Flood gates open at Table Rock Dam

[Phil Lilley]

They aren't too warm.  It will in time.  They weren't there this morning.

Water is 57 coming over the top.

[Gatorjet]

Think this will change my plans for next week. I was going to bring some bass gear, and head down lake to give the green fish a try. But it sounds like it's going to be an opportunity for some great trout fishing.

[MNtransplant]

@Phil Lilley I was down on Sunday and the water was super high and there were only a handful of spots that were actually fishable from the bank. Has the water gone down any since?

[Phil Lilley]

20 minutes ago, MNtransplant said:

@Phil Lilley I was down on Sunday and the water was super high and there were only a handful of spots that were actually fishable from the bank. Has the water gone down any since?

No.  And it won't for some time.

We had a TU mtg at the dam tonight.  I asked Bryan of the hatchery how close it got past winter to the trout pools.  He said one foot from the first brown trout pool.  Hope this one doesn't flood the hatchery.

[moguy1973]

 Has anyone ever read the Wikipedia article on what happens when table rock gets over 942?  It's pretty crazy.  Hope it doesn't get anywhere near that bad.

The worst-case scenario of a catastrophic floodwater discharge from Table Rock Lake using the auxiliary floodgates would roughly resemble this:

At elevation 931 Table Rock Lake is at full flood capacity. The ten Tainter gates are opened to accommodate additional lake inflow from the White River Basin including the James River and Beaver Lake discharge.

At elevation 937 Table Rock Lake is 6 feet above flood capacity. The ten Tainter gates are opened wider in an effort to stabilize reservoir rise. Outflow from the Lake under these circumstances will be nearing 200-300 thousand cubic feet per second (CFS).

Between elevations 937 and 942 the dam’s ten Tainter gates will be fully raised letting loose 450 thousand CFS into Lake Taneycomo. This scenario would effectively submerge and destroy the powerhouse, power transmission grid, hatchery, and wreak serious destruction down stream. An illustration of how Table Rock’s ten spillways might appear under these circumstances mimics this: the floodgates will extend up and out from the structure, like eyebrows, shadowing the concrete spillways!

At elevation 942 if reservoir levels are not yet stabilized, the auxiliary floodgates are brought on line, in concert with Table Rock’s fully opened floodgates. This catastrophic protocol releases 1 million CFS of lake waters into Taneycomo and deals dreadful destruction to Branson, Hollister, Point Lookout and possibly the Powersite Dam.

Beyond an elevation 942 there is a danger of water overtopping the concrete dam and breaching the earthen structure, which imminently leads to cataclysmic structural failure and the uncontrolled release of the Table Rock Lake impoundment—nearly 3 million CFS of water.

[Greasy B]

Thank you moguy, people who choose to live below impoundedments need to be aware of the potential consequences. 

[Bill Babler]

As long as those creeks are flowing full with muddy water they won't go up there.  As they start to recede and settle down, yes the trout will head up as long as the water remains no warmer than low to mid 60's

[Phil Lilley]

On 4/27/2017 at 9:49 PM, moguy1973 said:

 Has anyone ever read the Wikipedia article on what happens when table rock gets over 942?  It's pretty crazy.  Hope it doesn't get anywhere near that bad.

The worst-case scenario of a catastrophic floodwater discharge from Table Rock Lake using the auxiliary floodgates would roughly resemble this:

At elevation 931 Table Rock Lake is at full flood capacity. The ten Tainter gates are opened to accommodate additional lake inflow from the White River Basin including the James River and Beaver Lake discharge.

At elevation 937 Table Rock Lake is 6 feet above flood capacity. The ten Tainter gates are opened wider in an effort to stabilize reservoir rise. Outflow from the Lake under these circumstances will be nearing 200-300 thousand cubic feet per second (CFS).

Between elevations 937 and 942 the dam’s ten Tainter gates will be fully raised letting loose 450 thousand CFS into Lake Taneycomo. This scenario would effectively submerge and destroy the powerhouse, power transmission grid, hatchery, and wreak serious destruction down stream. An illustration of how Table Rock’s ten spillways might appear under these circumstances mimics this: the floodgates will extend up and out from the structure, like eyebrows, shadowing the concrete spillways!

At elevation 942 if reservoir levels are not yet stabilized, the auxiliary floodgates are brought on line, in concert with Table Rock’s fully opened floodgates. This catastrophic protocol releases 1 million CFS of lake waters into Taneycomo and deals dreadful destruction to Branson, Hollister, Point Lookout and possibly the Powersite Dam.

Beyond an elevation 942 there is a danger of water overtopping the concrete dam and breaching the earthen structure, which imminently leads to cataclysmic structural failure and the uncontrolled release of the Table Rock Lake impoundment—nearly 3 million CFS of water.

That was not written by anyone who has any authority like the Corps... just shows you you can't trust what's on Wikipedia.

There's an elevation, just above 933-34 feet, where the electric motors are housed on the outside of the dam on the TR side.  If those motors get wet/submerged, the flood gates are rendered useless and the water will go where it wills.  Then the only alternative is the aux gates.  His numbers might be right on that gate but Point Lookout wouldn't be impacted.

[Phil Lilley]

1 hour ago, Bill Babler said:

As long as those creeks are flowing full with muddy water they won't go up there.  As they start to recede and settle down, yes the trout will head up as long as the water remains no warmer than low to mid 60's

I don't think the creeks are muddy... we haven't gotten that much rain.

[bkbying89]

I read the precipitation graph wrong. At first, I thought you had received 17 inches of rain. I knew that couldn't be right. More like seven, wewww