Horseshoe Bend Bear Final Update

 She was caught yesterday and MDC will be taking her up north we hear.

Horseshoe Bend Bear Update

More for posterity than anything, here's how things are going with "the bear". 

She (high confidence it's a female) has taken up residence on our property because she's found both food (trash) and shelter (15+acres of woods in the area). Trying to secure our trash cans only resulted in mutilated trash cans. We engaged the Missouri Department of Conversation (MDC) to help us, and after a bit of prodding finally got an agent to come out and evaluate our situation. He agreed that given the availability of food and territory, she was unlikely to just leave voluntarily. This animal was here to stay. 

The idea suggested by MDC was to condition her that trash cans were bad in two ways. One was a "trash trap" of sorts, a wired up trash bin the agent setup designed to give her an electric shock when she got into it, and the other was to shoot her with rubber bullets when caught in the act of getting into a trash bin. These "bullets" are low power and simply give her a nasty sting when  struck on the flank or rump, but a pained animal can do funny things so we weren't exactly thrilled with the idea of confronting her. But three of us whipped out our man cards and, armed with rubber bullet loaded shotguns plus a couple of large caliber handguns for safety, waited for her to approach the trash cans to try and condition her directly as suggested by MDC. I personally had little faith this would ultimately chase her off the Bend.  I mean, where was she supposed to go? After that epic swim across the main channel I'm sure she thought she'd found a home.  But MDC wanted to give conditioning a try and we were obliging. I'll reiterate that it was never our intention to kill or even injure her, but it's not often you get to "hunt" bear at the Lake of the Ozarks.

The long and somewhat funny story short version is that we were successful in hitting her in the rump as she was in the act of ransacking a trash bin. Unsurprisingly she fled up the nearest tree but within a few minutes, she climbed back down and cautiously headed back toward the trash bin. Great! A condition reinforcing opportunity! But by then a crowd of people gathered from neighboring rentals after being told to stay away had the exact opposite affect of bringing everyone out with cell phones in hand. It became unsafe to discharge weapons near the trash cans. Such a display of little regard for anyone's safety including their own by people sometimes has to be experienced to be believed. Guns in hand, large predator nearby...sounds like the perfect opportunity for creating a youtube video to me! But the enthusiastic Tik-Tok-ers managed only to spook her back up a tree where we were clear to give her another couple of shots in the rump to reinforce the point that this was not a safe area to be in. Knowing she would not come back down for quite awhile, plus it was getting dark, we packed it up and hoped she would have moved on by morning.  Sorry for no pictures of the "hunt", but I was more interested in being in the moment and making sure everyone was safe during the encounter then snapping pics. I'm sure those enthralled Tik-Tok-ers have posted plenty enough video as it is.

The problem with the "conditioning" idea in general, and we expressed this to MDC, is that in the best case scenario, we were just making the bear someone else's problem. In my opinion, this was not a solution. There is nothing to sustain her other than trash, and humans are everywhere. The other concern is that there are other less tolerant property owners out there and a dangerous interaction is inevitable. Never mind that if she is a female, she'll draw a male to her in the breeding season from as far as 50 miles away and NOW you got a real problem. We understand MDC has limited resources, and that trying to motivate her off the peninsula was a reasonable first step as they simply cannot come trap and remove a bear every time one shows up in someone's backyard. But this animal cannot stay on Horseshoe Bend. The likelihood of a lethal encounter with a car or poacher is very high. That tree in the picture above is right next to the road. Plus she is now destroying property, making a mess, and scaring paying rental customers. And I don't care what anyone says about a black bear, while not usually a threat, they are not harmless. They are a large wild predator and lucky for her the largest state park in Missouri is just down the road. She should be moved there where her presence is expected and tolerated.

Update! As of this morning, our efforts to motivate her away did not work and she's sitting in a tree nearby right now. Thankfully MDC agrees that she should be removed and is coming to trap her. Hopefully they will find her a home where she can have a proper and natural bear life. Thanks MDC!

