| OCR Text |
Show These were inadequate against major floods. The one large structure built prior to 1936 was Fort Peck Dam, with a storage capacity of 19.4 million acre-feet. Although primarily for navigation, the dam has caused significant reductions in flood crests downstream through its storage of flood flows. Flood control benefits from Fort Peck have been estimated at 50 million dollars during the past 10 years by the Corps of Engineers. The various flood control acts since 1936 have greatly accelerated flood control works. Numerous levees have been built to protect downstream flood susceptible areas. Cherry Creek reservoir furnishes protection to part of Denver. The Kanopolis Reservoir on the Kansas River has also been completed. Projects Under Construction In recent years the rate of Federal construction for flood control has risen rapidly. A huge flood control engineering program is going forward in accordance with the plan of the Corps of Engineers, the main feature of which is a series of great reser- voirs on the main stem of the Missouri. The Garrison Reservoir Project in North Dakota, with 23.5 million acre-feet of capacity, and the Fort Randall Reservoir in South Dakota, with 6.2 million acre-feet, are both well under way. Oahe Reser- voir near Pierre, S. Dak., has been started and when completed can hold 21 million acre-feet. Two small reservoirs, Cold Brook and Cottonwood Springs, with a combined storage capacity of slightly over 10,000 acre-feet, are under construction in southwestern South Dakota on tributaries of the Cheyenne River. The Harlan County Reservoir is under construction to control flood waters on the Republican River in Nebraska. Gavins Point, a reregulating reservoir, is to be constructed near Yankton. In addition, both channel improvements and levee construction are going forward on the main stem and some tributaries. Chief among these is the Missouri River agricultural levee project of the Corps of Engineers. Flood wall and levee con- struction are being undertaken at Kansas City, Omaha, and Council Bluffs. Additional flood control works have been au- thorized for Corps of Engineers construction but are not yet under construction. Seven flood control reservoirs authorized for tributary streams are: Chatfield Reservoir (300,000 acre-feet ca- pacity) on the South Platte River above Denver; 182 Pioneer Reservoir (97,000 a.cre-feet capacity) on the Arikaree River, Kans.; Red Willow Reservoir (32,000 acre-feet) on Red Willow Creek, Nebr.; Tuttle Creek Reservoir (2,095,000 acre-feet) on Big Blue River, Kans.; Pomme de Terre Reservoir (590,000 acre-feet) on Poname de Terre River, Mo.; Richland Reservoir (1,389,900 acre-feet) on Gasconade River, Mo.; and Arlington Reservoir for which there probably will be substituted the Rich Fountain Reservoir (1,396,700 acre-feet), on the Gasconade River, Mo. Several channel improve- ment and levee projects have also been authorized. In addition, Chillicothe Reservoir on Grand River, Mo., South Grand Reservoir on South Grand River, Mo., and Osceola Reservoir on the Osage River, have been authorized but are in de- ferred status (in 1950) pending reinvestigation and further authorization. Upon completing the present program of au- thorized and under-construction projects, flood protection along the main stem of the Missouri will be provided from the reservoirs as far down- stream as Kansas City. Below Kansas City the authorized program, including reservoirs on the Grand, Osage, and Gasconade, would also result in the designed degree of protection1 along the main stem of the Missouri. On these three tributaries, the flood control pro- grams are under further investigation, and it is anticipated that modified programs providing com- parable effects on the Missouri will be prepared. Adequate reservoir storage on the Grand, Osage, and Gasconade is deemed essential to provide the designed degree of protection for the lower por- tion of the reach from Kansas City to the mouth. In addition, a number of communities on many of the principal tributaries will require varying degrees of flood damage prevention. The Corps of Engineers has other flood control investigations under way. These studies indicate the possibility of 22 reservoirs, many of them mul- tiple-purpose, on different streams. Operation of these can be such as to provide tributary basin con- trol. Active storage in these reservoirs will total approximately 8 million acre-feet. Twenty-three other projects, including levees and channel im- provements, are also proposed for flood control, navigation, and bank stabilization. The completion of these works would protect the major points now subject to flood damage, and 1 "Designed degree of protection" is the maximum eco- nomic protection. On the Missouri it will provide pro- tection against floods as large as the greatest on record. |
