News Release
| Release Number: | 06-015 |
| Dated: | 8/22/2006 |
| Contact: | Paul T Johnston, 402-697-2552 |
OMAHA – As the last of the piping plover and least tern chicks along the Missouri River below Garrison Dam mature enough to fly, releases will be increased tomorrow to better balance the impacts of the drought among the three largest main stem reservoirs.
“We intend to increase releases at Garrison from the current 21,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 24,000 cfs once the last of the tern and plover chicks are ready to fly,” said Larry Cieslik, Chief of the Water Management office here. “These higher releases to benefit Oahe reservoir will be held only until mid-September, when they will be cut to about 15,000 cfs. The summer’s higher releases are normally held until then for irrigators below the dam.”
The additional water from Garrison will slow the decline of Oahe until its releases can be reduced after Labor Day when the annual drawdown of Fort Randall reservoir begins. The higher releases over the three-week period will add about 0.6 of a foot to Oahe and drop Garrison the same amount.
Fort Randall is lowered each year about 15 feet to provide storage space for winter hydropower releases and to prevent ice-related damage along the river.
Extreme drought across much of the upper Missouri River basin continues to hammer the big reservoirs of Fort Peck, Garrison and especially Oahe. It is currently at 1571.3 feet above mean sea level. It dropped below the previous record low level of 1572 feet on Aug. 11. It is now 36.2 feet below the top of the conservation pool and is setting new record lows nearly every day. The previous record low reservoir level was set in August 2004.
Both Garrison and Fort Peck are above their record low levels. Garrison is currently at 1813.4 feet, 24.1 feet below the top of the conservation pool and 7.6 feet above its record low of 1805.8 feet set in May 2005. Fort Peck is currently at elevation 2204 feet, 30 feet below the conservation pool and 5.7 feet above its record low of 2198.3 set in January 2005.