The Wonderful Corps

[MOPanfisher]

In a few words that 1 foot plus of water is a lot of Megawatts of electricity waiting to be generated. Normally on a COE Lake with electrical generation capability, SWPA (Southwest Power Administration) has "control" over water say from slightly below normal pool to a few feet above normal, they determine when and how much water is needed to generate electricity. Above that level the COE must determine how much water can be released to facilitate flood control. Things that must be taken into consideration are conditions downstream from LOZ all the way down to New Orleans. If the MO River is at flood stage the order comes down not to add water to the MO, so it gets held until the river drops below flood stage, then it is released in a controlled fashion. When all the parameters are followed by nature (rainfall, temps etc) it works great. Toss in a 10" rain or worse like hit the white river system last spring and put Table Rock at more than 100% or it rated capacity, or a long hot dry summer like last year where the electrical needs were high to air condition our homes and no rain coming in to keep the lake full and you get low conditions. I know the COE staff pretty well and to a person they are NOT "Oh well our paychecks will still come in, we don't care what happens to the lake level) guys. They hunt, fish and live around the lakes just like we do and would love to have it perfect all the time, but it just doesn't work that way most of the time. At around 704 I believe one of the marinas on Truman begins to have problems and several boat ramps as well. Highwater they are pretty familiar with, as Truman seems to hit its 50 year level every 5 years or so, but it is doing its job of flood control and hydropower generation. The COE employees do work with MDC, and other agencies to do the best they can for fish and wildlife but the flood control and hydro power will always come first, since that is the primary reason that congress authorized it. Keep in mind that the COE can't just do some things like change the lake level management plan, that comes from WAY up the line down to the local offices. Also SWPA doesn't just decide when to generate electricity, they pay for the right to have some generation capability just waiting to be called upon when needed, and return some significant dollars back to the COE to provide repairs to the generators etc. Money that otherwise would be coming from our tax dollars. The COE cooperates with MDC to provide a steady release of water for a period of time during the walleye spawn, so it doesn't act in a complete vaccuum, it is a balancing act to try to achieve as many of the goals as possible, unfortunately it isn't possible to please everyone. A few years ago two different states sued the COE at the same time, memory is fuzzy but I think South Dakota filed suit because it claimed the COE was releasing too much water from the upper mainstem of the MO lakes to keep barge traffic moving, and one of the lower states (don't remember), filed suit because it believed the COE wasn't releasing enough water to keep recreation opportunities available, hard to win in a situation like that. I will admit that I don't necessarily agree with how the levee sytems are operated but that comes sometimes from congressional mandates not COE. Personally I think it would be cheaper and better to not have levees that are not protecting population centers and allow the low lying ground along the river to flood when needed, and provide the farmers there a guarantee of crop insurance if crops are lost. But that is another topic entirely.

[rangerz21]

Mopan I agreee with you on what you said. You are obviously more educated on the levy system than i am. I understand what you are saying about the coe working with the mdc on water release for the walleye in loz. I would just like for once to hear the mdc say they are doing something for the fish up on truman. I am not the sharpest knife in the cabinet. but i would venture to say that there are more people that buy there corps launch permit and stay in the corps campgrounds that are there to crappie fish than about any other specis. I know that crappie is not a MDC pet project like the muskie and hybrids and spoonbill and walleye are. just saying that all of the river systems are down LOZ is 4 feet low and they are not generating so why not get our lake down before the spring rains come. History shows that we get that about 99 percent of the time. I work on the lake and try to scrap out a living down there sometimes they can make it difficult on you. If you cant tell just went and bought my annual pass for 2 vehicles so i know just by the number that i got at the truman office that the lake makes them a few bucks a year before they generate any electricity. oh well to nice a day better go fishing. And thats another thing why do they call it annual pass when they dont maintain the courtesy dock in the winter.

[KCRIVERRAT]

You guys on the lakes, I feel your pain. Us whom fish the free flowing rivers or creeks get it from mother nature. Only difference is she doesn't provide a number to her complaint department.

[FishinCricket]

You guys on the lakes, I feel your pain. Us whom fish the free flowing rivers or creeks get it from mother nature. Only difference is she doesn't provide a number to her complaint department.

Well we can always pray...

[MOPanfisher]

