Winter 2011-2012 RECLAMATIONManaging Water in the West Plains Talk NEWS FROM THE GREAT PLAINS REGION RECLAMATION ISSUES CLIMATE REPORT: “WE LIVE OR DIE BY OUR ABILITY TO LOOK INTO THE FUTURE” AT WORK, AT HOME: NO ESCAPE FROM FLOODING FOR MANY EMPLOYEES WATER YEAR 2011: GP HOLDS THE LINE Background photo: Pathfinder Dam, managed by Reclamation’s Wyoming Area Office. Plains Talk Issue 02-2011: PUBLISHER Tyler Johnson contents EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Buck Feist 2 What Do You Do? A day in the life of Randall Ehlis, Dam Tender at the Dakotas Area Office. ASSISTANT EDITOR Sterling Rech 3 OTAO Student Serves State GRAPHICS Nick Garmon, OTAO SCEP Engineer, serves in Det. 1, C Co. 2-149 General Support Aviation Jerry Leggate Battalion. Nick is a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter pilot for a MEDEVAC unit operating from Tobias Taylor Muldrow Army Heliport in Lexington, Okla. NEWSPAPER TEAM 4 GP Holds the Line Paula Holwegner, Montana Patience Hurley, Dakotas Water Year 2011 was a historic and challenging year for Reclamation’s Great Plains Region. Jay Dallman, Wyoming Kara Lamb, Colorado Kimberley Parish, Oklahoma & Texas 8 Getting Their Hands Dirty Terri Salter, Nebraska & Kansas “I definitely got my hands dirty,” said Miguel Hernandez, Civil Engineering student at Metropolitan State College in Denver. Plains Talk is an employee 10 Epic Snow publication devoted to the in- terests of Reclamation’s Great Eastern Colorado Area Office highlights partnerships during historic runoff year. Plains Region. Plains Talk is published from 14 Wyoming Tours Highlight Mission the Great Plains Office of Pub- lic Affairs. To be added to the On June 14, a group of 39 members of the Nebraska Association of Resource Districts visited Plains Talk mailing list, submit WYAO and toured Reclamation facilities both upstream and downstream of Casper, Wyo. your name and mailing ad- dress: 16 Dakotas Employees Mobilize for Floods Bureau of Reclamation U.S. Department of the Interior On May 24, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a news release warning of deteriorating 316 North 26th Street Missouri River reservoir conditions due to heavy rains in eastern Montana and western North Billings, MT 59101 Dakota. Phone: 406-247-7610 Email: [email protected] 18 Stories from the Frontlines Submission Guidelines: “My husband and I spent six days sandbagging the endangered homes of two friends. Although Articles and other materials for it was a very stressful time for our friends, we all had a great time filling sandbags and building publication should be sent to ring dikes with 7,500 sandbags around each house.” the Great Plains Public Affairs Office, Attn: Plains Talk Editor, GP-1240, or email to bfeist@ usbr.gov. Plains Talk encourages em- ployee submissions, and as- sists with developing ideas. Questions about stories or photographic essays should be directed to the Plains Talk edi- tor, at 406-247-7610. contents 20 NKAO Student Broadens Musical Horizons In Ireland, LoCasto studied traditional Irish music and learned to play the tin whistle and bodhran. She played the tin whistle on the Cliffs of Moher on the west coast of Ireland. 22 Drilling Because of Water Page 4 Given past stories in Plains Talk you might think this drill rig would be seeking a water supply for a drought stricken community or a rural water system. 24 Rocky Hard Places: Operating the Fry-Ark It is a long hike to the Granite Diversion site: 2,000 feet in elevation in just less than a mile. 28 Wyoming Manages Unprecedented Snowpack Unprecedented snowpack in mountains feeding the Upper North Platte River Basin and above Page 16 average storage carryover from 2010 combined to produce serious challenges for Reclamation personnel managing the 2011 spring runoff season. 32 Through Our Eyes Great Plains Region’s 2011 photo contest winners. 36 Outreach and Planning Prove Key for Montana “The 2011 spring runoff was either record or near record across Montana,” said Dan Jewell, Montana Area Manager. Page 22 40 OTAO Takes Lead in Emergency Planning The Oklahoma-Texas Area Office (OTAO) is looking forward to exciting changes in its Emergency Management Program as it welcomes one of its newer staff members to partner with its veteran staff in this important Reclamation program. 