Corps had plenty of advance warning that a big Missouri flood was coming, but moved too slowly

"The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was warned from multiple sources early in the year that major flooding was likely on the Missouri River," the Argus Leader of Sioux Falls reports. "But by the time officials moved to 'evacuate' upstream reservoirs in anticipation of snowmelt, they were hampered by downstream flooding that prevented them from releasing more water, internal emails show." (Reuters photo by Lane Hickenbottom)

Farmers and state and local officials have criticized the Corps for its management of the river. "The reporters have done an incredible job of tracing [Corps] decisions . . . as snow and rain built up in the upper part of the river and the flooding began," the Daily Yonder notes. The newspaper shares credit with the Washington bureau of Gannett Co. Inc., its publisher. For the story, click here.

A.G. Sulzberger of The New York Times' Kansas City bureau "reports that conflicting demands on the river — as source of water for recreation, to protect endangered species, for shipping — have diluted the goal of flood protection. The result, say some, is the flood of 2011," the Yonder notes.