Friggin' Bears

This image is from a video captured by one of our guests on 5/25/2026 in the evening at the end of Horseshoe Bend (thankfully, our guests took this from their vehicle). Bears are nothing to mess with, and this one looks like a female that may still be nursing given the enlarged teat on her abdomen in this pic. The cubs won't be far away and that's the danger. With cubs, Momma will treat anything as a perceived threat and will deal with it quickly. She won't hesitate to take on any male bear of greater size and strength, so humans don't really intimidate her much. If you see one, stay away. If you can't escape, make yourself as large and noisy as you can and stand your ground. If you see a cub, get a swivel on your neck and calmly get out of the area or in shelter. Never ever approach a cub. Yes, I know they're adorable, but just don't.

Here, I gave her a glamour makeover since she's famous now.

Dam to Dam May 2024 (Unofficial)

I've been boating on The Lake of the Ozarks since I was a toddler with my parents, but I have never made the long trip up the Osage arm to Truman Dam and back. An official Dam to Dam run is the full round trip from Bagnell Dam to Truman Dam and back in a single day. This is roughly 188 miles. Our trip on this day was only from Truman to Bagnell, but it was still epic.

My son purchased a new-to-me pontoon boat from Angler's Port Marine in Warsaw, and we launched from Drake Harbor in Warsaw at the 91-92 mile marker. First, a quick plug for Angler's Port. Everyone was great to work with and did everything they could to help make our trip home a successful one. We used Navionics for navigation at their suggestion and it worked great. Second, Warsaw's launch facilities at Drake Harbor are excellent and the town itself looks great. I haven't been in this area in I don't know how long, but very happy to see it thriving.

So we launched, fired up the navigation app and got underway. Saturday May 11th was a beautiful day to be on the water! However, Truman was dumping heavily (about 50,000 cfs) with The Lake levels at 658.11 and outflow matching Truman. With all this flow, there was a good amount of debris in the water, whole trees in fact. Surprisingly, while Lake depth was good, we still had to follow the main channel, which unlike established navigable rivers, does not have channel markers. This is where your navigation app with depth information is important. At this stage of The Lake, the Osage Arm is basically a river, with characteristics resembling it's pre-Bagnell Dam days. In low water situations, there are some areas that may be impassable. This is fishing country, and with a 28ft pontoon, you need something like Navionics with accurate depth and channel information to keep from grounding. I know folks run up in go-fast boats, but now that I've been on that section, I can say that the video of the 40ft Outer Limits making that run at 100mph, would be nail biting to watch now (video no longer available?).

89-ish mile marker?

Gas is not particularly hard to find, your first opportunity from Truman is the Oar House at the 82mm. Buck Naked at the 77mm. Hiawatha Beach Resort at the 67mm and Holiday Hills Marina at the 68mm. Of these four I can only confirm the Oar House was serving up gas. We stopped at Rebel Harbor Marina at the 60mm. A s-l-o-w idle into the area as the water depth in the cove was often only two feet deep. We were told by locals that a week ago, it would have been impossible to get the big pontoon in there. Thanks to the helpful staff, we gassed up and were on our way again.

Rebel Harbor looking across the channel

Beyond the 60mm, things start looking more and more like The Lake of the Ozarks, and the need to run the channel becomes not as critical as depth more reliably runs 20-45ft deep. Further downriver, around the 47mm you begin to see some of the more popular tourist spots, like Big Dick's Halfway Inn, Captain Ron's at the Hurricane Deck bridge and on into the confluence of the Osage and Niangua arms at the 31mm.

We were going to just park the boat at our condo at Grand Glaize, but the family wanted to take their new boat for a ride so we brought it all the way to the 8mm. Being so close, we just had to finish it off at Bagnell to make the claim.  Dam to Dam.

All in all it was a great trip and I highly recommend the run if you can!

