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  • Oahe and Big Bend Dams supporting temporary power needs

    Beginning today, releases from Oahe and Big Bend Dams in South Dakota will be increased from a daily average of about 15,000 cfs to about 36,000 cfs, downstream conditions permitting. These releases are aimed at providing additional power generation during a winter storm moving across the country over the weekend. "The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Northwestern Division is working with the Western Area Power Administration much like last February," said John Remus, Chief of the Missouri River Basin Water Management Division. These actions will not effects the overall system storage, and will not change the System releases from Gavins Point Dam. We do not expect these release changes to remain in effect for more than 24 hours.
  • Gavins Point releases to remain steady through August

    Below-normal precipitation in Montana and Wyoming during July resulted in slightly below-average July runoff in the upper Basin. The 2020 calendar year upper basin runoff forecast, updated on August 3, is 30.9 million acre-feet (MAF), 120% of average. Average annual runoff for the upper basin is 25.8 MAF.
  • Missouri River water management public meeting presentations available online

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Missouri River Water Management Division has released four videos of presentations that would normally be given at public meetings held throughout the Missouri River Basin. In-person public meetings on Missouri River Mainstem Reservoir System operations originally scheduled for April were canceled to further reduce potential exposure to COVID-19. Instead, the agency will host virtual question and answer sessions in late April. A web page with the videos, a form for submitting questions, and call in dates and times is located here: https://go.usa.gov/xvBpc.
  • Forecast runoff for upper Missouri River basin lower after warm spring

    Gavins Point releases are forecast to remain near 35,000 cubic feet per second through the month of April. The upper Missouri River basin March runoff fell in line with the March 1 forecast. Runoff above Sioux City, Iowa was 5.5 million acre feet, which is almost two times average. The above average runoff was primarily due to plains snow melting over heavily saturated soils. “The warmer-than-normal temperatures melted most of the plains snow in the eastern and central Dakotas. Along with the steady, but near average, rate of snow accumulation in the mountains, the projected upper Missouri River basin runoff for 2020 has been slightly reduced,” said John Remus, chief of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (Corps) Missouri River Basin Water Management Division.
  • 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 reduces Missouri River dam releases to winter levels

    As part of the normal operation of the Mainstem Reservoir System, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Missouri River Basin Water Management Division has reduced releases from several Missouri River dams to winter levels.