News Release
| Release Number: | 08-015 |
| Dated: | 9/16/2008 |
| Contact: | Paul T Johnston, 402-697-2552 |
OMAHA, Neb. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is reducing releases from the large reservoirs on the Missouri River to help take pressure off downstream farmers and communities experiencing the highest flows of the year due to rain from successive hurricanes.
Cuts began over the weekend from nearly 22,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 16,000 cfs today. River stages from just below Gavins Point Dam, near Yankton, S.D., to Kansas City, Mo., should fall 1 to 2 feet over the next several days. Further downstream, the reductions will help speed the natural decline of the flood waters.
Hermann, Mo., is recording the highest flows of the year, far exceeding the near-record high water experienced in mid-June when the river stage reached 27 feet. The river topped 31 feet today.
“When reaches of the river experience high flows, we cut our releases from the Missouri River Mainstem Reservoir System as well as those on the tributaries like the Kansas River to help reduce the high stages,” says Larry Cieslik, chief of the Water Management Office here.
The Corps is closely monitoring intakes of coal-fired power plants along the river in Iowa and Nebraska to ensure the lower flows don’t put their generation capabilities at risk.
As the high flows recede, releases from the Corps’ dams will be adjusted to continue providing downstream relief while still meeting municipal and utility water supply needs in the reach from Sioux City, Iowa, to Kansas City.