Ottawa Herald, The (KS)
Published: July 8, 2011
For nearly 50 years, the city of Ottawa and its residents have remained dry and unscathed from the frequent, threatening high river levels of the Marais des Cygnes River.
The flood control system that now surrounds the city is one of the lasting legacies of a devastating flood that hit the area 60 years ago this weekend. Since the system’s completion in November 1962, whenever Mother Nature has dumped massive amounts of rainfall into the river, flood control measures have stayed strong and protected the city against flooding.
The system proved its worth recently during 2007 when the river crested at 41 feet, as well as a few times of high water during the 1990s, But damaging rainfall, failing levees and flooding throughout much of the Midwest has begged the question, how much longer will the current system hold up?
“Hopefully the rest of my life,” Andy Haney, Ottawa Public Works director, said.
Closing the gates
Authorized in 1954, following the lobbying efforts of area residents and business leaders, the flood control project resulted in a multi-part system that provides fortress-like protection for the city. The system is made up of five flood control gates, 1,500 feet of concrete flood walls, three pumping systems, 4.5 miles of earthen levees, and two miles of channel improvement along the Marais des Cygnes River.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built the system at a price tag of more than $5 million, of which the city contributed about $876,000.
When needed, city officials use chains to roll 72-foot-long steel flood gates along tracks across Main Street at the Main Street bridge. The steel gates are locked down to the road with cables when closed and tied to a large hook in the pavement. Rubber seals then hold the gates firmly against concrete walls using hydraulic pressure. The gates were closed most recently in 2007 and, before that, in 1998.
Haney said he’d have to guess at how many times total the gates have been closed, but it hasn’t been more than 10 he said.
“It takes a whole lot to get the water up to the point that we have to close these gates,” Haney said.
He said they typically close the gates when the water level in the river gets just below the low-end of the bridge, which is at about 32 feet.
“If its 31 feet, we’re getting ready to close it in case it comes on up,” Haney said.
According to the National Weather Service, the flood stage for the Marais des Cygnes River is 19 feet and the moderate flood stage is 21 feet. In the past, the river has flooded once about every 13 months.
Huge for Ottawans
Deb Barker, director of the Franklin County Historical Society, said during the early part of the 1900s residents spent a significant amount of time cleaning up flood damage.
Many industries moved away from the area during the 1920s and 1930s, she said, because of the constant fear of flooding.
The 1951 flood was the 45th flood to hit the area since 1904.
The water level was more than 42 feet, putting the water about 20 feet above the flood stage.
About 2,000 residents and 2,695 workers were affected by the flooding. The water touched 15 commercial blocks, 247 buildings, 72 residential blocks and 577 residences. The damage was about $5.5 million.
“Flood control became huge for Ottawans,” Barker said. “And it’s easy to figure why.”
A committee for the flood protection of Ottawa formed in 1954. A plaque, located on concrete walls on the south side of Main Street, commemorates three citizens — Lamar Philips, Russel Crites and George Lister — who played key roles in lobbying for the city’s protection.
The city’s flood control system has allowed Ottawa to grow to its current state.
When levees fail Tom Yahl, Ottawa’s flood plain administrator, said there is no way the downtown area could be sustained if it weren’t for the levee system.
Yahl said the levees, which are earthen structures above the ground that contain the river within a defined channel, will not last forever.
“It’s a man-made structure and the levee will fail,” Yahl said. ”You can’t say for certain it won’t. The likelihood of that happening is very small, but it is an understanding by everyone that levees can and do fail all the time.”
And they have.
Failing levees have not been an uncommon occurrence across the country, especially in areas with heavy rainfall and melting snow.
The 4.5 miles of levees that surround the Marais des Cygnes River currently are undergoing a required certification process mandated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, that could prevent that from happening. The process has been required since the 1980s, Haney said, but no one really has pushed for it until around the time of Hurricane Katrina. In 2005, Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans after levees and flood walls failed to prevent water from entering the city.
Haney said when levees fail, it’s possible they’re not properly maintained or constructed.
“More often than not, the water is staying up against them longer than they were designed for,” Haney said. “The levee gets saturated and starts getting weak. A major issue around the country is many of these are not properly designed and constructed. They’re never built properly in the first place and with a whole bunch of design issues.”
The levees that surround the Marais des Cygnes River are designed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as are most around the country.
Not everyone protected
Yahl said the levees are in good shape because of the manner in which they were constructed and the maintenance efforts related to up-keep, including keeping trees and burrowing animals out.
He said the 2007 flood, which has been compared to the flood of 1951, was a “good test” for the system and, had it not been in place, the city would have suffered dramatically.
Yahl said that if the system did not exist and a major flood hit, the impacted areas would include the entire Ottawa central business district, city plants and public work facilities — about 250 non-residential properties. About 1,200 residents would be in the affected area, in just fewer than 500 residential properties. Yahl said the value of properties in that area is $75.8 million.
Most of the city and its residents are protected by the current system, but some portions of Ottawa are outside of levee and flood protection.
In some extreme situations like in 2007, Haney said, the river will back up to about street level in unprotected areas.
“Certainly there are places that get flooded here,” Haney said. “Our flood protection protects city properties.”
Since 2007 though, the river has posed no immediate threat to Ottawans. The current water level is at about 3.5 feet.
Jennifer Bowen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Topeka, said the low amount of precipitation recently in the area is slightly below normal, making the area unusually dry and warding off any threat of flooding.
If surging waters do flow down the Marais des Cygnes, the city will be ready and protected, at least for awhile.
“There certainly is no anticipation that the system won’t work forever, if properly maintained,” Haney said.
Angelique McNaughton 