2011 Missouri River Flood

Challenging Waters
Air Date: 06/12/2012

For decades, people have tried to control the mighty Missouri River. SDPB Television looks at the efforts in a new one-hour documentary: Challenging Waters.

Challenging Waters looks at the history of the uses and management of the Missouri River in South Dakota from pre-settlement through the present day. The documentary includes the development of the reservoir system and the master manual that dictates how managers are supposed to control the river's flow. The Army Corps of Engineers must balance the often competing demands for hydroelectric power generation, recreation, environmental concerns, downstream navigation and flood control.

In the end, despite a series of massive dams and reservoirs, this mighty river proves to be a force of nature that is impossible to completely control. Challenging waters also looks back at the flooding of 2011 and the long and short-term changes that are the result.