Rangerz71, I just got home from fishing below Truman Dam, caught 5 whites and saw couple of wallys caught, can only get better from now on. As for things like annual passes, they are a bit of a sore spot for me as I know for a fact that the money doesn't go to the corps it goes to the general treasury of the united states, not one penny of it goes to the lake to pay for things like paving, painting lines, maintaining courtesy docks etc. The reason most lakes are low right now is that we simply haven't had the rain/snow we usally get, so far we are down on precipitation, and even with the mild winter we still need electricity for our homes and businesses. MDC does work with the COE to do things like drop cedar trees into lakes for fish habitat, not sure if they do any in Truman or not though, haven't seen them doing it there, also they work to develop a lake level management plan but on a lake with the capability of massive inflows like truman it is almost imossible to follow that plan, get a 6" rain in western missouri and see how much rolls down the osage! The flood control and hydropower are always going to be the front runners over fish and wildlife not always popular but that is how congress mandated it to be. It does always seem to be a see saw lake level during the crappie spawn but still I have never noticed any damage to the crappie populations seems they always get a spawn off somehow. Other lakes you can notice missing year classes with say many large keeper crappie and lots of 6-7" shorts but few 9" keepers and I never have understood why, unless the sheer amount of cover and size of the lake ensure that there will always be a decent spawn. Yeah I am due to buy my annual pass too!! I've had long conversations with COE folks about the fees and where it goes, did you know that even the camping fees don't go back to the lake? nope again back to the general treasury for congress to dole back out. Even if ti did go back to the lakes the concensus then is that like the MO lottery money and schools congess would simply reduce the budgets by that amount, so no net gain. If you get the chance talk to a few of the COE guys, Park Rangers, Maintenance etc. they are really a good bunch of guys (and gals) who want to do the right thing. I feel for the businesses who are essentially dependent upon the lake for their livelihood, on a good year they can do OK, but a bad year with low water, or long high lake levels, a bad storm , or even high gasoline prices make staying in business very tough, while a few miles downstream LOZ sets protected by Truman Dam from lake levels that would ruin billions in condo's and private homes so the lake seldom fluctuates more than a few feet. At least the fishing on LOZ can be pretty good in the spring too.

[Dudley]

Doesn't the flooding every spring let the fish spawn up in the buck brush where the fry can hide from predation? Not defending the COE by any means though. If they kept the lake at a more reasonable level they could have docks and sell land on the water, it could generate a ton of $$. As for the "its flood control" arguement is Table Rock not flood control? The Tennessee river chain lakes not flood control? They don't have near the wild fluctuations that they allow on Truman. I'm just biased, I'd like to see Truman become a premiere fishery.

[Jim Y]

Doesn't the flooding every spring let the fish spawn up in the buck brush where the fry can hide from predation? Not defending the COE by any means though. If they kept the lake at a more reasonable level they could have docks and sell land on the water, it could generate a ton of $$. As for the "its flood control" arguement is Table Rock not flood control? The Tennessee river chain lakes not flood control? They don't have near the wild fluctuations that they allow on Truman. I'm just biased, I'd like to see Truman become a premiere fishery.

Truman is permitted to get very high so LOZ can stay right around 660 to protect all its homes, condos and their docks. So I decided to quit the fight, sell my Truman Lake home and move to a condo on LOZ.

[Jerry Rapp]

fyi, Truman is a flood control lakes which protects folks all the way down the Osage, the Missouri, and Mississippi Rivers. It has paid for itself many times over in flood damage reduction. LOZ is not a flood control lake and they pass flood flows through as fast they can regardless. It sometimes gets above 660 but that is because of rains below Truman Dam.

[rangerz21]

I totally understand everyone coming to the corps defense.But why when they have loz at the elevation that they want 655.0 or whatever. They are holding Truman at 708.0 with no flow in march is that so we can generate for money bea\cause the higher that it gets the less money they get for there electricity.And i dont know about you all but common sense tells me old mother nature will bring us spring rain. or has for the last 48 yrs that i know of. They always do this suck the water off the fishes beds or deliver all this silt to cover the spawn. if you dont think silt is a problem take a drive and look at the osage river from the dam to 71hwy. sorry for the rant but the corps pi$$e$ me off. so what is the corps plans when they get all creeks in the upper arms of the lake silted in and the lake will not hold the water capicity that it does know. Any dredgeing in the future??

[MOPanfisher]

Rangerz21 I know what you are saying, there is definitely a siltation problem on the upper end, but that is true of pretty much every lake, especially on like Truman with an "uncontrolled" inflow. The highwater coming down the tributaries carry a heavy load of silt, when it hits that calmer lake water it begins to fall out and silts in areas, (Crowes Crossing for instance) I don't know of any way to stop that. Even my small ponds silt in over time. Dredging, it can be done but the cost of doing it is phenomenal you won't see federal budgets that have allowances for that kind of expense on lakes anytime soon if ever. Every lake has a computed lifespan, some will fill in quicker some slower depends on many factors. Again that 2 feet of water is a lot of megawatts that is simply waiting to be transformed. SWPA uses it to cover the peak demands, it is cheap, quick and reliable, compared to trying to spool up a coal or nuke plant just to cover the peak loads, takes hours or days to spool up and cool down those plants, hydro on line in a matter of minutes and offline just as quick which in turn help keep your electric rate lower. It does seem like the lake levels are always dropping during the spawn but again Truman is a fantastic Bass, Crappie, Catfish, Hybrid, Walleye, and even bluegill lake the populations are very strong and healthy and people come from a long ways just to fish Truman, heck I fish it every chance I get. It is a multi-purpose project and much like a pair of vice-grips or a leatherman tool it can do many things and is not the best at any one of them.