In the nearly two-centuries-long interaction between the Missouri and the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the river has repeatedly defied the Army’s attempts at control. Today, the Army faces its greatest challenge to its regulation of the Mighty Mo.
As of June 8, 2011, Fort Peck reservoir is at 106% of capacity. The lake is so full that water is now flowing through the dam’s emergency spillway. Because the Army does not have the ability to halt the flows through the spillway without threatening the structural integrity of the dam, the dam and reservoir have lost the ability to curtail the Missouri. For all intents and purposes, the Missouri has defeated Fort Peck Dam. Water is just passing through the reservoir and moving on downstream. Continue Reading »
The Army closed Gavin’s Point Dam near Yankton, South Dakota in 1955. The reservoir behind the dam stretched upstream to the town of Niobrara, Nebraska, situated at the mouth of the Niobrara River. By the early 1970s, silt from the Niobrara River had created a shallow delta at the head of Lewis and Clark Lake. This accumulated silt did two things. First, it raised the water table at Niobrara. As a result, buildings in town suffered structural damage from water seepage. Second, it caused an increase in flooding in Niobrara when high flows came down either the Missouri or Niobrara rivers, struck the shallow delta, and then backed-up into residential and commercial areas. Because of the higher water table and the increasing likelihood of floods, the residents of Niobrara moved their town to higher ground in 1972. 
