Despite a low runoff of only 2.3-million-acre feet in July, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has the water to maintain a full navigation season on the Missouri River. The Corps also expects to be prepared for 2017 runoff and precipitation with its full capacity for flood storage.

“The water currently stored in the annual flood control zone will be released during the remainder of the year to serve navigation, water supply and other downstream purposes, and will be completely evacuated prior to the start of next year’s runoff season,” said Jody Farhat, chief of the Corps’ Missouri River Basin Water Management Division.

Full-service flow support generally is sufficient to provide a navigation channel that is 9 feet deep and 300 feet wide.

Gavins Point Dam at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, releases an average of 25,000 cubic feet per second during July. Releases currently remain at that rate and may be gradually increased later in August, if needed, to meet navigation targets in reaches with commercial traffic as flows on tributaries below Gavins Point recede.

Additional precipitation, lack of precipitation or other circumstances could cause adjustments to the reservoir release rates.

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©2016 the St. Joseph News-Press (St. Joseph, Mo.)

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