Unmanned Drones On The Lake

 I'm going to have to give Lake Expo a lot of credit for making this blog a little more obsolete. They're starting to do some decent journalism and looking into things before most of us are really aware. Good work. So I hope I give all due credit for the inspiration of this post.

To that point there is the story today about Unmanned Surface Vehicles being spotted around The Lake.

USV - Lake Expo by Tegan Pasley

In short, a company named Simple Unmanned LLC is doing a bathymetric survey of The Lake using unmanned drones. Note: Sorry, Tegan, but your suggestion that drones would be a good idea for Door Dash is not really practical...as of yet. Does anyone remember Domino's pizza delivery on The Lake?

Anyway, Tegan reports that Water Patrol and Ameren are aware and "monitoring" the drone activity, but I want to talk about Ameren on this matter. They need to do more than just monitor, they need to act on the data. Somewhat for themselves, but mostly for property owners like me.

Sedimentation map of a boat ramp launch. Source Simple Unmanned LLC

The Lake is filling in. Despite the decades of development and subsequent improvements such as concrete swales and other erosion prevention measures, sedimentation of The Lake continues. I live at the back of a cove and can honestly say I've lost 2 feet of depth since the 70s. We have dredged (permitted of course, and only within the footprint of the slip!) prior to the ban on dredging in 2007, but overall it's a losing battle anyway. Eventually, my property will no longer be waterfront and there doesn't seem to be a lot I can do about it. It sucks for my property, but what does it mean for Ameren?

Does Ameren care if The Lake fills in? Of course, but not in anyone's lifetime. Sedimentation near the shoreline can go on for centuries without affecting the performance of the dam as a power generator. The turbines only care about "head height", and with over 600 billion gallons of water, volume is never really a problem. Unless.

Heavy sedimentation of The Lake means overall volume is reduced. Volume management is the basis for Ameren's tight-assed control of the shoreline. The volume of water stored behind a dam represents it's ability to maintain energy production in periods of changing conditions. While The Lake is fed by many sources, constituting nearly 10,000 cubic feet per second flow at all times, prolonged and severe drought would have an impact. Meaning in times of extended drought, the reservoir could drain faster than it is replenished. Maintaining The Lake's ability to retain as much water as possible mediates such issues. 

Think of it this way. If the contour of the Osage River valley had been deeper and steeper, before it was flooded by Bagnell, then the main channel of The Lake would be less wide than it is, and there would be far few fewer coves, but the dam itself would still be able to generate as much power. The only difference is that it would be far more susceptible to rainfall, closer to a "run of the river" style waterwheel power generation. See my lengthy article on how Bagnell Dam works. In other terms, Tam Sauk Dam, a completely different type of dam, used more as a battery than a generator, can produce more power than Bagnell using a fraction of the amount of water. It just can't do it for very long.

As a power generating system, Ameren isn't too worried about sedimentation, but somebody is or Simple Unmanned would not have been contracted to perform this very expensive work. I wanted to do something similar with side-scan sonar systems, but didn't really see the value in a full detailed bathymetric data set for The Lake. It would be fascinating though and I do hope the results of this survey, and the data will be shared with the public (or me!).

March 2024 Lake Levels and Flow

 I was not going to do these monthly summaries any longer, but with March's rare "double-dip" draw down low, I thought it was worth showing. The second, low at the end of the month was only 2.28 inches above the lowest level set on March 5th. 653.92 and 654.11 respectively, with April starting even lower by about an inch.

Drawdown 2024 - Who Says It's Over?

I swear, sometime I think Ameren views this blog and deliberately changes things up to make me look bad. But then again, I've been told to get over myself time and time again.

Looks like a rare double dip drawdown season. Just as I declared maximum low levels had been reached on the heel of returning higher levels, Ameren goes and drops it right back down near the low of the year.

