2019 runoff forecast above average; Public meetings set for April 9-11

Photo By Eileen Williamson | System storage is 56.1 MAF, at the base of the Annual Flood Control and Multiple Use Zone, which means that all 16.3 MAF of flood storage is available. The upper Basin runoff forecast for 2019 is 28.4 MAF, which is 112% of average. Plains snow conditions vary throughout the upper Basin: moderate in Montana and the western Dakotas, and moderate-to-heavy in the central and eastern Dakotas (upper right graphic). Mountain snowpack accumulation is slightly above average (lower right graphic). The Gavins Point release will be increased to 20,000 cfs later this week.  

OMAHA, NE, UNITED STATES

03.07.2019

Story by Eileen Williamson 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Northwestern Division

The 2019 runoff forecast in the Missouri River Basin above Sioux City, Iowa, is 28.4 million acre feet (MAF), 112 percent of normal, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) Missouri River Water Management Division. “The forecast increased about 10 percent from last month due to the continued accumulation of mountain and plains snowpack in the upper basin. Gavins Point releases will be increased from 18,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 20,000 cfs this week,” said John Remus, Chief of the Missouri River Basin Water Management Division.

As of March 1, the mountain snowpack was 108 percent of average in the reach above Fort Peck and 103 percent of average in the reach from Fort Peck to Garrison. The mountain snowpack increased during February as a result of colder-than-normal temperatures and above-normal precipitation. Normally the mountain snowpack peaks in mid-April.

Plains snowpack is currently heaviest in central and eastern North Dakota and north central and eastern South Dakota. The snowpack’s liquid content, or snow water equivalency (SWE), ranges from 2 to 5 inches. The rest of the upper basin has accumulated 1 to 3 inches of SWE while the lower basin ranges from 0 to 2 inches of SWE. The Corps is cooperating with other agencies to acquire plains snow measurements in the upper basin.

Full Release at: https://www.nwd.usace.army.mil/Media/News-Releases/Article/1778437/2019-runoff-forecast-above-average-public-meetings-set-for-april-9-11

• Date Taken: 03.07.2019
• Date Posted: 03.07.2019 21:49
• Story ID: 313451
• Location: OMAHA, NE, US