Fort Randall Dam is a 2.03-mile-long (3 km) earthen dam which spans the Missouri River and impounds Lake Francis Case , the 11th-largest reservoir in the U.S. The dam joins Gregory and Charles Mix counties, South Dakota , a distance of 880 river miles (1,416 km) upstream of St. Louis , Missouri , where the river joins the Mississippi River . The dam and hydroelectric power plant were constructed by and are currently operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers .
18-695: Fort Randall Dam was authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1944 and plays a key role in the Pick–Sloan Plan for development of water resources in the Missouri River basin. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began construction of the dam in 1946, and was the first Pick–Sloan dam completed by the Omaha District. President Dwight D. Eisenhower threw the switch that started the first power generating unit in 1954. When completed in 1956, Fort Randall Dam and
36-431: A string of barrier islands. When the silt was eliminated, the island-building stopped. Biologists sounded the alarm in the 1970s. By the 1990s, the barrier islands were almost gone, and Louisiana was left unprotected from storm surges and oil spills. Lewis A. Pick Lieutenant General Lewis Andrew Pick (November 18, 1890 – December 2, 1956) was a United States Army officer who served as Chief of Engineers in
54-530: Is Big Bend Dam , near Ft. Thompson , and the next dam downstream is Gavins Point Dam , near Yankton . The eight generating units of the Fort Randall Dam are capable of generating 40 megawatts of electricity each, with an annual production of 1.727 billion kilowatt-hours . The combined maximum capacity of 320 megawatts is enough to supply 245,000 households, according to the Corps of Engineers. The river behind
72-615: Is located on the western edge of Pickstown, South Dakota , along U.S. Highway 281 and 18. Open from Memorial Day through Labor Day , the visitor center offers a view of the Dam, Lake Francis Case, and the Missouri River. Exhibits highlight the dam's construction, area, natural and cultural history, and paleontology. There is also a freshwater aquarium with fish species found in the Missouri River. Flood Control Act of 1944 The Pick-Sloan Flood Control Act of 1944 (P.L. 78–534), enacted in
90-523: The Lake Francis Case Project cost approximately $ 200 million. U.S. Route 18 and U.S. Route 281 cross the crest of the dam. The dam is just over 3 mi (5 km) north of the Nebraska state line. The Fort Randall Dam is located within sight of its namesake Fort Randall , an early U.S. Army Frontier Post. Fort Randall Dam is one of six Missouri River mainstem dams; the next dam upstream
108-628: The Three Tribes all access to the reservoir which would flood their lands, including the rights to fish, water their cattle, or cut any timber from the land to be flooded. The tribes were likewise forbidden to hire legal counsel with any compensatory money they might receive. The revised plan was approved by Krug. Forced to sign the Pick-Sloan Plan contract, George Gillette , leader of the Three Tribes' business council, openly wept . Colonel Pick
126-801: The United States Army . Pick was born in Brookneal, Virginia . He was part of the first graduating class of Rustburg High School in 1910 and attended VPI , graduating in 1914. Pick received his Regular Army commission in the United States Army Corps of Engineers on July 1, 1917. During World War I , Pick served with the 23rd Engineers in France . He served in the Philippines from 1921 until 1923 and helped organize The 14th Engineer Regiment Philippine Scouts , largely composed of Filipino soldiers. He
144-725: The 2nd session of the 78th Congress , is U.S. legislation that authorized the construction of numerous dams and modifications to previously existing dams, as well as levees across the United States. Among its various provisions, it established the Southeastern Power Administration and the Southwestern Power Administration , and led to the establishment of the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program . The Pick-Sloan legislation managed
162-481: The Missouri River with six intents: hydropower , recreation, water supply , navigation, flood control and fish and wildlife. Over 50 dams and lakes have been built due to this legislation, not just on the mainly affected river but also on tributaries and other connected rivers. Nebraska , as an example, has seen more than eight new lakes created due to the damming of the Missouri and tributaries. The Act also recognized
180-875: The United States Harry S. Truman appointed him Chief of Engineers . Pick was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster . Pick City, North Dakota , located by the Garrison Dam on the Missouri River was founded in 1946 and named for him. Pickstown, South Dakota , located by the Fort Randall Dam was also named for him. He died in Washington, D.C. , and was buried in Auburn, Alabama . Pick attended and played college football at Virginia Polytechnic Institute , and graduated in 1914. He
198-548: The dam drains an area of 263,480 sq mi (682,400 km). Its reservoir, Lake Francis Case , has a surface area of 102,000 acres (41,000 ha) at maximum operating pool, coinciding with a volume of 5.7 million acre⋅ft (7.0 billion m). In June 2011, in response to the 2011 Missouri River Floods , the dam was releasing over 143,000 cu ft/s (4,000 m/s), which greatly exceeded its previous record release of 67,000 cu ft/s (1,900 m/s) set in 1997. The Fort Randall Visitor Center
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#1732852763527216-606: The entire productive acreage of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation , some 155,000 acres, supporting 349 families of 1,544 individuals. United States Secretary of the Interior Julius Albert Krug ordered compensation in the form of an equal amount of acreage on lesser lands, at-cost hydroelectric power for irrigation, grazing and watering rights for tribal cattle, and $ 5,105,625 in payment for lost lands. Colonel Pick revoked this order and all its compensations, then denied
234-601: The legitimate rights of states, through the Governor, to impact flood control projects. See 33 US section 701-1 which declared it to be the policy of the Congress to recognize the interests and rights of the States in determining the development of the watersheds within their borders and likewise their interests and rights in water utilization and control. The Act was signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on December 22, 1944. It
252-469: The river bottoms of the Missouri river due to the flooding. The project has successfully controlled flooding throughout the Missouri River basin, provided water for irrigation and municipalities, generated baseload power throughout the central US. However, the Missouri River dumped millions of cubic feet of soil into the Mississippi River every year, which, deposited the silt into the gulf and formed
270-725: Was assigned to the China Burma India Theater of World War II in October 1943, replacing Brigadier General John C. Arrowsmith as Chief Road Engineer. He oversaw construction of the Ledo Road in British Raj India and Burma . His driving force enabled the difficult task to be completed in two and a half years. His men nicknamed the road "Pick's Pike". After his return to the United States in 1945, he served again as Missouri River Division Engineer. On March 1, 1949, President of
288-456: Was initiated into Theta Chi Fraternity in 1924 at Auburn University , where he was a professor of military science and tactics. Pick married Alice Cary, one of the founding members of the Sigma Lambda chapter of Kappa Delta sorority at Auburn. In 1948, Pick was elevated to National Honor Member by Chi Epsilon national civil engineering honor society. The Lewis Andrew Pick Birthplace is
306-574: Was named for General Lewis A. Pick , head of the Army Corps of Engineers , and W. Glenn Sloan of the Interior Department's Bureau of Reclamation . The Lakota , Dakota and Nakota tribes lost 202,000 acres (820 km ). The Three Affiliated Tribes , specifically, lost 155,000 acres (630 km ) in their Fort Berthold Reservation due to the building of the Garrison Dam . The project caused more than 1,500 Native Americans to relocate from
324-884: Was the Corps of Engineers ' District Engineer in New Orleans during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 , and he helped coordinate federal relief efforts. Pick was named Missouri River Division Engineer in 1942, and with William Glenn Sloan of the Bureau of Reclamation he co-wrote the Pick-Sloan Plan for controlling the water resources of the Missouri River Basin . Pick carefully wrote his plan to avoid flooding Bismarck and Williston, North Dakota , along with Pierre and Chamberlain, South Dakota , but intentionally flooded
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