For the second time in the past week, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) has stopped all upper Missouri River Basin flows at Fort Randall Dam, the agency announced today.

“We have stopped releases again from Fort Randall Dam. The inflows into Gavins Point Dam continue to be higher than normal,” said John Remus, chief of the Corps’ Missouri River Water Management Division.

Releases from Gavins Point Dam were reduced to 43,000 cubic feet per second Sunday evening and will be further reduced today. The Gavins Point pool elevation is 1209.5 feet, about 3 feet below Friday’s peak elevation and 0.5 foot below the top of its Exclusive Flood Control Zone.

More than 99 percent of the Missouri River Mainstem System Storage is above Fort Randall Dam and 15.7 million acre feet (MAF) of the 16.3 MAF of flood control storage remains available.

There are several locations affected by the flooding said Northwestern Division commander, Brig. Gen. D. Peter Helmlinger after surveying the area yesterday.

“Many may not realize this is not just the Missouri River. The Elkhorn River, Salt Creek and Platte River areas have also experienced the wrath of this storm. Corps’ personnel are fully engaged providing support in South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri. We are with you,” said Helmlinger.

The National Weather service is forecasting high flows on the Big Sioux, Vermillion, and James rivers from melting plains snowpack.

“It is important for those on these rivers and the Missouri River downstream from Sioux City not to get complacent as the stages are declining. They will likely climb again,” said Kevin Low, lead hydrologist from the National Weather Service’s Missouri Basin River Forecast Center in Pleasant Hill, Missouri.

The Corps has established webpage at go.usa.gov/xE6fC (the URL is case sensitive) that can be saved to your mobile phone’s home screen which provides links to the most up-to-date information from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers including runoff and release schedules, links to the Omaha and Kansas City Districts, links to our social media accounts, and provides a link to the National Weather Service, Missouri Basin River Forecast Center. We have also provided links to the “App” on Facebook and Twitter.

The adjusted release schedule for Gavins Point is as follows:
• 38,000 cfs Monday evening
• 33,000 cfs Tuesday morning
• 28,000 cfs Tuesday evening
• 23,000 cfs Wednesday morning
• 20,000 cfs Wednesday evening

Please note: the release schedule can change based on changing reservoir inflow and/or downstream river conditions.

Gavins Point release changes take two to three days to reach Omaha, three to four days to reach Nebraska City, and four to five days to reach Kansas City, Missouri.
The public should look to their local emergency managers for questions or concerns or call 211, which is a National Resource hotline and website geared to local area needs. They is also a hotline 402-471-7428 for Nebraska residents.