OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The amount of water being released into the Missouri River from Gavins Point Dam will be reduced slightly to protect drinking water supplies even though the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is still working to eliminate water from last year.
The Corps said Tuesday it is trimming the amount of water flowing out of Gavins Point to 27,000 cubic feet (764.55 cubic meters) per second from the previous 30,000 cubic feet (849.50 cubic meters) per second.
The new lower releases will allow the level of Lewis and Clark Lake to stabilize and ensure communities will be able to continue drawing drinking water from the lake, Corps spokeswoman Eileen Williamson said.
The releases from the other dams on the Missouri River will not change. The Corps said the reservoirs above Fort Peck and Garrison dams in North Dakota still hold more water than officials want them to have at the start of the spring.
Overall, the reservoirs along the Missouri River now have 16.3 million acre feet of space available for flood control even though Fort Peck and Garrison remain high.
The Corps is working to clear out as much space as possible in the reservoirs ahead of what is expected to be another wet year.
