Drought conditions are present across 73% of the Basin and likely to persist or worsen through November. August runoff was 1.2 MAF, 86% of average above Sioux City. The updated upper Basin runoff forecast for is 23.8 MAF, 92% of average. Average annual runoff for the upper Basin is 25.7 MAF. As of Sept. 1, the volume of water stored in the System was 55.1 MAF, or 1.0 MAF below the base of the System’s flood control zone. Storage is expected to continue declining through the fall. System storage is expected to be about 4.7 MAF below the base of flood control at the start of the 2025 runoff season.