To be fair, the spring monsoon hasn't exactly shown up as expected either and lake levels are likely being kept low in anticipation that the rains will come.

As it stands now, we are one and half feet below the fifteen year average depth for this time of year.

Water Patrol on PWCs - AHAHAHAHAH

Representative Dr. Lisa Thomas (123rd District: which pretty much covers the lake area) introduced House Bill 2668 last month for the establishment of MO-POWR, a pretentious acronym for "Missouri Patrol on Wave Runners".  The purpose of which is for "establishing a law enforcement and first responder personal watercraft patrol..." to  "...promote water and boating safety on lakes having more than one thousand one hundred miles of shoreline." Hmm. Any other lakes in Missouri with over 1100 miles of shoreline? Unsurprisingly, the Lake of the Ozarks is the targeted body of water.

The bill goes on to define what a "personal watercraft" is, who the stakeholders of the task force are, training requirements, and funding.

The tasks of the patrol are spelled out as:

1. Enforce state laws and regulations
2. Deter unsafe and unlawful activities
3. Provide first responder services
4. Promote water and boating safety
5. Provide public education directed toward recreational activities 

Okay, so that's the nuts and bolts of it.

Let's start with the obvious. The uniform of any law enforcement agency is intended to give a sense of professionalism and legitimacy. There is nothing dignified about riding a wet bike. Especially for a law enforcement officer that must wear a uniform. They'll simply look ridiculous. And what are you going to do with their necessary equipment, guns, radios, etc?

The practical limitations of using PWCs for law enforcement are pretty obvious, but let's break it down a bit more.

There is no room for support equipment for a first responder, let alone for tactical support of a serious law enforcement incident.

The idea of using a PWC assumes they are faster than a boat. Have you ever ridden a wetbike on the main channel during a busy holiday weekend? I have, and I can tell you that making any speed worthy of a first responder is nearly impossible, and by the time you've gone more than two miles, you're exhausted. Chasing down a go-fast boat? Puh-lease. About the only areas these things would be useful for is during events like the boat races or writing tickets in coves to other wetbikes for safety violations.

No, PWCs are completely impractical for law enforcement, and really only good for first responders such as beach lifeguards. But, they do present a show of force. A presence. Will boaters pay heed to restrictions on making wakes near docks if one of these little fellas is around? Probably, but beyond that and event patrols, they would be pretty useless. 

Most importantly though, I think the poor patrolman assigned to them will find that their days are very long, injuries frequent, and effectiveness dubious at best. I shudder to think of the number of workmen's compensation cases that will rise against the state.

A better idea would be to reform the State Police to once again have a separate Water Patrol division, with enough equipment, money, and training to properly patrol the Greatest Lake in the World.

Maybe throw a hydrofoil in for good measure if you really want to get down the lake in a hurry! Here's something (not a hydrofoil) that will get some respect on the water.

Hwy 70 Promises - Kingdom City Exit Isn't A Priority

Without going into details or timelines on how we got here, I'm going to start this post by saying I applaud the expansion of Hwy 70 in Missouri, it is way overdue. Every Missourian has wanted Hwy 70 expanded for a very long time but simply were not willing to pay for it by approving any new gas tax. We did that once, decades ago and the promise was not delivered. Fool me once... So every time a gas tax increase shows up on the ballot from time time, with and without the promise of enhancing Hwy 70, voters would always say no. The vote has never been close.

But our Republican lawmakers have long established that the voters wishes are not to be taken seriously. By effectively getting away with NOT expanding Medicaid, despite a majority vote by the population to do so, they quickly followed by passing an increase to the gas tax themselves.

Republicans, as their name implies, never tire of stating that the U.S. is a Republic, not a Democracy. While it is true we are a Republic (representative style governments) we are ALSO a Democracy. The two terms are NOT mutually exclusive. Whenever you show up at the polls and vote on whether or not to increase your local taxes, or some proposition for change, a simple majority is all that is needed to decide. The only representation required for a ballot initiatives such as this is the VOTER themselves and THAT is pure Democracy. Think of it this way, all Republics are Democracies, but not all Democracies are Republics (just ask a Canadian).

