Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 11, 1990 TAG: 9005110287
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: EUFAULA, OKLA. LENGTH: Medium
But U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials, criticized about the timing of the release of water from reservoirs, are standing their ground. Were it not for reservoirs like Eufaula on the Arkansas River and Lake Texoma on the Red River, the flooding downstream could have been much worse, they say.
Decisions made by the corps on how fast to release water from the reservoirs it manages can have a crucial effect on who is flooded, and how severely. A too-early release of water through the dam's floodgates after a heavy rain increases flooding downstream, while slower release can mean more flooding upstream if the reservoir fills up.
Questions about the management of the reservoirs was raised anew Wednesday when Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton met with a group of angry farmers and agreed with a suggestion that a study of corps efforts to control Red River floodwaters might be in order.
But in the main, said corps spokesman Ross Adkins, the reservoirs have done their job this past week.
"Our projects operated as they were designed to. We managed them just exactly as they were designed to operate," said Adkins.
The flooding on the Trinity, Red and Arkansas rivers was touched off by severe storms last week. Some areas of eastern Oklahoma, already saturated from a wet spring, had as much as 12 inches of rain.
Thirteen deaths were blamed on the storm, most of them in Texas.
Marilyn Quayle, wife of Vice President Dan Quayle, toured hard-hit south Dallas on Thursday.
by CNB