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Home   >   News   >   Local News   >   Army Corps Still Planning “Drought Reserve,” as Mississippi River Governors Plead for Alternative

Army Corps Still Planning “Drought Reserve,” as Mississippi River Governors Plead for Alternative

By on November 16, 2012
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The U-S Army Corps of Engineers is ready to move the Missouri River into what it’s calling “drought reserve mode” and it’ll mean much less water flowing downriver.

Corps spokeswoman Monique Farmer says water levels will drop by the end of the month.  Current release levels from the dam have been running more than three times that level, at 38-thousand C-F-S. Farmer says the Corps’ forecast for next spring has the reservoirs down drastically.

It was just last summer that reservoirs and releases hit record high levels during the spring and summer flooding. Releases from Gavins Point hit just over 160-thousand C-F-S. Farmer says they will step down releases gradually to allow downstream water users to adjust. They’ll cut the releases initially to around 18-thousand C-F-S and hold for a few days.

The plan is raising concerns. Leaders in Iowa, Illinois and Missouri fear such a drop in water levels on the Missouri River will impact the Mississippi River so much, barge traffic may have to be halted.