But no matter how we got here, the Highway 70 expansion to three lanes and more is happening so let's start taking a look at what is being done actually, and more importantly, what is NOT being done. MODOT has a new "flyover" video rendering of currently approved improvements to Hwy 70 and ....oh look, it's all in Columbia. Oh, and look, some of the work is not even on Hwy 70, but nearby interchanges.

I understand the 70 interchanges in Columbia very much needs to be a part of the overall improvements but what about Kingdom City, Exit 148? This exit is THE interchange for Hwy 54 getting to the Lake of the Ozarks from the east. On major holidays traffic is often bad enough that one of the two lanes of Hwy 70 is backed up for MILES. Are we saving this desperate problem area for last or something? The video shows MODOT is proposing to add a third lane starting at Kingdom City to Columbia.

It appears our collective woes of traveling to the Lake from St. Louis will continue for years to come. 

"Lakefront Empire" Review S1 E1

"The Midwest Coast"

 I just watched the first episode of HGTV's "Lakefront Empire". While I'm pleased the producers seem to be avoiding the same formula as shows that feature more interpersonal drama then home listings, I was quite disappointed in how The Lake area was being presented. Yes, I use capital letters when referring to The Lake, because it is THE BEST LAKE IN THE WORLD.

The show follows the somewhat tired formula of interviewing buyers and realtors as they search for the home of their dreams here at the Lake of the Ozarks, but the producers seem to lack any real sense of what makes The Lake so special. This is clear in their choice of realtors and the homes showcased, both realtors and homes lacked any charm whatsoever. I've have seen many, many homes over the decades and what was shown in the first episode, ranging from $500K to $2M were homes I would not have given a second glance. Not they they were bad homes! Far from it, but they were not especially appealing, charming, or unique. In my opinion The Lake has a plethora of more interesting and exciting homes to choose from at any given time. I actually felt sorry for the folks about to drop $2 million on a home that was simply...blah.

That's the good part of this review.

Here's the bad part.

What the hell? I saw a real estate agent telling potential buyers that mentioned having parties in their new home about "everybody using" in Party Cove, and practically in the same breath as telling them she spent 15 years in federal prison? I watched a second realtor revealing a drunken past and had to come "crawling" back to his family for a job? THESE are the realtors that the producers chose to showcase homes at The Lake? I'm sorry but if I was a potential Lake Ozark home buyer , I would have been turned off completely.

And did I hear anything more than the tired old "1100 miles of shoreline, more than the coast of California" to tell the world how special our lake really is? There was bragging about how nearly every home comes with a dock, but was anything said about the quality of that 1100 mile shoreline or how it affects their docks and the value of a home? How about the uniqueness of The Lake that allows us to have restaurants and bars accessible by water? From what I saw, you might as well have been looking at lakefront property on Lake Hamilton AR, or some Corps of Engineers lake.

Dis-Honorable mention for using segue shots of the lake that make it look like boaters will have it all to themselves on any given day. But now I'm just being mean.

Hopefully future episodes will do better.

2024 Drawdown Is Well Over

 As predicted, with the start of the rainy season, lake levels stayed at the low point for only the briefest of time. With Paddlefish season starting today, and mild temperatures, I don't see any return to lower levels happening. We are heading toward full pool now.

And with that, I'll call the 2024 lake drawdown watch ...done!

The End of Tunnel Dam

I've been a fan of the Tunnel Dam ever since I discovered it while looking for places to kayak in the lake area many years ago. My "discovery" was a bit embarrassing actually. I spent a lot of time at Ha Ha Tonka even before it was a state park and I had never heard of Tunnel Dam until the early 2000s.

