Corps of Engineers plans to begin 'pulse' on Missouri River in spite of objections

In fact, it's sufficiently horrifying to waterlogged Missourians that Attorney General Jay Nixon filed for a temporary stay in federal court Monday, March 24, to prevent the Army Corps of Engineers from proceeding with the first of two annual "spring pulse" releases of water originally scheduled to begin at midnight Tuesday, March 25.

Nixon's attempt to obtain the stay was turned down by two federal courts on Tuesday.

Corps of Engineers spokesman Paul Johnston confirmed Wednesday morning, March 26, that the "pulse" -- an artificial raising of water level on the Missouri River -- began on schedule, at about midnight Tuesday, March 25, when the flow rate at Gavins Point Dam was increased from 13,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 18,000 cfs.

Flow will remain at the higher level until midnight Thursday, March 27, then drop 1,000 cfs per day until the 13,000 level is reached again on about April 1.

Johnson said that as of today, the Missouri is at about 11 feet at Hermann, a full 10 feet below flood stage.

When the increased flow reaches St. Louis in about 10 days, the river is expected to be at less than 17 feet, well below flood stage, he said. The Corps' estimates for river levels take expected rainfall into account.

The Army Corps of Engineers posted an announcement at about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday that the pulse would begin at midnight Tuesday, despite Nixon's objections that the action could add to already heavy flooding the state suffered from torrential downpours last week.

In denying Missouri's request to temporarily stop the water release, U.S. District Judge Jean Hamilton said Tuesday that she saw no evidence to show the corps is not following the law. She said the corps has "ample opportunity" to change its decision to release water if circumstances dictate.

A judge at the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals also rejected the request for a stay later Tuesday afternoon.

Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt lashed out at the Corps Monday.

"When I am getting several updates a day on our response to mother nature's flood, man-made flooding makes about as much sense as fighting a forest fire with gasoline," Blunt said in a news release. "It is unthinkable that just as we are beginning damage assessments and the recovery process, the federal government has authorized a man-made flood in Missouri. The Army Corps of Engineers should stop this reckless action which will only aggravate the flooding that has already hurt many Missouri families."

U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., also weighed in on the controversy, sending a letter to Paul Woodley Jr., assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works.

"In light of recent severe flooding in Missouri and incomplete repairs to levies damaged by flooding in 2007, the Corps' decision to set in motion a spring rise this year is ill advised and adds insult to injury to Show-Me State residents," Skelton said in the letter.

In the news release announcing the commencement of the pulse, Larry Cieslik, Chief of the Water Management Office in Omaha said, "We would not be doing this if we felt there was risk to public health and safety. Given current forecasts, the pulse will not approach anywhere near the high river stages experienced last week which were so devastating in the lower river."

Although the option for a spring pulse has been available for a few years, it has been done only once, in May 2006. The program was cancelled altogether for 2007, because there was insufficient water available in the Upper Missouri River Basin, now in its eighth year of drought. The pulse scheduled for May 2008 has already been cancelled.

Johnston said Tuesday afternoon the spring pulse is devised to "mimic, not replace, the historic flow of the river," which has undergone dramatic changes since the 1930s, when the U.S. adopted a combination of plans devised by various governmental organizations known as the Pick-Sloan plan.

Under that plan, the river saw the construction of seven dams and was shortened by more than 200 miles overall, due to channeling and straightening of the many loops and whorls of the original river bed.

The plan's goals were to reduce flood damage, enhance navigation, general hydroelectric power and provide storage of water for irrigation.

Conspicuously absent in the Pick-Sloan plan was any consideration of the environmental and ecological effects of the dramatic change in the river.

In later years, as those effects were more noticeable, and after the 1973 Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service entered the picture and identified many species of marine birds and fish, including the pallid sturgeon, least tern and piping plover, all native to Missouri, that were in imminent danger of becoming extinct.

Although proof that the spring pulses are helpful to these species is not conclusive, according to some sources, FSW, NMFS and the Corps believe they're needed.

Johnston said the two annual rises serve different purposes. The first rise in March largely consists of snowmelt from the plains, which is normally warmer.

This release is timed to increase navigability of the river at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers just above St. Louis as close to April 1 as possible. This warmer flow is considered to be especially beneficial to the pallid sturgeon during the spawning season.

The second rise, timed for May, is colder and usually larger, since it comes from mountain snowmelt in the northern reaches of the river, when the river is usually lower. The lower flow encourages development of habitats hospitable to shore birds like the tern and plover.

Johnston said there is "no place on the river now above flood stage, even as far downstream as Hermann, the last gauging station. The Mississippi River is below flood stage at St. Louis. The National Weather Service forecast for the next five days has no rain of significance that should be a problem."

Information from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Web site, at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, bears out Johnson's observations regarding river levels and expected rainfall.

Although there has been serious flooding in central and eastern Missouri, the reach below Gavins Point Dam, near the border of South Dakota and Nebraska, has not experienced this natural pulse, according to the news release.

Current Missouri River forecasts indicate that river stages in central and eastern Missouri will remain well below flood stage by the time the two-day pulse arrives the first few days of April, Corps officials said.

"River levels downstream of Gavins Point Dam are expected to rise a little over a foot in Sioux City and Omaha," officials said. "Because flows are falling off in the lower river, the pulse is expected only to slow the decline in river stages by half a foot in Kansas City and less than half a foot at Hermann.

"Forecasts are that the stage at St. Louis on the Mississippi River will have dropped from 31 feet to less than 17 feet when the pulse water arrives around April 6."

"We are carefully monitoring the precipitation forecasts and actual runoff and are confident that the pulse presents no more risk than the normal annual increases to support commercial navigation," said Cieslik. "The downstream flow limits are very strict and will continue to provide triggers to reduce the peak size of the pulse or eliminate it if conditions warrant."

The Corps is committed to complying with the 2003 Amended Biological Opinion.

"The Corps and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service worked closely to develop a reasonable and prudent alternative for spring pulses to avoid jeopardizing the continued existence of the endangered pallid sturgeon with the least possible impact to other users of the river and reservoirs," according to the news release.

The magnitude of the pulse will be less than the average releases to provide minimum navigation flows and far below full service navigation flows which are normal during non-drought periods.

The size of the pulse will be 5,000 cfs more than minimum service navigation flows for two-days followed by a gradual reduction of releases over several days back down to minimum service releases.

The Corps anticipates that the flows resulting from the pulse will remain in the river channel.

"There will be no impact to historical and cultural sites along the reservoirs that are significant to the Missouri River basin tribes," Corps officials said.

Scott Holste, spokesman for Nixon's office, said Tuesday evening that, given the timing considerations, and the Corps' stated intention to begin the pulse in just a few hours, their legal options have been exhausted.

Holste believes there are reasons to be pessimistic. "In central and western Missouri, there are concerns about levees not yet repaired from last May's flooding, in addition to concerns on the eastern side of the state. In southeast Missouri, flooding has not yet crested. (The Corps) is counting on us not getting any additional rain in that time, but in late March and early April, that's not a good bet. A lot of people will be holding their breath."

For his part, Johnston says he knows there are serious concerns.

"There's a lot of emotion attached with this, and I certainly understand that."

Information from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Army Corps of Engineers, a January 2002 report from the National Research Council and Associated Press reports were included in this story.