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  • Dry conditions expected to persist for the Missouri River Basin

    For the 2023 calendar year, Missouri River Basin runoff above Sioux City, Iowa totaled 30.4 million acre-feet (MAF), 118% of average. Despite the above average runoff last year, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is forecasting below-average runoff into the mainstem reservoir system this year. For 2024, runoff in the Missouri River Basin above Sioux City, Iowa is forecast to be 20.1 MAF, 78% of average.

  • Now Available: Final 2023-2024 Missouri River Operating Plan

    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).

  • Gavins Point Dam releases reduced to winter release rate on November 23

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began reducing the Gavins Point releases to the winter release rate on November 23 with the navigation flow support season ending on December 1 at St. Louis, MO. “Releases from Gavins Point Dam were reduced from 35,000 cubic feet per second to 13,000 cfs by mid-December,” said John Remus, chief of the USACE, Missouri River Water Management Division. “We will closely monitor river conditions, and releases will be adjusted to the extent practical to lessen the impacts of river ice formation on stages in the lower river.”

  • Missouri River fall meetings scheduled for December 13

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will host a public meeting in Poplar, Montana, Dec. 13 to share information about USACE’s operation of the Missouri River Mainstem Reservoir System. Public meetings are held each spring and fall across the Missouri River Basin and provide an update on current year's runoff and reservoir operations, as well as planned operations for the next year's runoff season.

  • Gavins Point Dam releases to be reduced to winter release rate

    Gavins Point Dam releases will be reduced in late November as flow support to navigation ends. Releases are currently 32,000 cubic feet per second. “We will continue to make releases from Gavins Point Dam to provide flow support at an intermediate service level, 1,500 cfs less than full service, through the end of the navigation flow support season,” said John Remus, chief of the USACE, Missouri River Water Management Division.  “The flow support season will end on Dec. 1 at the mouth of the Missouri River.”

  • Pacific lamprey returns eclipsing other years

    *Our initial news release referenced adult Pacific Lamprey returns were 170 percent higher than the 10-year-average and then referenced the 10-year-average being 41,414 which is actually closer to 154 percent. The 170 percent number came from using the 2022 Annual Fish Passage Report, which references completed counts over ten years from 2013-2022. This average is 37,425. This has been updated online and addressed in other forums. Please excuse this mistake. Adult returns are indeed 252 percent higher than the four-year-average. Also, note these counts are daytime counts and lamprey passage numbers are still probably closer to 165,314 total fish. Pacific lamprey, an ancient, eel-like fish species, are seeing returns 170 percent higher than the 10-year average (2013-2022) at Bonneville Lock and Dam this year. Lamprey numbers are also 252 percent higher than the four-year average, according to biologists responsible for reporting the number of fish counted as they migrate upstream past mainstem Columbia and Snake River dams.

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