Repairs to damaged gates could happen in early August!

Forsyth MO. - On or about June the 28th of this year, some form of flood debris damaged a part or parts of a pneumatic line that was used to inflate air bladders that would raise or lower the gates as needed. When this line was 'cut', a goodly section of the barrier lowered, allowing water to flow freely from Taneycomo. On July 15, I was able to get in touch with a spokesperson at Liberty Utilities who informed me that repairs would have to wait until the water level on the Bull Shoals side had dropped enough for it to be safe. I was told that level would be 685 feet above msl. (I had posted 675 feet and got a correction notice from Liberty Utilities - see update below)! A situation that could be hampered due to Bulls Shoals Dam in Arkansas having to restrict their release rates, somewhat, until things improved on the Mississippi (my assumption).

While it may be hard to see in the graphic above, those little black triangles represent sensors that show when the body of water they are located on is above flood stage. It would appear that the Missouri and Mississippi rivers were both a little high, (to say the least). What is not apparent, yet, would the be effect of all the rainfall dropped on the Mississippi by tropical storm Berry. Again the bottom line is, in my limited view, it could be quite a long period of time before these main waterways get back to something close to normal.

 Update From Liberty Utilities:

'Heavy rain and flooding conditions in the lower Mississippi river valley have impacted several of the lakes in our Southwest Missouri area. 

Flood debris recently caused damage to two sections of the spillway gates at our Ozark Beach dam on Lake Taneycomo. Because of the damage, these spillway gates can’t be raised due to broken or cracked air lines. A breach to the dam has not occurred, and there are no immediate safety concerns. Crews will repair the air line damage once the water level in Bull Shoals lake has dropped to 685 feet, allowing them to safely access the dam equipment. Until that time, residents may experience dropping lake levels at Lake Taneycomo. 

If you plan on boating at Lake Taneycomo now or in the near future, please check the lake levels before entering the water and practice caution while traveling on the lake. Repairs will be made to our Ozark Beach dam as soon as conditions allow.'

Extrapolating from that new guideline and assuming that we do not experience any more heavy rainfall in the near term, I cam up with the following graphic click on to expand):

If correct, the 685 foot level could be reached at or before August the 10th! That's a big 'if', however.