The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says additional storage space will be available in the six Missouri River main stem reservoirs this spring.
During a biweekly conference call Friday, Corps officials discussed conditions going in to the start of the spring runoff season, which begins March first. Jody Farhat, Chief of the Omaha District’s Water Management Division, says plains and mountain snowpack are below this time last year.
Farhat says warmer temperatures and less snow allowed the Corps to release additional water from the reservoirs, freeing up an additional 500,000 acre feet of space.
Meanwhile, 18 levee and other infrastructure repair projects are in the works following last summer’s Missouri River flooding.
Among the $280 million dollars worth of projects are two new storm water pumping stations in Council Bluffs, replacing ones damaged by flood water. Brett Budd, Chief of the Omaha District’s System Restoration Team, says crews are also repairing three levee breaches near Percival and Hamburg, Iowa. All three of those projects are schedule for substantial completion by March first.
Water releases from Gavins Point Dam in South Dakota remain at 22,000 cubic feet per second.
On the web: www.nwo.usace.army.mil