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  • Upper basin runoff forecast below average; Gavins Point releases to increase for navigation flow support; April public meetings

    The updated 2023 calendar year runoff forecast for the Missouri River Basin above Sioux City, Iowa, continues to be below average. The 2023 calendar year runoff forecast above Sioux City is 21.5 million acre feet, 84% of average. The runoff forecast is based on current soil moisture conditions, plains snowpack, mountain snowpack, and long-term precipitation and temperature outlooks. February runoff in the Missouri River Basin above Sioux City was 1.0 MAF, 86% of average.
  • Below average runoff continues for the upper Missouri River Basin in 2023

    The updated 2023 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 1.1 million acre-feet, 134% of average. Runoff was above average due to warmer-than-normal temperatures in the upper basin resulting in some snowmelt runoff.
  • Dry Conditions expected to persist for the Missouri River Basin

    For the 2022 calendar year, Missouri River basin runoff above Sioux City, Iowa totaled 19.3 million acre-feet, 75% of average. This was the 30th lowest annual runoff for the Missouri River Basin in 125 years of record-keeping. The ongoing drought shows little relief in sight and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers predicts runoff into the mainstem reservoir system will remain below normal. For 2023, runoff in the Missouri River basin above Sioux City, Iowa is forecast to be 20.8 MAF, 81% of average.
  • Releases from Gavins Point Dam reduced to winter rates

    Flow support for the 2022 Missouri River navigation season ended Nov. 21 as releases were reduced toward winter rates at Gavins Point Dam. “Releases from Gavins Point Dam are being reduced to the winter release of 12,000 cubic feet per second,” said John Remus, Chief of the Missouri River Basin Water Management Division.
  • Gavins Point Dam releases to be reduced to winter release rate in late November

    Six public meetings were held during the week of Oct. 24 to present current hydrologic conditions and the planned operation of the Missouri River mainstem reservoir system for the remainder of 2022. The public meetings were held in six locations in the Missouri River basin and a virtual public meeting was held Nov. 3. The meetings included draft plans for regulating the system in 2023. “We will continue to make releases from Gavins Point Dam to provide flow support at a level 500 cubic feet per second above minimum service, through the end of the navigation flow support season,” said John Remus, chief of the USACE, Missouri River Basin Water Management Division. “The flow support season will end three days early, on Nov. 28, at the mouth of the Missouri River.”
  • Drought conditions worsen in upper Missouri River Basin

    The time for the Fort Peck meeting was updated to 11 a.m. Due to scheduling conflicts, the St. Louis meeting has been canceled. September precipitation was once again below average in the Missouri River Basin. September runoff in the Missouri River Basin above Sioux City, Iowa was 0.6 million acre-feet, 47% of the long-term average. Soil conditions in the upper Missouri River Basin continue to be very dry. According to the Drought Mitigation Center, over 90% of the Missouri River basin is currently experiencing some form of abnormally dry conditions or drought, which is almost a 20% increase from the end of August.