The US Army Corps of Engineers will begin reducing releases from some Missouri River mainstem dams this week, but releases from the Oahe Dam will remain at the current level through Dec. 2.
Lower releases will start tomorrow (Nov. 20) at Garrison Dam in North Dakota. Reductions are scheduled in South Dakota Friday at Fort Randall Dam and Saturday at Gavins Point Dam, both of which are below the Oahe Dam at Pierre/Fort Pierre.
Chief of the Missouri River Water Management Division John Remus says to avoid impacts to water supply and risks to critical infrastructure downstream of the Oahe Dam, changes to system releases are aimed at slowing the pool decline of the Fort Randall reservoir. He says ensuring access for water supply requires increased upstream releases, primarily from the Oahe reservoir, which would cause flooding to critical infrastructure immediately downstream.
Remus says overall releases from the Missouri River system will still be higher than normal through the winter to ensure flood control zones are emptied before the next runoff season. He says the Corps is continuing to monitor conditions and will make adjustments as necessary.
Release reductions are also geared toward lowering river stages in areas where the Missouri River ices over. River ice conditions can be tracked here, https://go.usa.gov/xpZZX.
The complete three-week forecast is available at, http://go.usa.gov/xUEh5, and is updated each Wednesday, or more frequently if needed.
Additional, historical project data including pool elevations, inflows and releases, is available in the Project Statistics section here: https://www.nwd.usace.army.mil/MRWM/Statistics/.
