The US Army Corps of Engineers expects some rapid rises in the upper Missouri River Dam System reservoir pools as the plains and mountain snowpacks melt and flow into the River. But, the Corps says the system has room to hold the runoff– barring a major rain event.
Chief of the US Army Corps of Engineers Missouri River Water Management Division John Remus says they can control water releases from dams in the upper parts of the Missouri River so as not to exacerbate the flooding situation downstream. He says the Oahe Reservoir has room to hold what comes down from up north– as long as a major rain incident doesn’t occur.
Remus says 88 percent of the flood storage capacity of the System is available to capture runoff (14.4 million acre feet). Last fall and early winter, the Corps moved water out of the various upper system reservoirs, bringing them down to a level to accommodate spring runoff.
The Garrison Dam near Riverdale, ND, and the Oahe Dam at Pierre, SD, are the two biggest reservoirs along the upper Missouri River Dam System having nearly 50-million acre feet of combined water storage. As of this morning (Mon.), the Oahe Reservoir level was about 10.5 feet below flood stage while Garrison Dam was almost 16 feet below its flood stage.
An updated basin runoff forecast will be released on April 1.
The Corps has established webpage at http://go.usa.gov/xE6fC (the URL is case sensitive) that provides links to the most up-to-date information from the Corps.
The National Weather Service is the official forecasting agency for the US Government – the public should look to the NWS for forecasts and flood warnings at https://www.weather.gov/mbrfc/.
