Posted on August 15, 2022
Plans to update the Water Control Manual for Pomme de Terre Reservoir are underway. The Kansas City District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will host an Open House to share information regarding the manual update process and receive public input about issues and concerns related to the management of reservoir levels and dam flows. Please join us on
- Monday, August, 29, 2022
- 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
- Hickory County Health Department
- 24885 MO-254
- Hermitage, MO 65668
The Water Control Manual guides day-to-day water management decisions about when and how water will be either stored or released to meet the reservoir’s congressionally authorized purposes. Referenced every day, it is especially important during high water events and drought.
Now is the right time to update the manual to meet changing conditions throughout the Osage Basin. There have been changes in land use and population upstream and downstream of the reservoir, changes in the Pomme de Terre River below the dam, and advancements in USACE national guidance since the first manual was adopted in 1971. There is also a need to ensure that dam releases address both high and low flow conditions. As a commitment to strengthen our relationships with the communities we serve, USACE wants your input to ensure all issues are considered during this update at Pomme de Terre reservoir.
The public comment period opens Aug. 15 and closes Sept. 30. Comments will be accepted online or can be mailed to: Seth Lerman, Project Manager, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ATTN: 5th Floor, Planning Formulation Section, 601 East 12th Street, Kansas City, MO 64106.
To learn more about the Water Control Plan and comment opportunities, visit the webpage at http://go.usa.gov/xS6qH or https://www.nwk.usace.army.mil/Locations/District-Lakes/Pomme-de-Terre-Lake/WCM/.
Pomme de Terre Lake is located in the rugged, tree covered hills of the west central Missouri Ozarks on the Pomme de Terre River. The Pomme de Terre Project was authorized by Congress in 1938 as part of a comprehensive flood control plan for the Missouri River Basin. Project Planning was initiated in 1947 and actual construction began in 1957. The lake was completed in 1961 at a cost of $14,946,784.
At multipurpose pool Pomme de Terre Lake covers 7,820 acres and can expand to as much as 16,100 acres during periods of heavy rain as excess runoff is impounded to prevent downstream flooding. Pomme de Terre Lake works in conjunction with several other Corps of Engineers operated lakes to provide flood protection for the Osage River Basin and the lower Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. Other benefits of the lake include recreation, fish and wildlife management and water quality improvement.
The Pomme de Terre Dam is an earth and rockfill embankment, is 7,240 feet long and stands 155 feet above the streambed. The dam’s impervious core was made of heavily compacted clay and is virtually watertight. The outlet works, consisting of the control tower, tunnel and stilling basin. The control tower is equipped with two hydraulically operated gates which controlled release of water through the dam and reduces the force of the water flowing downstream.
