The US Army Corps of Engineers has begun managing releases from dams along the Upper Missouri River Basin to maintain winter levels.
John Remus, Chief of the Missouri River Water Management Division, says runoff in the upper Missouri River Basin above Sioux City, Iowa, was 1.2 million acre-feet during November, 116% of average. He says the 2020 calendar year runoff forecast is 30.6 MAF, 119% of average. Average annual runoff is 25.8 MAF.
The total volume of water stored in the Missouri River mainstem reservoirs is currently 56.3 million acre-feet, occupying 0.2 MAF of the 16.3 MAF combined flood control storage zones. System storage is forecast to reach the base of the combined flood control storage zone in mid- to late-December.
Currently, plains snowpack in the upper Missouri River Basin is sparse.
Oahe Dam
- Average releases past month – 19,800 cfs
- Forecast average release rate – 17,400 cfs
- End-of-November reservoir level – 1606.8 feet (down 1.5 feet during November)
- Forecast end-of-December reservoir level – 1606.3 feet
Big Bend Dam
- Average releases past month – 19,800 cfs
- Forecast average release rate – 17,500 cfs
- Forecast reservoir level – 1420.5 feet
The forecast reservoir releases and elevations are not definitive. Additional precipitation, lack of precipitation or other circumstances could cause adjustments to the reservoir release rates.
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