Tagged: missouri river

The amount of water released into the lower Missouri River will be decreased this month because warmer weather has reduced ice concerns.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Thursday it will gradually reduce the amount of water it releases out of Gavins Point dam on the South Dakota-Nebraska border to 14,000 cubic feet per second.

That's a decrease of 4,000 cubic feet per second from the releases being made over the past two weeks.

The change is not expected to make much difference in water levels downstream in the Missouri or Mississippi rivers.

After weeks of lobbying, the Army Corps of Engineers now plans to release extra water from reservoirs upstream on the Missouri River. But the releases are not for the benefit of downstream navigation on the Mississippi.

U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri may seek a presidential emergency declaration in an effort to keep barges moving on the drought-riddled Mississippi River.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is considering changing how reservoir water is used along the Missouri River.

The Corps is holding a series of public meetings to get input on whether to permanently allocate some of that water for municipal and industrial uses.

What does an oil and gas boom in North Dakota have to do with Missouri River reservoirs?

Hydrofracturing – the process that gets new wells up and running – takes lots of water.

Governor Jay Nixon (D) says his administration is keeping tabs on river levels along the Missouri and Mississippi as drought conditions persist across the state.  He indicates that the Missouri River may be in worse shape.

“I think that the challenges on the Missouri are a little more significant than the Mississippi," Nixon said at a gathering Wednesday in Jefferson City.  "Minnesota has had a fair amount of rain in that part of the country, but we’re watching those issues very carefully.”

The same reservoirs in northern states that were blamed for last year's flooding on the Missouri River are now giving the river a boost during a severe drought.