be because at that point, there might as well not be any dam and any water that comes into a lake at that point is passed through downstream?
Call the Ole Seagull foolish but he fears for what can happen if the lake level situation is not addressed immediately as to what can be done to get more water out of the areas lakes faster. At a minimum that should involve an official request to prevent the lowering of the regulatory stage at Newport to 12 feet from its current 14 feet until all the Tri-Lakes area lakes are at their Seasonal Conservation Pool averages. That request should involve the commitment of the resources to see it through to the highest levels with the best professional advice and personnel available regardless of the road blocks that the Corps puts up.
Unless an Ole Seagull misses his guess, the same Corps whose own records are replete with lowering the regulatory standards from a safe and efficient minimum of 18 feet to 12 feet over the years will do little to help relieve the situation. How ironic is it? The very organization creating the problem by compromising its own flood control standard for the benefit of agricultural interest downstream will not only not help get relief for the Branson Tri-Lakes area, but will probably fight it? In an Ole Seagull’s opinion, it’s probably not as ironic as it is sad. Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick….
Related Link: Corps Plan creates Branson’s high lake levels (News Article)
