Milford Lake - Flood History - After Milford Dam

After Milford Dam

The flood of 1993 was the first major flood to occur after the Milford Lake Dam was built. Many locals involved with fighting the flood agree that 1993 would have been much worse than the 1951 flood without the protection offered by the Milford Dam. Although flooding could not be completely stopped, the dam system and other flood protection work lessened the loss of life and property. In 1993, well above average rainfalls had been taking place throughout the entire Midwest for several months, and the ground was saturated, unable to soak up the continuing rainfall. Rivers and levees were holding the rising waters in check, but they were full. It continued to rain. Lakes along the upper and lower Missouri River Basin closed their gates so as not to add to the flooding that was beginning further downstream. The rain continued until finally the rivers, levees, and lakes could hold no more and the Great Flood of 1993 went underway, with flooding of a magnitude not seen since 1951.

The Milford Dam was built to protect the Kansas River Basin. Waters from Milford Lake enter the Kansas River at Junction City, which in turn flows into the Missouri River at Kansas City. The Missouri River then empties into the Mississippi River, which transports Milford Lake waters to the Gulf of Mexico. After holding floodwaters back for weeks at the Milford Dam, and upon reaching a lake elevation 32 feet (9.8 m) above normal, the focus on flood protection changed to that of protecting the dam structures. All additional waters, which flowed in, had to be released. On July 19, 1993 the gates in the dam were fully opened to release water at a rate of 22,500 cu ft/s (640 m3/s). Rain continued to fall in the area and the lake continued to rise until water began to flow through the uncontrolled spillway. The design of the spillway controls the flow of the water, eventually directing it back into the river channel below the dam. The spillway is similar to an overflow drain in a bathtub. Water flows out of the spillway to prevent overtopping the dam.

For two weeks water flowed through the spillway to a maximum depth of 6 feet (1.8 m). The continuous rush of water removed tons of soil, numerous trees, and a portion of the 244 Spur Highway. Pooling waters from the spillway flow also threatened to damage U.S. Highway 77. To protect the U.S. highway, a culvert was intentionally breached on State Highway 57 to allow the pooling floodwaters to drain back into the Republican River channel. Throughout the entire flood, the dam performed as designed and held floodwaters back, lessening the downstream flood damage. During the highest release of water through the dam, 22,500 cu ft/s (640 m3/s) which lasted for approximately 10 hours, the riverbank channel immediately below the dam suffered some erosion damage. In the winter of 1996/7, repairs were made to the damaged channel below the dam. To prevent future damage during extremely high releases, the river channel was dropped 12 feet (3.7 m) in elevation by excavation. The removed rock was used to create a berm across the south bank washout. The channel banks were re-graded, re-rocked, and re-grouted.