Warsaw resident Rich Chiles has been named as the new Operations Project Manager of Harry S. Truman Dam & Reservoir. Chiles began his career at HTDR in 1990 while attending college at Missouri State University. After graduation, Chiles worked at Bull Shoals Lake in Mountain Home, Arkansas. Later he transferred to Carlyle Lake in Illinois.
Chiles and his family moved back to Warsaw in 1999 where he served as a park ranger, chief ranger, Stockton Lake Manager, Truman Power Plant Manager, Stockton OPM, and now is serving as the Harry S. Truman OPM.
“I grew up loving the outdoors and nature,” said Chiles. “When I had the opportunity to work as a summer park ranger, I became interested in protecting the environment and working for the U. S. Corps of Engineers.”
Chiles, who grew up in the Deepwater area, has over 30 years of service and experience with the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers. Chiles and his wife Chanda reside in Warsaw. Both are natives of the Truman Lake area, having grown up in Henry and St. Clair counties. They have made their home in Benton County for over 25 years. Chanda is a teacher with the Warsaw R-9 School District. The Chiles are parents of two grown sons, Seth and Cade and the grandparents of a granddaughter.
Chiles said that his main job is overseeing the routine operation of Harry S. Truman Dam and Reservoir as well as managing the 50 employees who work on maintenance, hydro power, water quality, safety, recreation and community relationships.
Chiles commented that the staff at HSTD work together to manage the project in accordance with the purposes of flood control, hydroelectric power generation, fish and wildlife management and recreation.
“We have to balance the need for electricity with the water conditions downstream as well as flooding conditions,” said Chiles. “It is really a balancing of what is needed at the time.”
Presently the road across the dam is closed as the staff works on routine maintenance. The road should reopen sometime this winter.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built and manages the lake and dam. It is used primarily for flood control. Other uses include power generation, recreation, and wildlife management.
Originally named Kaysinger Bluff Dam and Reservoir in 1954, when construction was authorized, construction began in August 1964. It was renamed the Harry S Truman Dam and Reservoir, in honor of the former president from Missouri, by Congress in 1970. Construction was completed in 1979. The Kaysinger name refers to the bluff immediately north next to where the dam was eventually constructed. The bluff or cliff, a popular landmark even before the dam, overlooked the confluence of the South Grand River, Tebo Creek and the Osage River. The visitor center now sits on the bluff.
Completing the Truman Project took many years of planning, land acquisition, constructing new bridges and demolishing old ones. Several roads, towns, and cemeteries had to be relocated. The first construction project completed on the project was relocating Route 13 so it would be above maximum pool level.
The creation of the lake forced the closure of the Frisco Railroad's "Highline". Rising water levels severed the railroad tracks near Osceola and Deepwater and railroad officials declined to spend millions of dollars to reroute the lightly used tracks. The Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, however, did relocate its main line between La Due and Clinton; the project included five miles of new track and a causeway/bridge combination over the lake.
“My goal is to maintain and preserve the area to pass on to future generations,” said Chiles.
