Ozark National Scenic Riverways still recovering from damaging floodwaters

Flooding will cost the Ozark National Scenic Riverways almost $1 million.

The park has applied for $944,000 in federal aid to complete flood and storm damage repairs. It is not known when a decision will be made on the request.

In a single March day, 11 inches of rain fell over the four counties that encompass the Riverways, according to park personnel, adding to already full waterways. Severe flooding damaged and destroyed campsites, boat ramps and 12 to 15 park buildings.

The Jacks Fork and the upper Current rivers crested at 16.5 feet March 19. The lower Current River crested at 25.7 just after midnight March 20.

Recreation areas like Hickory Landing west of Grandin, Mo., on the Current River, were still closed as recently as last week. Flooding of Cave Spring had kept crews from reaching the primitive campground with heavy equipment, such as bulldozers and dump trucks, before Thursday. Floodwaters created huge sand and gravel dunes in some portions of that area, as well as creating piles of debris six to eight feet deep.

Work at areas like Waymeyer, Mo., five miles north of Van Buren, Mo., will take longer. ONSR chief of maintenance Roger Dillard said floodwaters there washed out the boat ramp and the bank where it was located.

Canoers can still launch at Waymeyer, and the restroom in that area is open.

Keatons Campsite, on the Jacks Fork between Alley Spring and Eminence, Mo., is closed, and may have to be relocated. The primitive campsite had been open to visitors for more than 37 years.

"There were eight camp sites there. [The area] was severely damaged. The river took the bank. We'll have to have hydrologists look at it," Dillard said.

Four of five buildings at Big Spring Depression Farm, where the park's annual Heritage Days festival is held, were destroyed by waters reaching at least six feet deep. The remaining building sustained significant structural damage and is closed.

Heritage Days will still take place in the park in June, according to organizers.

The 700 and 800 loops at Big Spring campsites are also still closed. But damage at two modern restrooms at the campground has been repaired.

Campgrounds at Alley Spring were covered by floodwaters, which flowed over the spillway at Alley Mill and damaged roads. Of the 185 individual family camp sites there, about 165 have been reopened. Three campsites were lost when floodwater washed away a portion of the bank.

A 200-foot stretch of road was washed away at Alley, and a temporary bypass is now running through an area where two other campsites were until the loop can be restored. All nine loops are at least partially open.

While Alley Mill was not damaged, a structural engineer will need to assess the dam and spillway there once water levels fall and water flowing through that area slows down, Dillard said. This is not an emergency situation, he added.

A portion of Highway 106 near Alley Mill was damaged by flooding and the Missouri Department of Transportation has contracted with a private company to have repairs completed there by May 16. A bypass along a gravel road built parallel to the highway is being used until the road reopens.

At the junction of the Jacks Fork and Current rivers, floodwaters were deep enough to sweep the roof of a restroom away at Two Rivers Landing. The waters also took the concrete blocks to which the roof was anchored. Water reached six inches deep in the concessionaire and log store that normally sit more than 20 feet above river level.

"We are going to get everything back open," Dillard said. "In some places it may be partial openings for a while, but just be patient."

Dillard said anyone planning to visit the park can check with the headquarters office in Van Buren about potential closings. The headquarters office can be reached at 573-323-4236.