The big news is that Show Me Electric Power Cooperative has elected to not renew the license to operate the hydro-electric facility, and it appears power generation will cease this year. Lake Expo has a very good article on the situation and I recommend reading it for more information on the local impact, including this nice history link from the Show Me Electric Power Cooperative. 

Best described by Show-Me Electric, "Attention was especially attracted to one potential site where a natural cave or tunnel pierced the base of a narrow ridge, bypassing a meander of the river, thus affording the opportunity of obtaining an artificial fall of water and creating a forty-foot head for a hydraulic turbine." In the case of Tunnel Dam, this 300 ft. wide ridge cuts through six miles of "meandering" river.

Satellite view of Tunnel Dam next to its Generator House

By creating Tunnel Dam, Lake Niangua was also created, which is fed by the Niangua River, a river as beautiful as any in Missouri, only less protected, and surrounded mostly by private farm land. Lake Niangua is very tranquil and beautiful as well, but is too small to be anything more than a nice place to fish.

Tunnel Dam is five miles southwest of Ha Ha Tonka (as the crow flies). The image below tries to show location and scale of everything.

The Niangua River is a major source of water for the Lake of the Ozarks, and with the fate of the dam structure itself, and the lake it forms, in question we need to examine the potential impact to the Lake of the Ozarks.

If the dam is removed in a controlled manner, the impact on the Lake of the Ozarks would be negligible, but if the dam remains, but not properly maintained, it could ultimately fail. A catastrophic failure, a total and rapid collapse, would cause a great deal of damage downstream, all the way into the Lake of the Ozarks.

But lets assume the dam is decommissioned in a controlled manner, whereby it is removed and any sudden deluge of water avoided. What this means for the Niangua River is an uninterrupted flow of water from Hwy 44, past Bennett Springs, all the way into Lake of the Ozarks. We already have a sanctioned 12 mile float below Tunnel Dam, called the Big Niangua River Trail that ends at the Lake of the Ozarks, but with the Tunnel Dam removed, this could turn into many dozens of miles. The potential for floats and water traffic goes beyond just kayaks and canoes. I have paddled up river from Lake Niangua and can say it is a very serviceable river for small power boats. My jet boat runs the Current River all the time in water barely knee deep, even less. Who knows how far up the Niangua River one could reach from the Lake of the Ozarks without the Tunnel Dam structure in the way. 

NOTE: Full disclosure, Whistler Bridge, just below Tunnel Dam is an impassable low water concrete bridge so any boat traffic would have to remain above or below it, but that barrier too could be removed. While I am a bit sad Tunnel Dam's life is ending, I think the idea of the Niangua River being a serviceable recreational artery all the way into the Lake of the Ozarks intriguing.

2023 Total Flow Infographic

 I have a lot of catching up to do, but off-hand I'd say 2023 may have broke some records, at least as far as total flow through the dam is concerned, going as far back as 2009. I usually measure the total amount of water passing through Bagnell Dam per year in the BILLIONS of gallons. This year, not even 1 billion gallons. The dam was operational for power generation only a bit over 10% of the time. In terms of marketable power sold on the grid, versus operation costs, I think last year was an unprofitable one.

2023 Monthly Lake Level Summary

 This is what drought looks like at the Lake of the Ozarks. It's not about the lake levels, their fairly normal, but look at those flow rates! We'll be diving in to this one a bit, later.

Summer Nights

A bit of contrast enhancement to the original I'll admit. Not much though!

Yellow Jackets...Everywhere

I've got a few acres of woods around me so things like bear (yes, there are bears at the lake), raccoons, deer, snakes, and insects are just a part of life. If you have property at the lake, in general you'll have to cohabitate with just about all of God's creatures of the Midwest, but this year is like nothing I've ever seen before when it comes to flying insect pests. This year's most wanted...the yellow jacket.

