But when Ameren manages the lake without any apparent consideration for ecology or property? It pisses me off.
Is that a harsh criticism? Does a lake level one foot above full pool really cause issues? In a word, no. A lake level of 661 is not a "flooding" event at the Lake. What is an event is rapid change. Take a look at the level and flow chart for April. See anything striking? It's not the 661 lake level itself, but how fast it got there that is the problem.
The forecast for potential flooding rains was anticipated early in the last week of April and Ameren, as to be expected, began ramping up turbine flow on Wednesday April 26th, with full flow by Friday the 28th. But as the rains fell Ameren surely watched as lake levels began to rise at an alarming rate. This rate of change continued for nearly a day with full turbine flow (35Kcfs) having little impact on lake levels. At it's most dramatic, the lake rose one foot in just four hours on Saturday.
Note: My statement above, that flood gates were not opened until the lake reached 660.51 feet, is (indirectly) disputed by Warren Witt, the Director of Hydro Operations at Bagnell Dam who was quoted as saying they were opened when the lake reached 659.5 feet in a later interview with Lake Expo. But I'm going off Ameren's own data so you be the judge (zoom in on the above chart). From the above chart the flow rate was still about 35,000cfs when the lake was at 659.5. But Witt should know of course when the gates were opened, and it is certainly reasonable that there is a delay from the time flood gates open until the change in flow rates registers with Ameren's own sensors. Flow rates measured independently by USGS seem to back up his statement that the gates were opened at 6am, so I'll have to give the benefit of the doubt here.
I'd have to check my own records, but I'm pretty sure the floods of 2015, both of them, didn't rise so quickly. This rate of change is highly disruptive to the ecosystem and damaging to the very shoreline that Ameren makes us lake home owners all bend over backwards to protect.
I would not argue that there was anything that could have been done to prevent reaching the 661ft level given the pressures from Truman Lake and the Osage River, but I believe an earlier opening of the flood gates would have made the rate of change a little more bearable. Management Grade? D