10/09/2026
On May 20, 2002, Clearwater Lake rose to 566.6 feet.
Flood pool is 567.
That is the highest water level on record, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation. At 567 feet, the lake holds 413,000 acre-feet. About 95 percent of that, MDC says, is set aside for flood control.
The dam sits on the Black River in Wayne County. The Flood Control Act of June 1938 authorized it. A Corps assessment says its purpose is flood control, with a conservation pool for recreation and fish and wildlife.
Construction began in May 1940 with the outlet works, according to the city of Piedmont. The dam opened on May 30, 1948. MDC says completion came in 1951, and the dates do not agree.
What it did is easier to measure.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service says the dam cut the average annual peak flow of the Black River at Poplar Bluff nearly in half, from 20,700 to 10,150 cubic feet per second.
A Corps environmental assessment says that through fiscal year 2002, Clearwater Lake had prevented an estimated $193,281,800 in flood damage.
Even so, the river still floods.
The NRCS says Corps studies in 1976 and 1991 found channel debris, mostly trees, a major contributor to Black River flooding.
Do you remember the 2002 flood?
Illustrated with the use of AI