They are EVERYWHERE this year at the lake. I have a colony I've been chasing throughout the property for years now, so I thought this year's brood was mine alone to tackle, but I've been taking a consensus this summer and it seems everyone has them. We were at Frankie and Louie's this weekend and even with traps galore they were all over the bar area. It made getting a drink a little intimidating and those poor bartenders seemed resolved to take their lumps.

So if you're dealing with them too, know it's not just you.

Yellow Jacket, or a hornet? My wife and I are having this debate. The picture above is a Yellow Jacket, and looks like the ones I'm dealing with, but the nests I've seen are in ground which is more indicative of a hornet. I've read both types go to ground as well as building those famous paper mache (sic) style in trees. They're pretty much the same critter in terms of aggressiveness and painful sting though so it doesn't really matter. Plus they both eat the same thing, basically nectar, although Yellow Jackets have a taste for dead meat apparently. I'll leave it to the reader to determine which they are battling, but there are plenty of sites that will help  you identify the culprit.

And we're blaming climate change for this widespread phenomena in 3...2...1

Found this on Reddit, and I'm just going to leave it here. A "SemiPontoon". It'll be all the rage on the lake next year I'm sure.

https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/hs8djo/custom_made_semipontoon_boat/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x

The Decade That Was (2010-2019) - Enter Climate Change

A new decade is upon us so it's time to take a look a the decade that was in terms of data. Getting right to it, below is the candlestick summary chart for lake levels and flow for the period of 2010-2019. If you're not familiar with this style of chart you can click here for a full explanation.

Lake Levels and Flow Rates for 2010-2019

The graph (click to enlarge) is a construct of 10 years of hourly data consisting of 87,600 data points. While I wouldn't dignify that much data as Big Data, it is a significant enough number that certain trends might be statistically significant.

So what can 87,600 data points tell us about the Lake of the Ozarks? Obviously it can show what has happened over the past ten years, but more interesting is that it may also indicate what will happen in the future. I'm not talking about predicting daily lake levels, or flow rates, but rather trends. One trend that stands out, almost visually, is the gradual increase in total flow over the years. If you compare the actual data for total yearly flow from 2010-2014 to the period of 2015-2019, you'll see that 10.652 trillion gallons passed through Bagnell Dam in the first half of the decade and 16.107 trillion gallons in the second half. That's an increase of 66% which is rather significant. You can easily see this trend by the graph alone comparing the left half orange bar heights to the right half. The latter half of the decade also contains the highest monthly flow rates and two record flooding events in July and December of 2015.

If that's not obvious from the first graph, let's look at a comparison of the first five years of the decade and the last from an average daily flow point of view. Below is a two-line graph, the green representing 2010-14, and the red 2015-19. From this graph it's even easier to see the difference in the latter half of the decade. With the exception of early spring, which in of itself may be statistically relevant, the period from 2015-2019 consistently shows a higher average flow rate. Even more interesting is that flow rates remain high throughout the summer months, rather than tapering off after spring. This means, more water, flowing all the time.



Climate change is not just about a hotter earth but the impact it has on the water cycle which has far reaching effects. The Lake of the Ozarks is very much a part of that water cycle and Bagnell Dam's ability to manage the changes in the water cycle is critical to the future of the Lake of the Ozarks. We'll be exploring this subject in greater detail in coming posts.

2019 Full Year Lake Level and Flow Rates Review

The amount of water that has flowed through Bagnell Dam this year is truly astonishing. Here's the big picture.



Nearly 3 times the "normal" flow for one year due to flooding. While the Lake of the Ozarks suffered no direct effects of the surrounding waters, over 37% of operational time was spent in maximum turbine flow conditions. How much of that interpolated into power generation, only Ameren knows, but it was there for the taking.

Here's how December itself looked on the daily candlestick graph.



And the hourly detail.


And finally we can now see the daily candlestick graph for the entire year. (click any image to enlarge)



And the monthly summary version

Kayaking on Lake of the Ozarks

It's funny that I've never put up a post about kayaking on the Lake of the Ozarks because it's become one of my favorite activities on the lake. Judging by the proliferation of kayaks just in my cove alone, it appears I'm not the only one.

