Over the last two weeks the US Army Corps of Engineers has worked diligently to return Mark Twain Lake to a condition more conducive to recreation.  Their efforts have really paid off.  Just two weeks ago the lake was at a record level of 640 feet above sea level.  Today the lake has dropped to about 618 feet above sea level, which is only 12 feet above normal pool.  All major boatramps and facilities have reopened, with more secondary boatramps opening every day.    All restrictions on the lake have been lifted so boating and fishing may continue 24 hours a day, 7 days a week as they have since the lake opened in July of 1984.

The recent heavy rains broke all water related records at the Mark Twain Lake and Clarence Cannon Dam project.  The water, at its peak reached 640.3 feet above sea level.  This was the highest level ever recorded at Mark Twain Lake and beat the previous record of 636.7 which was reached uring the great flood of 1993.  The water released from the Cannon Dam's floodgates also reached record proportions.  The Canon Dam normally releases water from its floodgates and powerhouse at at rate of 12,000 cubic feet per second.  During the recent flooding, releases exceeded 50,000 cubic feet per second.  The floodgates on the dam were open 7 feet wide to allow this much water to pass through.

 The entirity of Mark Twain Lake has never been closed before the US Army Corps closed the lake to all boating on July 29th 2008.   The lake remained closed until Tuesday August 5th, with a daytime only restriction.  The daytime restriction was lifted a few days later as much of the debris that had washed into thelake settled out.  The Ray Behrens campground had never before been closed due to high water either.  The Campground has since reopened and is fully operational.  Since the campground itself was not actually flooded there was not any damage that would be visible to guests.

 As the lake level has dropped the lake has been quickly clearing and is largely free of debris.  Fishing has also been quite good with anglers landing good stringers of crappie in recent days.  Catfishing has also been excellent with many fisherman catching large flatheads on juglines.

As the 2008 summer season draws to a close it is hard to beleive that just a few days ago we were experiencing the worst flooding in the 24 year history of the Clarence Cannon Dam and Mark Twain Lake project.  The US Army Corps management of this crisis was decisive and their actions have allowed the Mark Twain Lake to be enjoyed by all comers for fishing and boating for the upcoming labor day holiday and the fall fishing season.