Work to Temporarily Close Bagnell Dam - Bus.54

- Ameren UE will temporarily close Bagnell Dam on Business Route 54 in Miller County to inspect flood gates on the dam. The dam will be closed to traffic between 7 a.m. and at 5 p.m. Monday, December 1 through Thursday, December 4. 

We spotted what looked like new rake gates loaded onto trucks which would account for the rare shutdown of the entire road.

Updated - October 2014 Lake Levels

It's time to introduce a new data element to the monthly lake level chart and that is discharge, the amount of flow in cubic feet per second passing through the penstocks of the dam (indicated by green vertical bars). There is no indication of how many turbines are being spun up by this water discharge, but Ameren is restricted to a total daily flow maximum of 37,500cfs and a minimum of about 900cfs. Discharge rates above the minimum are indicative of generating electrical power.

One of the interesting relationships is that between flow and lake levels.  By tracking both lake level and discharge rates we can clearly see lake levels recovering quickly in-between power generating periods.  It is also clear that if conditions are correct, lake levels can continue to rise while discharge remains robust, for example on 10/15/2014 lake level trends remained upward while discharge was relatively high.  Larger versions of the graphs will also now be available.  Full_size_Oct2014.jpg

Bagnell Dam Construction - Turbine Inlets

This is a very interesting picture looking almost due south at the dam before the lake filled. We can see the eight turbine inlets in the foreground and floodgates in the background below the gantry cranes. What's notable is the smaller gates at the far left, nearly half the size of the others, used for the "service" turbines to supply power to Bagnell Dam itself for operations.  Restricted only by permitted water flow, the Osage Energy Center is capable of using all ten generators to produce electricity for the grid.

October Boating

A beautiful fall day on the Lake of the Ozarks and it was little surprise that more than a few boaters were taking advantage.  This small boat was shooting a relatively large rooster tail (surface drive?) and seemed to be enjoying having the lake to himself.

Bike Week 2014

Bat Boat at Bike Week

Always a favorite with the kids, like me.

No Leaf Dumping In The Lake!

As fall approaches and the deluge of leaves along with it, lakeside homeowners are often faced with the dilemma of what to do with all those leaves.  Many simply blow leaf piles down to the shoreline and into the lake, but this is not a good practice, and can lead to losing lake access privileges. Yes, lake access is a privilege, and one that can be revoked.  Although some may think it is silly to worry about any one home's impact on the lake, in reality it is the cumulative effect of everyone doing the same thing that adds up. Organic material such as leaves take a long time to decompose at the bottom of the lake where low oxygen levels slow down the decomposition.  What decomposition does occur is actually more harmful to the atmosphere as bacteria convert the organic material into methane, a very damaging greenhouse gas.  Aside from these concerns there is the quality of shoreline to consider as swimming in several inches of accumulated decomposing leaves (muck, as we call it) is unpleasant, as well as unsightly. It is not a violation of the Missouri Clean Water Law to dump leaves into the lake as a residential homeowner but businesses (commercial/industrial) can not.  Ameren "discourages" homeowners regarding dumping leaves in the lake or burning along the shoreline, and can revoke lake access privileges for "chronic violators".

"The Lake of the Ozarks already has sufficient nutrients and organic matter. A large amount of
organic matter, such as leaves that fall each autumn, makes its way into the lake naturally, and
any benefits (habitat or otherwise) to having leaf  litter in the lake are achieved through natural
processes. Any additional leaf litter may be unnecessary and even negative. Additionally, the
disposal of yard waste into lake waters can compromise the aesthetic and recreation experiences
of downstream residences. Routine or chronic violators of this policy are subject to enforcementfees and/or suspension of shoreline permits."  - Shoreline Management Plan - Appendix B

Ameren also points out that the decomposition of large amounts of leaf material leads to depleted oxygen levels, releasing sulfur dioxide into the air, which is where that rotten egg smell comes from down by the dam sometimes. Also, a layer of leaves on the water prevents sunlight from reaching microbes in the water that process sunlight into vital nutrients that feed aquatic plants. The microbes themselves are food for small fish.

Okay, so a lot of leaves in the lake is bad. So what do you do with them?

Some may feel that burning leaves is environmentally unfriendly, adding carbon to an already carbon saturated atmosphere, but leaves, and other organic material are already in the carbon cycle and do not contribute to the increasing atmospheric load. If you do burn your leaves, please make sure you do it where the ashes will not run off into the lake. Also, make sure you call your local fire district for burn conditions.  If "conditions are not favorable" pay heed and do not burn or you might get a visit from some big red trucks.

If you still don't want to burn, you can shred the leaves with the right equipment and use it for mulch, but I don't recommend it, from a landscaping point of view. They can be used for compost as well, but honestly the amount of leaves is far too much for many property owners to handle. If you don't want to burn your leaves, than depending on how much you have to deal with, having them removed by a professional service is your best option. Just be sure they too are disposing it properly.