OMAHA, Neb. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is adjusting releases from Fort Peck, Garrison, Oahe and Big Bend this afternoon. The inter-basin reduction in releases follows a rise in Fort Randall reservoir elevations from 1,365 feet June 20 to a record level of 1,372.5 feet June 27.
Fort Peck releases will be reduced from 60,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 55,000 cfs; Garrison releases were reduced from 150,000 cfs to 145,000 cfs; Oahe releases will remain at 150,000 cfs for several more days; and Big Bend releases were reduced from 165,000 to 160,000 cfs and will be further reduced to 155,000 cfs tomorrow.
“These changes are part of our normal intrasystem regulation associated with managing reservoir levels, in particular with the high pool levels at Fort Randall,” said Jody Farhat, chief of water management with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Northwestern Division.
A three-week forecast of releases from all six reservoirs can be seen here:
“The release changes and dates shown in the forecast should not be assumed to be definitive,” said Farhat. “Depending on inflows, releases could potentially return to peak rates even after being reduced for some period of time.”
These adjustments would reduce Fort Randall inflows and stem the rise of the reservoir elevation. The previous record for Fort Randall was 1,372.2 feet in 1997. This change will not have a significant impact on the Garrison pool level.
During any flood response activities throughout the basin, the Corps will provide regular updates directly to the public via its Facebook (www.facebook.com/OmahaUSACE ) and Twitter accounts (www.twitter.com/OmahaUSACE ). Also, please access our flood response information from our Web site at: http://www.nwo.usace.army.mil/.
View daily and forecast reservoir and river information on the Water Management section of the Northwestern Division homepage at: http://www.nwd-mr.usace.army.mil/rcc.
