Power company watching flood waters at dams

by Nora Gathings (hsgathings@wsbt.com)

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Mishawaka Twin Branch dam

Water flows through the Twin Branch dam along the St. Joseph River in Mishawaka. (WSBT photo)

By Jim Pinkerton

Story Created: Jan 11, 2008 at 9:20 PM EST

Story Updated: Jan 18, 2008 at 12:46 PM EST

MISHAWAKA — Flood waters are finally receding along the St. Joseph River, but Indiana Michigan Power still had flood gates open Friday night and is operating its dam under emergency conditions.

Some people have called Elkhart Emergency Management and Indiana Michigan Power complaining about the dam not draining enough water.

On a normal day, 12 billion gallons flow through the Twin Branch dam, but this week, "We've had to open more gates to let more water flow through," said Dave Switzer, Indiana Michigan Power.

Despite that, sandbags are stacked along the river and many roads resemble rivers.

"This is Mother Nature. This isn't something we are doing to cause it. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission requires all water flowing downstream to pass through the dam," said Switzer. "A lot of people think we arbitrarily say, 'Let's close the dam, so the water goes down.' We can't do that."

The federal commission determines that. A gauge measures the water level and automatically opens and closes the gates.

"The maximum it's ever reached is 30 feet above normal, and I think we are about 25 feet above normal, that's pretty high," said Switzer.

Indiana Michigan Power is closely monitoring the flood warnings. At this point, they anticipate keeping all the gates open until next week.

If the gates weren't open, the river would flood the homes upstream and wash the dam and plant building away.

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