Party on the River

For those of you that don't get the St Louis Post-Dispatch here is a link to an article about booze and behavior on Missouri's rivers. If the local businesses thought the Taum Sauk event was bad, what would happen if beer was banned from the river. Of course, this is Missouri, so no fear of that ever happening.

Beer and Pot (Not Peola Pottery)

An article in the Reynolds County Courier tells how State Water Patrol and Department of Conservation agents are placing two observers on the bluff south of Park's Bluff Campground with scopes and radios to watch for drugs and underage drinking in canoes going down the Black. When they see something that they think needs investigating they radio other agents that are on the river bank. Kind of a "speed" trap on the river.

Springfield Art Museum

Pam and I are going to Springfield tomorrow after closing and on Sunday I hope to visit the Springfield Art Museum. I enjoy seeing their annual watercolor show and last night they opened a new show of work by Andy Warhol. The following is a quote from the Springfield News-Leader about the opening.

Attendance was twice what opening receptions usually average, according to museum director Jerry Berger.
(Kathleen) Turner, he knows, was the "big drawing card."

"This is a great crowd," he said. "It's a mix of (long-time) patrons and people coming in for the first time."

That included Gov. Matt Blunt and his wife Melanie, who happened to be in Springfield.

"We both enjoy art," said Blunt. "Melanie probably enjoys Warhol more than I do."

"We've seen Warhols wherever we've traveled," his wife added. "It's incredible to have it in Springfield."

Who knew?

The Echo

The Ironton newspaper, The Mountain Echo, had two articles about the Taum Sauk event. First, it turns out that the contractor Mactec is removing the fish from the lower reservoir and they are releasing the fish below the dam. So if you come in August there might be some big fish in the Black. Second, there was an article about nine Arcadia Valley business owners meeting with a St. Louis attorney to discuss the impact of the Taum Sauk breach on business. It would be unfair of me to judge whether any other business has seen a loss of business because of the event. I have not seen any decline in my business and if there were I would not know whether it was because of the Taum Sauk event or the high price of gas. I had to go to St Louis on Monday for a load of clay and I filled up before I left and again when I got home. It now cost me $32.00 for the round trip. Not a deal buster, but I'm sure most families making the trip to the Black are looking at their entire budget and deciding what they can omit and still have a good vacation.

Upper Reservoir Plans

A document has been submitted to FERC titled "AmerenUE submits its foundation preparation demonstration program work plan for the Upper Reservoir at the Taum Sauk Plant" The document itself is not available to the public because of Homeland Security, but if they are working on a foundation program it sure sounds to me like they want to rebuild the Upper Reservoir.

Scrap Iron $$/Beautiful Ozarks

On my way to Farmington this morning I noticed a home that usually has a lot of old cars sitting around had been cleaned up. So when you start complaining about the high price of steel, iron, copper and other commodities, remember that the recent high price for scrap is going to have a good effect on the Ozarks.

Big Fish

Talked to someone that is working at the Lower Reservoir and he said that the Missouri Department of Conservation is using nets to catch the fish that are in the Lower Reservoir. The other day they got a 40 inch muskie. Now that is a big fish for this part of Missouri.

Upsidedown World

Last night Pam and I went out to dinner with a couple from St. Louis. Not that unusual except the couple was getting out of the city because they had no power at home and a cool weekend in the country looked very appealing.

Shut-Ins

The following is from the Shut-Ins web site.

Because of the July 19 storm, Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park is without electrical power. The park store and restroom are closed but the remainder of the park is open for visitors. The store will reopen when electrical power is restored.

Yesterday we were following a storm on radar that must have gone over the Shut-Ins, but it went east of Lesterville. Then last night a series of storm went just to the south of Peola Valley. So we missed all the rain yesterday. Enough is enough!

Morning Report

From listening to the portable radio and one phone call from St Louis, I think we came out better than the city. We lost power about 10pm and it is back on now. One thing about the country, when you have no power, you have no water. So just got out of the shower, just wish I could get a nap. There was an inch of rain with the storm, but it was the wind that got our attention last night. I drove down to the bridge to see if the road was open. It was, but littered with leaves and twigs. One of the white pines at the entrance to the Crazy S ranch across from Riversedge was smouldering from a hot wire in the tree. So after two nights of strong storms in Lesterville I hope we have a quiet and cool night.

Hot Days and No Power

After the rain last night the humidity was thick enough to cut with a knife. To add insult to the heat the power went off again tonight. Must be fun at the lodge with no power.

Here is another story about the Lower Reservoir.

What a Night!

The weather started out with the first day to reach 100 degrees. Around 6pm we could hear a lot of thunder to the east. About 7pm we lost power and the thunder and lightening were as bad as I think I have ever experienced. We had a lot of small hail and by 8pm we recorded 2 inches of rain. The power finally came back at 9pm.

I made a trip to Ironton this afternoon and on the way home I went by the Lower Reservoir. The reservoir is "Y" shaped with the left side going up the East Fork toward the Shut-Ins and the right side is known as the Taum Sauk Branch. The Taum Sauk Branch is quite shallow and now that they have dropped the reservoir level by six feet most of that arm of the reservoir is dry. At the dam there was a lot a dead trees that were exposed by lowering the level of the reservoir. Doubt that they have started removing any of the clay.