Modern kayaks are amazingly simple watercraft. Typically vacuumed formed out of a single piece of poly-carbonate plastic, the same stuff used to make trashcans. They are relatively light, tough as hell, and require very little maintenance, and the best part is, the motor is (usually) very reliable! Usually I say, because failures have been known to happen!

15 year old ($285) Bending Branches paddle destined for the burn pile.

There are two basic styles of kayak the sit-top and the cockpit style. Sit-tops are more recreational and also tend to be the style of choice for fisherman. The cockpit style is one where you slip into the body cavity of the kayak itself. In this category there is a full spectrum of types ranging from the long slender "sea-kayaks" at one end of the scale, to the short white water style on the other.

I have a Perception Carolina, which is considered a touring kayak which are on the the sea-kayak range of style, typically anything over 11 feet long.

My wife in our Perception Carolina in Florida - "Are there sharks in these waters?"

I've had my kayak for more than 10 years now, a 14.2 foot Carolina, made by Perception. I've taken it to the ocean and on just about every river in Missouri, including the Osage. At the lake I've probably spent more hours in it than I have my 27ft Sea Ray in the past ten years. I can only guess how many miles I've paddled but I know it's in the hundreds.

Here's some more pics!

Florida - Getting past the breakers is easier than getting back in!

When the lake flooded July 4th, 2015 and the Governor called for a no-wake-lake, I was able to paddle out to the main channel. Not a boat in sight.

July 2, 2015, 8MM Main Channel

Paddling around in the winter time is some of the best kayaking, but be safe! I have a life jacket on at all times when paddling in the winter!

One of the cool things about a kayak is being able to sneak up on wildlife, which is not always a great idea. Startled deer do funny things.

I got a lot closer than this and the poor deer nearly jumped in the kayak when she finally spotted me.

One of my favorite things to do in the kayak is fish of course. The Carolina does fine fishing, but as I said there are kayaks made specifically for fishing, and if that's your thing, I would recommend you take a look at them over a touring kayak such as mine.

Some tips when it comes to paddling on the Lake of the Ozarks.

Don't stray too far from docks and shoreline, especially on weekends. There's far too much boat traffic to be safe in a kayak in open water. Try to be in a position to duck beside a dock in quick order if a boat doesn't seem to see you. You're too low to the water in a kayak to be easily seen. Of course, the back of a cove or in no-wake zone is relatively safe, but you should always keep an eye out for power boats and PWCs.

Let people know where you're going and how long you expect to be gone if you plan on being out of site of your home dock. People worry.

You are required to have a life jacket with you, on is optional, but it would be wise.

Buddy up if you can. I personally kayak alone quite a bit (me time), but it is more fun with a companion.

Teach your children how to kayak. I have never met a child that didn't enjoy being in a kayak. There's something empowering about it to them. I suppose it's the first serious mode of transportation that they are in charge of maybe, but kids in the cockpit with you will enjoy it as well. If they can fit. My granddaughter is about 60lbs and she's only now getting too big to sit in front of me and leave me room to paddle. But now she's old enough to paddle her own kayak! My four year old grandson fits just fine still. I've taught all of my nieces, nephews and friends to kayak and by far they are the most popular water toys we have.

Don't tease the people on paddle-boards by doing circles around them. A stand up paddle-board (SUP) is fine, but I like to make way on the water even if it's under my own power. SUP's are slow, difficult to maneuver and not very versatile, but to each their own.

I could go on and on bragging about how much joy that little boat has brought me over the years. The stories I could tell. I've truly had some amazing experiences. If you think it might be something for you, I would encourage looking for something used first. A lot of people buy them, use them briefly and decide it's not for them. You can usually pick up a very "low hour" kayak if you just keep an eye out or tell people you're looking.