Agriculture director tours Schell City area

Herald-Tribune

Schell City, Mo. -- Farmers in Schell City are concerned that waters in Truman Lake may not have been released soon enough to help alleviate the flooding the area received during July. Monday several farmers met with the Missouri Department of Agriculture Director Katie Smith, who has been touring the state, and state representative Barney Fisher near Schell City to discuss their concerns.

Fisher said the group at Schell City brought their concerns about Truman Lake forward.

"We went there, the director and some federal people and I, and met seven or eight farmers," Fisher said. "They've suffered a tremendous loss out there. The loss from just these seven or eight farmers is probably more than a million dollars. They brought up some concerns they had with Truman Lake about whether they were releasing enough water soon enough."

Misti Preston, media contact for the Missouri Department of Agriculture, said the group did bring their concerns to the director.

"We did meet with several producers in Schell City who were concerned about Truman Lake," Preston said. "That's a Corps of Engineers project. The director could start some dialog with the corps and see what we could accomplish together. That's really all a state agency can do."

Fisher said floods seem much more common now that Truman Lake has been completed.

"They said back in '86 that was a hundred year flood," Fisher said. "Since that time we've had a hundred year flood every seven years. The difference to these people is Truman Lake. I don't know if there is a cause and effect between this but they have a lot of documentation to say it's so."

Army Corps of Engineer public information officer Bob Marchi said there was some confusion about the causes of floods.

"It's a pretty common misconception in that area about the cause of flooding," Marchi said. "When there is a lot of rain on the watershed water can't get down the river fast enough. That's headwater from the watershed causing the flood, not backwater from the lake."

Fisher said the group of farmers said they had been told that water from the lake would never go above 742 feet and it was higher this year.

"They say the documents they have say that they were promised the water would never get above 742 feet and this time it was at 756 feet," Fisher said.

Marchi said during that time the lake level was lower than the level at Schell City.

"When the level at Schell was 756 feet it was 720 at the lake," Marchi said. "The reason is that water was coming down the river and it all couldn't come down at the same time so there was flooding. If the lake were causing the flooding the number would have been higher at the lake."

Fisher said it was only providence that kept the July flood from being worse in Schell City.

"The only thing that saved Schell City was a railroad levy broke and allowed the water release," Fisher said. "If it hadn't the water would have been higher."

Smith's two-day tour included Saline, Lafayette, Johnson, Bates, Vernon, Barry, Crawford and Gasconade counties. Smith said in addition to viewing the flood damage the tour allowed her to see for herself the challenges farmers and producers face.

"Agriculture is the engine that drives Missouri's economy," Smith said. "Throughout the tour, we have met with innovative producers facing an array of challenges. It has been a good opportunity to hear some concerns first hand as well as see what kinds of opportunities our state's farmers are taking advantage of. We have visited everything from a grass fed dairy operation to a meat processing plant and a wood product manufacturer."