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News Releases

Second peak of Fort Peck flow test resuming

Missouri River Water Management Division

Published June 17, 2024

National Weather Service graphic depicting flows on the Missouri River at Williston, N.D. the chart shows set stages of Action Stage at 20 feet, minor flood stage at 22 feet, morderate flood stage at 24 feet, and major flood stage at 26 feet. A blue line traces past and current gage readings, a purple line shows forecast stages.

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The National Weather Service has forecast declining flows on the Yellowstone River reaching the Missouri River at the Williston gage. The Williston gage dropped below 22.0 feet as of today, June 17 at 9 a.m. (Central Time). River stages continue to decline.

A map showing the Upper Missouri River Basin with pins denoting the locations of each Missouri River Mainstem Dam operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Northwestern Division. Text on the image provides a schedule for weekly calls to be held through the duration of the test flows.
Calls will be held cach Wednesday from April 24-July 17, 2024 at 1:00 PM Central Time. Weekly calls will be held through the duration of the Fort Peck Test Flows.
The calls will provide a report on: current releases, the previous week’s release rates, and operations for the
next week through the course of the test. The website for accessing the calls is https://usace1.webex.com/usace1/j.php?MTID=ma8b176ff7ce553ae5f1f645f3a8629a4

The link only works during an active call. For recordings of the call, users can visit www.nwd.usace.army.mil/MRWM/MRWM-News/

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Updates on the Fort Peck Test Flow will be held each Wednesday from April 24-July 17, 2024 at 1 p.m. Central Time. Weekly calls will be held through the duration of the Fort Peck Test Flows. Calls will report on: Current releases, Previous week’s release rates, and Operations for the next week through the course of the test. Calls can be accessed at: https://usace1.webex.com/usace1/j.php?MTID=ma8b176ff7ce553ae5f1f645f3a8629a4 Please note the link only works during active calls.

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OMAHA, Neb. --

Releases from Fort Peck will begin stepping up as part of the second peak of the Fort Peck flow test starting today.

Releases from Fort Peck will be gradually increased, starting today, June 17, to reach a peak flow of 20,000 cubic feet per second at Wolf Point, Montana, on Sunday, June 23.

These releases will include flows from the Fort Peck spillway, beginning today around 9:00 a.m. (Mountain Time).

The second peak flow was scheduled to begin on June 13, but was delayed due to the stage forecast at Williston, North Dakota being above 22.0 feet.

“Forecast flows on the Yellowstone River continue to decline and the river gage at Williston has dropped below 22.0 feet supporting a decision to proceed with the second peak flow beginning today, June 17^th,” said John Remus, chief of the Missouri Basin Water Management Division.

The rate of increase and decrease for the second peak will follow the original increase and decrease schedule. However, the peak flow measured at Wolf Point will be approximately 20,000 cfs, instead of the originally planned 22,500 cfs.

Releases will be made to hold at flows at Wolf Point of 20,000 cfs for three days, and then reduced by 1,000 cfs for 10 days, reaching 10,000 cfs on July 5.

On July 6, releases will be reduced to maintain a flow of 8,000 cfs at Wolf Point.

Weekly virtual meetings during the flow test continue to take place to update the public on test progress and planned operations. Information on accessing the public meetings can be found at https://www.nwd.usace.army.mil/MRWM/Public-Meetings/Meetings.

The next call will be held June 19 at 1 p.m. Central (12 p.m. Mountain).

During the flow test a number of monitoring activities will be conducted to include fish monitoring, lidar and aerial photography, physical surveys, cultural resource surveys, and water quality sampling. Interested parties can also provide information through a web-based application that can be found at https://hydroviz.ca/fort-peck-feedback or Missouri.Water.Management@nwd02.usace.army.mil.