44 Norman Project: In the Wake of Destruction The tornado that hit the Norman Project started in the City of Norman as an EF-1 and gradually Page 40 intensified as it tracked towards Lake Thunderbird. The Only Constant is ChangeBy Buck Feist, Deputy Public Affairs Officer “We live or die by our ability to look into the • decreases for April 1 snowpack, the bench- future,” said Mike Ryan, Great Plains Regional mark used to project river basin runoff; and Director. • an eight to 20 percent decrease in annual streamflow in several river basins including “It has always been that way in Reclamation. the Colorado. Decisions we make “Water is the lifeblood today are based on “Impacts to water are on the leading of our communities, our best estimate of edge of global climate change, and rural and urban future conditions,” these changes pose a significant economies, and our Ryan said. environment,” said challenge and risk to adequate water Secretary Salazar in “But the 21st century supplies, which are critical for the an April 2011 news has its own set of health, economy, and ecology of the release. “And small challenges,” said changes in water Ryan, “and under- United States.” supplies or the timing standing this trend of of precipitation can variable weather pat- - Commissioner Mike Connor have a big impact on terns - climate change all of us. - is a critical challenge for our operations.” “This report provides the foundation for understanding the long-term impacts of This spring, Secretary of the Interior Ken climate change on western water supplies and Salazar released a Bureau of Reclamation will help us identify and implement appropri- report providing the first coordinated assess- ate mitigation and adaptation strategies for ment of risks to future water supplies across sustainable water resource management,” Reclamation basins. Salazar said. Findings in the report include: Ryan said the ability to forecast climate and weather trends is especially vital to a natural • temperature increases of 5-7 F over time; resource agency like Reclamation. • precipitation increases over portions of the western U.S. and a decrease over the south- “The men and women of the Great Plains western and south-central areas; Region maintain operations for an interwoven, Background photo courtesy of NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory: Solar flare, Feb. 15, 2011. multi-state system of powerplants, dams and models and various projections of future irrigation systems that are vital to our civili- greenhouse gas emissions, technological zation,” he said. advancements, and global population esti- mates. Reclamation will develop future reports “As stewards of these resources we are duty- to address how changes in supply and demand bound to study all of the variables which may will impact water management. impact our future operations,” Ryan said. Consume enough mass media and a person Reclamation’s report shows increased risks might become convinced the universe is to Western water resources during the 21st out to get us. Whether it’s solar flares, the century. The report notes that projected Yellowstone Caldera, or not enough fiber in changes in temperature and precipitation are your diet – the world seems to have an infi- likely to impact the timing and quantity of nite number of challenges facing us both as streamflows in all Western basins, potentially a nation and as individuals. impacting water available to farms and cities, hydro- With such a multitude power generation, fish and problems, how does wildlife and other uses the Great Plains Region such as recreation. prepare itself to meet these challenges? “Impacts to water are on the leading edge of global “It’s not that we have to be climate change, and these 100-percent accurate to be changes pose a signifi- effective,” Ryan said. “But cant challenge and risk The Bureau of Reclamation released a report the mix of historical trends to adequate water sup- on climate change in April 2011. The complete and climatological data plies, which are critical for report is available on-line at www.usbr.gov/gp. provide a critical baseline the health, economy, and to assist us in planning our ecology of the United States,” said Reclamation future operations.” Commissioner Mike Connor. “For more than a century, one of the most Throughout the 20th century, Reclamation has crucial weapons in Reclamation’s arsenal has demonstrated an incredible ability to adapt to been our ability to use science and technology unprecedented natural events, never faltering to forecast conditions,” Ryan said. in the agency’s mission of providing the crit- ical water and power resources that helped “Like those who came before us, we will face drive our nation’s economy to be the stron- the challenges of this new century head-on,” gest in the world. Ryan said, “and we will continue the tradition of providing the vital tools our nation needs to To develop the report, Reclamation used thrive, regardless of the challenges we face. original research and existing peer-reviewed We are an agency of problem-solvers ... give studies. Projections of future temperature and us a challenge and Reclamation will get the precipitation are based on multiple climate job done.” Background photo courtesy of NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory: Solar flare, Feb. 15, 2011. What Do You Do? By Randall Ehlis, Natural Resource Specialist, DKAO (Above) Randy Ehlis uses a piezometer to measure groundwater pressure on Jamestown Dam. As a Dam Tender at the Technical Services Center. Dakotas Area Office, I Gathering this information took the better part of spent much of this year’s the morning, three to five hours, depending on how very long flood season things go.