Vernon
they route that flood through, the probable maximum flood, it comes up to the top of the
dam. Then they don't have freeboard for wave action or anything like that, which the
Corps does. But that's their policy.
I guess they've had a lot of their dams over top, and they haven't failed. They have waves
washing over the top, well, there's a few of them that fail but not very many. So they
justified in not having to put freeboard on.
Q ..
What would be the normal size of a Soil Conservation Service dam versus a Corps' dam?
A ..
Well, it's governed more by drainage area. They have a limited, forgotten what their
acreage is now, but the size of the watershed is what governs where they do their studies.
They`re suppose to do their studies in smaller watersheds and rural areas of course.
Q ..
So they're not really very big.
A
No, they're not really very big because the watersheds are usually not that big. But both
of us get involved in doing some urban dams occasionally.
Section 221 Agreements
Q ..
How much of a different problem does that inject into your work when you go to an urban
area?
A
Well, when we're working in an urban area, sometimes a flood control reservoir is used
as a means of protection in lieu of a levee. You build a local flood protection reservoir.
But it gets a little controversial when it comes to building reservoirs. Whether they have
a Federal interest is kind of a ticklish subject in the Corps of Engineers--what is a Federal
interest?
Anyway, if you build a small reservoir and the beneficiaries [are] not very widespread,
they're all local, then it becomes a little questionable if there is a Federal interest there or
not.
But there have been some small urban reservoirs built by the Corps. We had a strange one
in Montana--it is Havre, one of those communities in northern Montana. The
built them a flood protection dam, small dam for flood protection with a small gated outlet
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