Spring Flooding, The Bakken, 2014

Spring flooding in North Dakota, southwest of Williston, causing problems for Zavanna well.

The Dickinson Press is reporting.

Also, the Little Missouri River north of Killdeer is starting to spill over its banks due to ice jams. 

About That Spring Flooding In North Dakota ...

... I don't know if folks can access this link or not, but give it a try: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=842003965815609&set=a.179976485351697.53654.160260947323251&type=1&theater

The photograph is of an ice jam in the Yellowstone River as it approaches the confluence (where it meets the Missouri River) southwest of Williston. One might get a feeling for the size of this ice jam by noting the minuscule drilling rig on the lower left.

Meanwhile, a flood warning has been declared for Ward County (Minot).

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Crazy Horse: A Lakota Life, Kingsley M. Bray, c. 2006

I bought this book at Books on Broadway in Williston when I was visiting the Bakken a few weeks ago. I bought four books that day; I wasn't sure about this one, but I try to get a book on native American history every so often when I visit that bookstore. I've never been disappointed in any such books from Books on Broadway.

It wasn't until I got home that I read that the author is English. I have often said that the best writers are English, Scottish, and Irish. Kingsley Bray is an "independent scholar" who lives in Manchester, England. He was, apparently, raised in Yorkshire, where I spent some of the best days of my Air Force life.

The English have a fascination with the American West. In his acknowledgments, Bray writes:

In England, fellow students of the Plains Indians helped at various stages in the process of research and writing. Neil Gilbert, English Westerners' Society, helped crystallize my ideas about the Battle of the Rosebud. Members of the Custer Association of Great Britain, especially Derek Batten, Francis Taunton, and Barry C. Johnson, in inviting me to speak on Crazy Horse, helped me to focus my concept of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. .... I owe a special debt to Joseph Balmer, of Erlenbach, Switzerland. A founding member of the English Westerners' Society, Joe was also a prolific correspondent with historians and Indian people.

I found it fascinating -- simply fascinating -- that there were such organizations in England and Europe: the Custer Association of Great Britain -- who would have thought?

Flood Affects Wells In The Bakken

Flooding affects wells at the confluence of the Missouri River and the Yellowstone.

The Department of Mineral Resources Oil and Gas Division began advising operators on Monday to shut down wells that at risk and move equipment and chemical containers in anticipation of possible flooding.

About 50 wells are in the area that’s being monitored, said spokeswoman Alison Ritter. Twenty-two wells cannot be accessed by road due to water on the roads, and seven wells have water on the well site, Ritter said.

Pretty standard.

Never Mind -- US Army Corps Of Engineers

On March 7, 2014, the US Army Corps of Engineers reported that a repeat of the 2011 flood in the Missouri drainage system would not be an issue this year. Maybe, maybe not, but a few folks might not agree. Reuters (and many others) are reporting:

Floods that washed out rural roads in central Montana left hundreds of people stranded on Monday and forced the evacuation of 30 homes in one small town, as forecasts predicted more rain and snow that could worsen conditions in the region.

The flooding, which saw water begin streaming over rural roadways near the ranching community of Roundup during the weekend, came as warmer-than-usual temperatures rapidly melted deep snows amid recent storms that brought abundant rains, weather forecasters said.

Floods also threatened to inundate three towns in north-central Wyoming where vast ice formations blocked the flow of the Bighorn River and caused it to spill from its banks.

Fifteen (15) New Permits -- The Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA; CLR Cancels Thirteen (13) Linbeck Permits, Possibly Replaced By Jersey Federal Wells (Alkali Creek)

Spring road/load restrictions coming soon. An annual event, reported by The Bismarck Tribune. Elsewhere the US Army Corps of Engineers says a repeat of spring flooding like that seen in 2011 is unlikely:

The mountain snowpack in the Missouri River's upper basin is close to levels seen before devastating 2011 flooding along the river, but a repeat this year isn't likely, an Army Corps of Engineers official said.

Drought in 2012 has resulted in a one-third increase in water storage capacity in the three Missouri River reservoirs in the Dakotas and Montana, according to Jody Farhat, chief of Missouri River water management for the corps. There also is not as much snow accumulation on the plains as there was three years ago, when flooding devastated hundreds of thousands of acres of mostly farmland in the Dakotas, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri.

Active rigs:

	3/7/2014	03/07/2013	03/07/2012	03/07/2012	03/07/2011
Active Rigs	191	186	204	204	171

Fifteen (15) new permits:

• Operators: CLR (7), MRO (4), Whiting (3), KOG
• Fields: Alkali Creek (Mountrail), McGregory Buttes (Dunn), Fryburg (Billings), Poe (McKenzie)
• Comments:

Wells coming off confidential list were posted earlier; see sidebar at the right.

Four (4) producing wells were completed:

• 22834, 1,208, Emerald, Hot Rod 1-27-26H, Boxcar Butte, t9/13; cum 45K 1/14;
• 25231, 1,115, Emerald, Slugger 1-16-21H, Charbonneau, t8/13; cum 65K 1/14;
• 25232, 1,098, Emerald, Talon 1-9-4H, Charbonneau, t8/13; cum 66K 1/14;
• 25920, 1,218, Emerald, Hot Rod 4-27-26H, Boxcar Butte, t9/13; cum 31K 1/13;

This may or may not be interesting, cancellations: 

• Continental Resources (CLR) canceled the thirteen (13) Linbeck wells, 6-153-93. These were permitted in Alkali Creek. There is no other activity in the immediate area. Whiting canceled one permit in this area some time ago; Whiting has one well in the immediate area that is a pretty good well but other than that, not much. It is possible these wells are being replaced by the Jersey Federal wells in 6-153-93.

So, We Should Not Expect Flooding In The Bakken This Spring, Huh? Missouri River Spring Run-Off

The Billings Gazette is reporting:

Based on the current soil moisture and snowpack conditions, runoff in the Missouri River Basin above Sioux City, Iowa, is forecast to be 26.1 million acre feet in 2014, up slightly from the 25.1 MAF recorded in 2013, according to the Army Corps of Engineers. 

Normal runoff is 25.2 MAF.

“Although drought conditions in the Missouri River Basin improved significantly in 2013, the Missouri River mainstem reservoir levels remain below normal due to the lingering effects of the 2012 drought,” said Jody Farhat, chief of the Corps' Water Management Division.

The upper three reservoirs, Fort Peck in Eastern Montana, Garrison in North Dakota, and Oahe in South Dakota, remain 5 to 11 feet below the desired operating levels.”

I'm always amazed at the preciseness of these forecasts.