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News Release 157
RAINS TOP TAUM SAUK RESERVOIR DAM, BLACK RIVER RISES
Volume 35-157 |
Contact: Connie Patterson |
(For immediate release) |
573-751-1010 |
JEFFERSON CITY, MO, APRIL 17, 2007 -- For the near future, watchers of the Black River downstream from the lower Taum Sauk Reservoir should begin seeing water levels that more closely reflect actual rainfalls, according to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
Recent rains in the watershed of the East Fork of the Black River sent water over the top of the reservoir's dam on Friday. This development was expected and welcome as the next milestone in returning the reservoir's operations to normal.
The Department of Natural Resources was notified by AmerenUE officials on Saturday that water levels in the lower reservoir had topped the dam and were causing a rise in the Black River downstream.
"Up until now, the flows have been regulated by the dam," said Randy Crawford, who oversees water quality monitoring for the department's Environmental Services Program.
Prior to the breach, the lower reservoir was licensed to operate on an "inflow-equals-outflow" basis, with water leaving the reservoir over the dam at roughly the same rate it was coming into the reservoir from the East Fork of the Black River. Now that the reservoir, which had been lowered sediment that had washed into it following the breach, is full, any rainfall received in the reservoir will be passed over the dam.
The breach, which occurred Dec. 14, 2005, tore out a 680-foot wide section of the upper reservoir and sent an estimated 1.3 billion gallons of water rushing down the western side of the mountain, emptying into the flood plain of the East Fork of the Black River. Floodwaters from the upper reservoir flowed downstream through Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park and into the lower reservoir.
Work is progressing on the restoration of the section of the river that runs through Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park. The river restoration plan is designed to address safety hazards and environmental problems that occurred as a result of the breach, including the alteration of the previous stream channel and the removal of vegetation from the floodplain and the scour channel. The rebuilt river segment will be 4,200 feet long, extending from near Highway N bridge to just upstream of the beginnings of the shut-ins. This project is expected to be completed later this spring. AmerenUE is also finalizing plans for locating and removing debris that may present safety hazards in the shut-ins.
Engineering and architectural design for the long-term redevelopment of the park continues. However, AmerenUE's contractor has not provided any definitive timelines on when services will be in place for the park to reopen, according to Department Director Doyle Childers. The contractor has not presented final design and construction plans for permanent water and wastewater systems or other construction necessary to reopen. "Right now, visitors would not have any hot water, sewers, campgrounds, picnic tables or shelters. I do not see how we can be open for day use this year under these circumstances," Childers said.
Childers emphasized that the park will reopen when AmerenUE has completed necessary work within the park, including extensive infrastructure reconstruction and environmental cleanup, to provide the quality experience that visitors have come to expect in Missouri state parks. The department hopes that the park will be open and fully operational sometime in 2008.
AmerenUE has announced its intention to rebuild the Taum Sauk Reservoir. In November 2006, the Department of Natural Resources issued general water and temporary air permits to the company, allowing it to begin a pilot project to determine the feasibility of reusing on-site materials to rebuild the upper reservoir.
“All these issues about the settlement for damages from the reservoir breach are spinning our wheels until the Attorney General makes a decision on whether he will file criminal charges,” Childers said.
For news releases on the Web, visit www.dnr.mo.gov/newsrel. For a complete listing of the department's upcoming meetings, hearings and events, visit the department's online calendar at www.dnr.mo.gov/calendar/search.do.
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