Nebraskaland

36 Nebraskaland • March 2020 washed out and ponds filled with silt. To renovate and restock lakes where rough fish were introduced will cost an estimated $1 million. As for the fish in other rivers, streams and reservoirs, the effects of the flood are yet to be known. Creeks in north-central Nebraska, including Long Pine, Plum and Bone in Brown County, flooded, but most structures that had been installed to improve habitat for rainbow and brown trout were not damaged. On the Missouri River, increased flows through Lewis and Clark Lake and five upstream reservoirs likely moved fish through that system just as it did in 2011. After that flood, paddlefish, pallid sturgeon and walleye stocked above the dam were found below it. Farther downstream, extensive flooding for much of the year led to increased production of blue and channel catfish, sickelfin chubs, blue suckers and other native fish that were able to spawn in inundated habitat on the floodplain. Fishing proved difficult to impossible for anglers, as river boat ramps were underwater throughout the year. Wildlife Flowing from the Sandhills and fed primarily by groundwater, the Loup River and its tributaries don't flood as often as rivers and streams fed by surface runoff. But under conditions such as seen in 2019, they do. On March 14, Loup River hit a record level at Genoa, cresting at nearly 7 feet above flood stage, washing out Highway 39 south of the town. About 2 miles downstream of the highway, where the river turns north at George Syas WMA, floodwaters moved overland to the east. On the inside of the bend, massive cottonwoods and other trees were toppled by ice and water. Standing trees now carry scars where ice gouged their bark 8 to 10 feet above the ground. Sand was deposited across the bend, measuring 4 feet deep in places and splaying out across roughly half of the area's 700 acres. In the middle of the bend, Game and Parks staff, knowing a flood was coming, had moved equipment onto work benches in the maintenance shop, thinking it would be safe. During previous floods, water had reached depths of more than 2 feet in the shop and office. The new high-water mark is 44 inches above the floor. Flowing water undercut the base of a barn and damaged other outbuildings. Floodwaters on the Loup continued downstream to the Platte. Near that river's mouth at the Missouri River, floodwaters topped a levee on the south bank, flowed through two private sandpit lakes and then across Schilling WMA. For the rest of 2019, the Platte was carving a new course to the Missouri through the area. In January, that breach was closed, a move made to preserve the integrity of the Missouri's navigation channel. Schilling has flooded numerous times in recent years, most recently in 2011. Water had spilled into the office there three times, reaching a depth of 3 feet in 2011. In 2019, it was 7.5 feet deep. As was the case in 2011, water covered much of the area for most of the year, finally dropping below flood stage in November. Access roads on the area, including the main road leading from Plattsmouth 3 miles north to the mouth of the Platte, were washed out and massive amounts of sand were deposited on the area. Floodwaters on the Loup River in March deposited feet of sand on the bottomland at George Syas Wildlife Management Area near Genoa in Platte County.

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