Flood Day 202

Flood stage of the Big Blue River at Blue Rapids is 26 ft or an elevation of 1101 ft.  March 12 was the first day that the river was above 26 ft.  The river crested at 61.32 ft on May 31 (Flood Day 81).  By September 20 the river hat dropped to 35.45 ft (a drop f 25.87 ft).  With significant rains, the river was back up to 39.26 ft.on September 28.

Sunday, September 29 is the 202nd day for the river to be above flood stage at Blue Rapids.  As a point of trivia, the river is now at the same level that it was on April 5 (flood day 25, rising) and September 9 (flood day 182, falling).

A little review of the storage capacity of Tuttle Creek Reservoir.  The lake has three water storage sections.  The normal or Multipurpose Pool level of the lake is 1075 ft above mean sea level.  Above the Multipurpose pool is the Flood Control Storage space with an upper elevation of 1136 ft.  Above the Flood Control Storage space is the Surcharge space, which will only hold water if the flood gates are opened.

Today (Sunday Sept. 29) the lake elevation is 1113.92 ft (38.92 ft above the Multipurpose level).  The Flood Control Space is currently holding 897,155 acre·ft of flood water or 47.67% of its capacity.  The lake currently has a an area of 36,143 acres, which is over 3 times the Multipurpose pool area of 10,900 acres.  This also means the lake is still covering 67% of the area it covered when the Flood Control space was at maximum capacity.

The release rates at Tuttle Creek Reservoir, Perry Lake, and Clinton Lake are essentially dependent upon the flow rate of the Missouri River at Waverly, MO.  Flow rates in excess of 90,000 cfs at Waverly create some lowland flooding.  Today the flow rate at Waverly is 171,000 cfs.  For the last week or so the discharge rate at Tuttle Creek has remained at 200 cfs. According to an article in the Manhattan Mercury on Friday, September 27, the release rate at Tuttle cannot be increased unless the flow rate at Waverly is below 140,000 cfs or the lake level rises to 1114.4 ft (it is very close to that now) at which time the flow rate at Waverly must be below 180,000 cfs.

Link to Manhattan Mercury Article from Friday, September 27:
https://themercury.com/news/local/i-wonder-why-has-outflow-from-tuttle-creek-lake-slowed/article_fe942c50-4246-5b8d-b7ba-50335006cabc.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share

According the to USACE Three Day Reservoir Forecast, the release from Tuttle is to be 2000 cfs starting on Monday, September 30.  This release rate pretty much offsets the daily inflow so the lake level will remain fairly static.  The inflow on Saturday at MT was 2,700 cfs.

FYI:  A discharge rate of 2000 cfs is roughly equal to 4000 acre·ft/day.  There is still approximately 900,000 acre·ft of water in the Flood Control Space.

Link to USACE Three Day Forecast:
http://www.nwd-mr.usace.army.mil/rcc/nwk/lakepool.txt

Link to USACE 8-Day Reservoir Report
http://www.nwd-mr.usace.army.mil/rcc/nwk/7daylak3.pdf

Link to September 29 USACE Lake Levels Report
http://www.nwd-mr.usace.army.mil/rcc/reports/pdfs/MRBWM_Reservoir.pdf

You may have to cut and paste the USACE links into your web browser.

The Flood Control Space at Perry Lake is still at 40.6 percent of its capacity and Clinton Lake's is at 34.7 percent of its capacity.

Milford Lake is 32 ft above normal pool level and its Flood Control Storage space is at 47% of capacity with 356,062 acre·ft of flood water.

Prepared by David Crawford

No more Wind Storms!!

The June 10 wind storm that passed through southern Marshall County wrecked havoc with the trees along the Central Branch Railroad.  Last month Gene Harding and Dave Crawford cleared 26 trees east of the Vista RD crossing.  Gene and his wife Sandy cleared a bunch of trees west of Waterville and had to quit when the found one across the Coon Creek Bridge.

Some of the mess Gene and Sandy cleared.

 More of Gene and Sandy's work.

Tree down across Coon Creek.

On Tuesday, September 10, Larry Moon, George Lookhart, Kenny Winkenwader and Dave Crawford went out to the Coon Creek bridge to clear the tree off of the tracks.

After cutting three more trees they encountered a mess they were too exhausted to begin to tackle.

Fortunately, Ann Walter recruited some help to go back out on Thursday morning to clear the above mess.  Not knowing what they were up against, Lyle Walters, Dennis White and Pierce Holliman volunteered to go out and help.  Upon arrival on "the scene" one of the comments was "Where's the dozer?"

Oh, and did we mention there is more?

After two and a half hours of work we finally had the rails cleared from Waterville west to "Somewhere".  For those that are not familiar with "Somewhere", it is a little open area with a shelter donated by the Waterville Lions Club.  Groups can take a ride from Waterville out to "Somewhere" for a picnic, birthday party or no special reason.

And then it was time for lunch at the historic Weaver Hotel in Waterville, KS.  Todays specials were a hamburger casserole with salad and a dinner roll or a Chicken sandwich with a salad and chips.  Dessert was either Coconut Cream pie or Peanut Butter Chocolate Cream pie.

A big thank you to our helpers Dennis, Pierce, and Lyle!  As Ann would say "All Aboard!"

Our normal operating season is April 1 thru October 31.  To schedule a ride call Ann at either 785-363-2342 (Home) or 785-799-4294 (Cell)

For more details about our rides visit our website at centralbranchrailroad.com

New Safety Signs

Marshall County Railroad Historical Society has had some recent occurrences of children climbing on the caboose in Blue Rapids.  The basic reason for not wanting anyone to be climbing on the caboose is the risk of falling and getting injured or worse.  Falling from any height onto rails or ballast is never good.

OSHA requires fall protection for anyone in general industry at elevations of 4 feet, 5 feet in shipyards, 6 feet in the construction industry and 8 feet in longshore operations.  Cleary it is not a safe practice for children to be climbing on the caboose.

This prompted the MCRHS board to purchase and install a couple of safety signs indicating that climbing on the caboose is not permitted.

It is worth noting that Kansas Law (K.S.A. 21-5809) states that "Entering or remaining on railroad property, without the consent of the owner or the owner's agent, knowing that it is railroad property" is criminal trespassing.

We don't want to discourage the casual observer who wants to take a closer look at the caboose but we do want to insure that the safety of everyone is of greatest importance.

Below are pictures of the posted signs.  The first picture is on the East end of the caboose and visible from the platform.  The second sign is on the west end of the caboose and visible from the street.

The signs were donated by longtime MCRHS member Ken Oppenlander.