OMAHA, Neb. -- 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).
Management of the reservoir system is provided by the Missouri River Basin Water Management Division, Northwestern Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, located in Omaha, Nebraska.
A draft of this AOP was made available to the public in Sept. 2023. Five public meetings were held across the basin in early Nov., and one meeting was rescheduled for mid-Dec. As part of continued communication, monthly conference calls will be conducted by USACE beginning in Jan. 2024 with Federal, state, and local government officials, Tribes, emergency management officials, independent experts, and the media to discuss conditions on the ground and current USACE reservoir release plans and forecasts.
After two years of below average runoff, Missouri River basin runoff was above average this year. Despite some recovery, reservoir levels remained low and resulted in water conservation measures remaining in effect in 2023 to ensure service to all project purposes should drought conditions continue.
The Missouri River Water Management Division has made the final 2023-2024 Annual Operating Plan available at: https://www.nwd.usace.army.mil/MRWM/Public-Meetings/.
Release no. 23-042