Water level with the pump vs. without.

[YazooValley]

From the Delta Council's website:


Of special note to those in the Backwater Area, a member of the media asked the Corps of Engineers at a recent Delta Council meeting on Friday.



Question: “How much storage would be available today and what elevation would the Yazoo Backwater Area be today if the Yazoo Backwater Pumps were in place?”



Corps of Engineers Response: “Instead of 92’ elevation today, the Yazoo Backwater Area would be 5 feet lower, with the pump running at 87’ elevation. We also expect that flood stages would be maintained below 91’ instead of going to 95’.”[/code]

[Wildfowler]

Does this mean that the pumps would have been capable of pumping out water faster than it will over top the backwater levee? I'm confused, I didn't think the pump would have any impact on this event?


Thanks.

[Sprangletop1]

^ if over topped levee, No.

[DanP]

Correct

^ if over topped levee, No.

[dukluk]

With the anti-pumpers, whining about the pumps being installed and hindering the wetlands, wildlife, etc., what the H3LL kind of damage do those folks think this water is doing to the wetlands and wildlife???....gonna be years before the wetlands and wildlife recover from this flood, not to mention landowners!!!

[dukhntn]

Does this mean that the pumps would have been capable of pumping out water faster than it will over top the backwater levee? I'm confused, I didn't think the pump would have any impact on this event?


Thanks.

Not pump out faster, but could lower the water level faster once the river started to receed. For arguments sake say the levee would only be overtopped for 5 days, but the river level would stay up high enough that Steele Bayou gates couldn't be opened for 30 days. Not only would the level be lower prior to the levee being overtopped (because the pumps are running), but you'd have those 25 days that the pumps could be lowering the level. This would help explain their "theoretical" level. (but I reserve to right to be wrong...)

[Blazer406]

Does this mean that the pumps would have been capable of pumping out water faster than it will over top the backwater levee? I'm confused, I didn't think the pump would have any impact on this event?


Thanks.

Not pump out faster, but could lower the water level faster once the river started to receed. For arguments sake say the levee would only be overtopped for 5 days, but the river level would stay up high enough that Steele Bayou gates couldn't be opened for 30 days. Not only would the level be lower prior to the levee being overtopped (because the pumps are running), but you'd have those 25 days that the pumps could be lowering the level. This would help explain their "theoretical" level. (but I reserve to right to be wrong...)

Thank you!

Also.... at the point of the topping of the backwater levee.....you would start off with the back water "pool" if you will near empty...... because.... up to this point you had been pumping it back across the levee at Steele Bayou... therefore (in this particular case).... you might have risen up to around 90' when the MS river had crested and gone back below the backwater levee..... then you could pump it out again....... potentially drying the Delta out way sooner..... and potentially save hundreds of thousands of acres of farm fields from flooding in the first place.

For the future:
I would think that based on this flood alone.... the pumps would finally get approval and they would also secure funding to raise the backwater levee in this area where it was going to be overtopped.

[Wingman]

With the anti-pumpers, whining about the pumps being installed and hindering the wetlands, wildlife, etc., what the H3LL kind of damage do those folks think this water is doing to the wetlands and wildlife???....gonna be years before the wetlands and wildlife recover from this flood, not to mention landowners!!!

Wetlands get wet. That's why they're called wet lands. The wildlife will bounce back sooner than you think. People will be the hardest hit.

[greenheadgrimreaper]

What did the wildlife do without us for aaaalll those thousands of years? They'll take years to recover...

[southdeltan]

The Corps says this flood will over top for approximately 10 days (it will reach 56.5 on the Vicksburg gauge on May 15th. It won't crest 4 days, and it'll sit near crest for a few days, then slowly recede back to below 56.3 - the chart they put out shows this).

If it was designed to over top, where is the concrete and rip rap? Why are they just now doing something to keep the levee from washing away? Why pump more water over there to wash back adding more potential for erosion (and also add pressure to the other side)?

What if it had gone to 109 as originally predicted (or higher from more precipitation)? Nimrod said it would fail at that level before he said he was mistaken about the backwater crest.

If that levee fails, those pumps don't mean a damn thing. End of discussion.

For the future:
I would think that based on this flood alone.... the pumps would finally get approval and they would also secure funding to raise the backwater levee in this area where it was going to be overtopped.

That's very interesting. I wonder if the levee is too low for some reason other than to relieve pressure? If it has to be low for pressure reasons - how could it be built higher and stronger? If it could, why not do that in the first place? If it's strong enough to withstand this, why build it higher? If not, why build the pumps til the levee will hold? It is interesting that the top of the Steel Bayou Structure is 112 above Sea Level. This coincides with the zero gauge + 62 feet (from the 1927 flood if it had held) plus headwater pressure from the Yazoo.

Incidentally, people from Anguilla and south are packing up and quite a few have already moved. Every day more and more pack and or leave. I think that's a statement on how much faith they have in the levee.


As for wildlife and waterfowl - they face more dangers from the actions of man than they ever have from mother nature.

[eldorado]

From what my dad has told me.....after '73 it took a year or two for the deer to be back like they were....and the water was up for about eight or nine months.

[Wingman]

But back in 73, from what I was told, if you saw a deer track in most of the delta, it was big news. We've got more deer now than then. It will change things, that's for sure, but i think the wildlife will be back to normal rather quick. I could be wrong. Turkeys will be the hardest hit in my opinion. Crawfish numbers will explode. Fish will use the flooded lands to their advantage. Gators will be everywhere. All of the bone dry brakes from last year that haven't yet had enough rain will be restocked with nutrients, animal life and fresh water. Hopefully it'll drown a few ants and the rest of them will float down river. Maybe it'll drown a few coons and coyotes also.

[eldorado]

Maybe it'll drown a few coons and coyotes also.

...and hopefully a bunch of hogs.

[Wingman]

If it was designed to over top, where is the concrete and rip rap? Why are they just now doing something to keep the levee from washing away?

My personal, delta-resident thoughts exactly.

[Wildfowler]

For arguments sake say the levee would only be overtopped for 5 days, but the river level would stay up high enough that Steele Bayou gates couldn't be opened for 30 days. Not only would the level be lower prior to the levee being overtopped (because the pumps are running), but you'd have those 25 days that the pumps could be lowering the level. This would help explain their "theoretical" level. (but I reserve to right to be wrong...)

Didn't think about the gates not being able to be open for some time longer. Thanks.