Higher-than-average releases from all Missouri River Mainstem System projects will continue through November.
Chief of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Missouri River Basin Water Management Division John Remus says to ensure all stored 2018 runoff is evacuated prior to the 2019 runoff season, most of the releases must occur before the river ices over in areas predominantly upstream from Lake Oahe.
Oahe Dam releases averaged 45,900 cfs during October and are expected to average 44,000 cfs in November. Releases will continue to be made from both the powerhouse and the outlet tunnels, due to scheduled maintenance on the hydropower units and the need to continue evacuating stored runoff. The reservoir level went down 3.4 feet in October. Reservoir levels will continue to decline during November with a projected end-of-month elevation near 1607.7 feet.
Big Bend Dam releases averaged 42,500 cfs in October. Releases are expected to average 44,500 cfs and the reservoir will remain near is normal elevation of 1420.0 feet during November.
The 2018 runoff forecast in the Missouri River Basin above Sioux City, Iowa is 41.4 million acre feet. If realized, the runoff will be third highest in 120 years of record-keeping (1898-2017), exceeded only in 1997 and 2011.
Additionally, the Corps will hold public meetings in six cities—including Fort Pierre– this week to discuss 2018 operations and plans for regulating the reservoir system in 2019. The presentations will be followed by a question and answer session. The meeting in Fort Pierre will be Wed. Nov. 7 at 10am at the Casey Tibbs Rodeo Center conference room.
To view the detailed three-week release forecast for the mainstem dams, go to http://www.nwd-mr.usace.army.mil/rcc/reports/twregfcast.pdf.
Weekly updates on basin conditions, reservoir levels and other topics of interest can be viewed here: http://www.nwd-mr.usace.army.mil/rcc/reports/pdfs/weeklyupdate.pdf.
The 2018-2019 draft Annual Operating Plan for the Missouri River Mainstem System was posted in September at: http://www.nwd.usace.army.mil/MRWM/Public-Meetings/.
