The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Thursday the hiring of four people to assess the Corps’ operation of the Missouri River main stem dams up to and during this year’s flood event.

Specifically, the team will review and assess a number of questions including whether water management decisions made during the Flood of 2011 were appropriate and in alignment with the Missouri River Master Manual, the water control plan that guides the operation of the Missouri River.

The team will also look at whether the Corps could have prevented or reduced the impact of flooding by taking other management actions leading up to the flood, whether long-term regulation forecasts properly accounted for the runoff into the, whether climate change played a role, and the role flood plain development played in the operation of the reservoir system prior to and during this year’s flood event.

The team will begin its independent review Oct. 4. The review is expected to be complete by Dec. 2.

The review panel members are:
Bill Lawrence, Hydrologist In Charge (HIC), National Weather Service
Darwin Ockerman, Hydrologist, U.S. Geological Survey
Cara McCarthy, Senior Forecast Hydrologist, Natural Resources Conservation Service
Neil Grigg, PhD, Professor, Colorado State University

“We have several post-flood assessment efforts underway to help us determine whether changes are warranted in any aspect of our water management and flood response operations,” said Witt Anderson, Director of Programs for the Northwestern Division.

“This team will help shed light on whether there is anything we could have done differently to prevent this year’s flood and provide us with recommendations for improving future operations.”