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MO River release rates to remain high

By John Nixon

07/31/2019

(KLZA)-- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced this week the releases from Gavins Point Dam at Yankton, South Dakota will remain at 70-thousand cubic feet per second for the foreseeable future.

This is about double the normal release rate. John Remus, chief of the Missouri River Basin Water Management Division for the Corps of Engineers says even when release rates decrease, it will be a slow drop to about 55-thousand CFS and could remain higher.

Wintertime releases from Gavins Point on the Nebraska, South Dakota border might not drop below 20-thousand CFS and could remain higher.

The snow and rain runoff is on pace to be the second highest total in 121 years of record-keeping, according to the corps. All the snow has now melted, but not all of the melt has reached the reservoirs as of late last week. This means the reservoirs system continues to climb and has not yet reached its peak storage amount.

Remus says the corps is under pressure to release more water from the reservoirs, but notes the corps has to consider the potential negative effects downstream.

The corps expects it to be several years before the downstream levee system which has been severely compromised by this years flooding, will be repaired to pre-flood conditions.

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