In 2011 snow melt and heavy rains in the upper Missouri River drainage basin produced record runoff that led to extensive flooding in lower Missouri River valley,despite the construction of numerous large flood control dams built on the river in the mid 20th century.What type of failure in an artificial flood control system is this an example of?
A)Insufficient levee construction downstream of the dams
B)A flood outside the design capabilities of the dam system overwhelmed the capacity of the reservoirs forcing opening of flood gates,exacerbating the downstream impact of the flooding
C)Bad planning by the water managers who cared more about power production than downstream flooding
D)It was not a failure; the dam system worked as planned.It was poor planning by the downstream government agencies.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This is an example of a flood event that exceeded the design capabilities of the dam system, leading to the opening of flood gates and exacerbating downstream flooding. Despite the construction of the dams, the system was not able to contain the record runoff produced by snow melt and heavy rains in the upper Missouri River drainage basin.

In 2011 Snow Melt and Heavy Rains in the Upper