Spillway operations at Gavins Point Dam are ending following recent heavy rains.

At 8 a.m. today, June 26, the gates at Gavins Point Dam in Yankton, South Dakota, will close with all releases passing though the powerhouse. 

Releases have been lowered from 24,000 cubic feet per second to 20,000 cfs.

"The pool elevation on the Gavins Point reservoir, Lewis and Clark Lake, receded about 6 inches overnight allowing us to return releases to the powerhouse at 20,000 cfs," said John Remus, chief of the Missouri River Water Management Division.

The current pool elevation at Gavins Point is 1208.52 feet 

Current inflows at Gavins Point Dam are about 14,500 cfs, and continue to decrease.

With releases at 24,000 cfs from June 21 through June 25 at Gavins Point, the spillway gates were opened on June 23 to pass releases of 15,000 cfs, while the remaining 9,000 cfs passed through the powerhouse, generating hydropower. 

Releases were lowered from 29,000 cfs on June 19 to 24,000 cfs to capture runoff from rain events in central and northeastern Nebraska and to offset some inflows joining the Missouri River after Gavins Point Dam.

"We are holding daily conference calls for key stakeholders to provide updates on Missouri River Mainstem System operations and to allow th Omaha and Kansas City Districts to provide updates on flood response operations," said Remus.

"Today's call will be at 1 p.m. as it has been all week, we can take questions from the media at that time and a recording of the call will be made public later in the afternoon."

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