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News Releases

  • Missouri River runoff below normal in July

    Runoff in the Missouri River Basin above Sioux City, Iowa, for the month of July was 2.7 million acre feet (MAF), 81 percent of normal. The 2015 runoff forecast is 25.0 MAF, 99 percent of normal. Average annual runoff is 25.2 MAF. The total volume of water stored in the Mainstem Reservoir System is currently 61.3 MAF, occupying 5.2 MAF of the 16.3 MAF combined flood control storage zones. System storage peaked on July 9 at 61.9 MAF and is gradually declining. The water currently stored in the annual flood control zone will be released during the remainder of the year to serve navigation, water supply and other downstream purposes and will be completely evacuated prior to the start of next year’s runoff season.

  • Corps welcomes new commander to the Northwestern Division

    Brigadier General Scott A. Spellmon assumed command of the Northwestern Division office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He succeeds Brigadier General John S. Kem, who has served as commander since July 2013.

  • Missouri River Basin runoff remains above normal due to widespread rainfall

    Runoff in the Missouri River Basin above Sioux City, Iowa for the month of June was 6.8 million acre feet (MAF), 125 percent of normal. The 2015 runoff forecast is 26.6 MAF, 105 percent of normal. Average annual runoff is 25.2 MAF. June precipitation was above normal across much of the Missouri River Basin, most notably in the western Dakotas, eastern Montana and eastern Wyoming. Heavy rain also fell in eastern Nebraska, northeastern Kansas and much of Missouri.

  • Corps seeks stakeholder involvement in Missouri River committee

    Applications for stakeholders interested in Missouri River recovery activities are being requested by the Commander of the Northwestern Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to fill vacant stakeholder member positions on the Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee (MRRIC). MRRIC is a collaborative forum for Missouri River Basin stakeholders, states and Tribes to come together and develop a shared vision and comprehensive plan for Missouri River recovery.

  • Corps gears up for transition to summer fish operations

    This month the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will transition to summer operations for fish. Beginning on June 16, USACE will begin summer spill for fish at Bonneville, The Dalles, John Day and McNary dams while the lower Snake River dams will transition to summer spill operations on June 21.

  • Corps of engineers updates region on basin conditions

    he U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continues to monitor snowpack levels across the Columbia River Basin. “Currently, levels are well below normal for this time of year, so we’re seeing lower than normal river flows throughout the system,” said Steve Barton, Chief of the Corps’ Water Management Division. Basin snow below 5,000 feet in the United States is either already gone or is melting ahead of normal.

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