River News

Ameren's Taum Sauk web site has a new page of photos. I can't tell any difference in the river at BRL, but Pam felt that it was a little greener than it had been in the last few weeks. I know that some folks from Ameren check this site out so I have a message to pass along. Please post some photos of the work that is being done on the Upper Reservoir.

River and Reservoir

If you check the River Gauge link on the right you will see that the discharge has come back to its Thursday morning level so I would assume that the Lower Reservoir has been dropped six feet for the first cleanup. The turbidy level is lower than before the release. I think this is because the extra water moved the silt on down stream past the gauge at the East Fork bridge. I had a few guests that had been here all week say they could tell that the river was a little cloudier, but some folks that just got down on Saturday thought it look fine.

Lower Reservoir

As mentioned earlier, Ameren is lowering the water level in the Lower Reservoir in order to start the process of removing the clay that was deposited last December. I'll try to get up to the reservoir next week to take a look. It will also be interesting to monitor the East Fork gauge.

More Rain

I had to go to town yesterday after lunch. The river and beach were full of folks trying to get as much sun and fun as possible after two days of rain. However, last night after dinner it was raining again. And the forcast is for more this afternoon. When we moved to Lesterville 23 years ago we asked the locals what to expect with the weather and we were surprised that no one seemed to know. Now we understand.

Unhappy Campers

We had another inch of rain after lunch today, so the 24 hour total is almost 2 inches. Everyone that came to the pottery wanted to know when the sun would be shinning again. One man commented that there were only 4 days left at BRL. I told you last week was a winner.

I heard today that if all goes as planned, the Lower Reservoir would be dropped six feet on Friday. It will then be dropped an additional six feet as clean up is completed. The entire job should take at least two months. Work is also continuing on stabilizing the Upper Reservoir.

Rain and the Lower Reservoir

We have had a nice slow rain since mid morning, about 3/4" and still coming down. Sounds like more rain tomorrow and maybe Wednesday. We really need this water. Remember I said that last week would be the summers best, well I'll bet the pottery is full tomorrow if its raining.

On the FERC web site is a memo from Ameren, approved by DNR and DOC, to start work on cleaning out the Lower Reservoir. Don't know if the work has actually started and no one seems to know what the effect will be to the river. The East Fork is still pea soup green, but the main river looks fine. I'll try to find out more and make a ride up Highway U and see if I can see any activity.

Free Camping

Anyone camping at a Missouri state park or historic site campground for at least two consecutive nights on an individual campsite in July will receive a promotional certificate good for a free night of camping at any Missouri state park or historic campground. So if you want to come to Lesterville, you could still camp at Taum Sauk Mt. State Park, Sam A. Baker, or even Montauk.

Power and Money

DNR is going to make sure that any rate increase for Ameren does not go to pay for the Taum Sauk event. Here is the DNR press release.

On another subject, does anybody remember DNR saying that the public meetings about the Shut-Ins and the river condition would continue over the summer. By my calendar we are about half way to Labor Day.

What a Week!

This week will be the standard by which all summer weeks will be judged. I was 50 degrees this morning. Yesterday was 82, with low humidity and a nice breeze. The rain Tuesday night washed away all the dust and the plants are revived. So if you are coming to Lesterville later this summer and start to complain about the heat/humidity I'll remind you that you should have come the week of the 4th.

Taum Sauk Casino?

FERC has asked the following tribes if they have any comment about the relicensing of the Taum Sauk project - Kickapoo (OK, KS, and TX), Peoria, Quapaw, Osage, Cherokee, Shawnee, and Delaware Nation. As an old Order of the Arrow advisor I felt like I was back at summer camp. Think it would be great for Lesterville is someone built a casino on the Black River.

Holiday Report

First, more important than commerce, we had two and a half inches of rain last night. Don't know what it will do for the grass, but the flowers and shrubs look a lot better this morning. As to visitors to the pottery, we had a very good holiday weekend. Most encouraging was the fact that we had a lot of first time Lesterville visitors, and they all seemed to be enjoying their visit.

The Penny

This has nothing to do with the Black River, but it is a pet peeve of mine. In the 20+ years we have been in business we have never been back to the bank for another roll of pennies. They just accumulate. I've frequently said that I hope I lived long enough to see the penny outlawed. Now there is a story that it costs more to make a penny than its face value. I'm only 65, maybe I'll live to see it happen.

ANother Newcomer story

Had a couple from Wilderness visit the pottery Saturday. This was their first visit to Lesterville. The husband said that he had fished most of the streams in central Missouri and he thought the Black was the clearest he had seen, he couldn't imagine what it was like before the Taum Sauk event. So evenyone that comes down is having a good time. Hope we get a big rain tomorrow, it is still very dry and yesterday was the hottest day of the year.

Rebuild?

Here is an article about a possible rebuild of the upper reservoir.