Did You Know...

. . . that a series of upstream dams on the Missouri River - built for $13 billion in current dollars - have prevented $25 billion in flood damages in the Omaha, Nebraska, region? In 1952, a series of levees and floodwalls protected Omaha and Council Bluffs, Iowa; however, the system was designed to work in conjunction with a series of upstream dams that were not yet built. As a result, the '52 inundation is the flood against which all others are measured, including big ones in 1997 and 1984.

Five years ago, snowmelt and spring rainfall in the upper Missouri basin exceeded the 1952 records. Flooding recorded at Omaha and Council Bluffs: none.

In June 1984, the Missouri between Sioux City, Iowa, and Omaha would have risen seven feet higher than it did if not for the system of dams.

Source: Omaha World-Herald, April 7, 2002.

(reprinted from the USSD Newsletter, March 2002, page 3)