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Category: Water Management - Missouri River
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  • Average Garrison Dam releases declining to address downstream ice

    **Updated to note continued decline in releases toward 16,000 cfs ahead of the forecast schedule.** Fluctuations in temperatures in the Bismarck area have resulted in ice formation on the Missouri River and an ice jam just south of Bismarck. To reduce the threat of flooding, releases from Garrison Dam will be decreased today to an average of 22,000 cfs and tomorrow to 19,000 cfs. Releases may be adjusted as needed over the next several days based on the most up-to-date information.

  • Below average runoff forecast for the upper Missouri River Basin in 2024

    **Last paragraph to note Forecast generation for 2024 is 8.6 billion kWh. It had been incorrectly stated as 2023.** The updated 2024 calendar year runoff forecast for the Missouri River Basin above Sioux City, Iowa, continues to be below average. January runoff in the Missouri River Basin above Sioux City was 0.4 million acre-feet, 56% of average. Runoff was well-below-average due to much-below-normal temperatures over the whole Missouri River Basin and below-normal precipitation over most of the upper basin.

  • Dry conditions expected to persist for the Missouri River Basin

    For the 2023 calendar year, Missouri River Basin runoff above Sioux City, Iowa totaled 30.4 million acre-feet (MAF), 118% of average. Despite the above average runoff last year, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is forecasting below-average runoff into the mainstem reservoir system this year. For 2024, runoff in the Missouri River Basin above Sioux City, Iowa is forecast to be 20.1 MAF, 78% of average.

  • Now Available: Final 2023-2024 Missouri River Operating Plan

    The Final Missouri River Mainstem Reservoir System Annual Operating Plan for the 2023-2024 runoff season is now available. This Annual Operating Plan (AOP) presents the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ regulation of the Missouri River Mainstem Reservoir System through Dec. 2024. The information in the AOP is based on water management guidelines designed to meet the reservoir regulation objectives of the 2018 Missouri River Master Water Control Manual (Master Manual).

  • Gavins Point Dam releases reduced to winter release rate on November 23

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began reducing the Gavins Point releases to the winter release rate on November 23 with the navigation flow support season ending on December 1 at St. Louis, MO. “Releases from Gavins Point Dam were reduced from 35,000 cubic feet per second to 13,000 cfs by mid-December,” said John Remus, chief of the USACE, Missouri River Water Management Division. “We will closely monitor river conditions, and releases will be adjusted to the extent practical to lessen the impacts of river ice formation on stages in the lower river.”

  • Missouri River fall meetings scheduled for December 13

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will host a public meeting in Poplar, Montana, Dec. 13 to share information about USACE’s operation of the Missouri River Mainstem Reservoir System. Public meetings are held each spring and fall across the Missouri River Basin and provide an update on current year's runoff and reservoir operations, as well as planned operations for the next year's runoff season.

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