The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Little Rock District hosted a dam safety exercise for Bull Shoals and Norfork Dam’s along with state and local stakeholders at the Bull Shoals White River State Park on Sept. 6, 2023.
Bull Shoals and Norfork Operations Project Manager Mark Case said, “It’s not if, but when,” while referring to future storms that will test the limits of the White River Dams.
The exercise scenario involved persistent spring rains that resulted in pools of record and releases of record for several of the White River Dams. USACE and the stakeholders in attendance were able to discuss the situation and agency roles during each stage of the exercise.
“The networking is critical, because when you get into the heat of battle (flood fighting), I need to call and talk to the emergency management guy that knows who I am and we don’t have to go through that formality of who are you, and what do you do,” said Case.
In attendance for the exercise were USACE Little Rock representatives from emergency management, water control, dam safety, levee safety, operations and public affairs.
Stakeholders in attendance included the National Weather Service, Arkansas Department of Transportation, Arkansas State Parks, Baxter County Office of Emergency Management, Baxter County Department of Roads and Bridges, and the Marion County Office of Emergency Management.