Discharges from dams on the northern end of the Missouri River are not expected to be reduced in the near future.
Officials at with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Thursday their short-range forecast, covering the next three weeks, is calling for discharges at Gavins Point Dam in South Dakota to remain at 75,000 cubic feet per second, where it has been since last week. Gavins Point is the southern most of the dams in that area of the country.
During a conference call, Corps officials said snow pack from this past winter is still melting, causing the river to rise in the northern sections. Their long-range forecast, issued June 1, showed discharges of 75,000 cfs would probably be maintained through the end of July or early August. After that time, it could be reduced to 55,000 cfs.
Corps officials in Omaha and Kansas City are assessing levees on the Missouri River as water subsides. As of June 7, there have been no reports of levees being overtopped or breached. There have been repairs made to some levees in Iowa and northern Missouri and 80-90 requests for repair help have been taken.
Officials said they were tracking the progress of the disaster-relief bill in Congress with hopes it will soon be passed to help with funds for repairs.
On the Osage River, Corps officials said Truman Dam in Warsaw - with 93 percent of its flood storage capacity filled - was discharging 60,000 cfs of water Thursday.
Five Corps dams upstream from Warsaw have increased the discharges into Truman. With that in mind, Corps officials said the discharges may go up to 65,000 cfs in the next couple of days. The Corps uses the levels of the Missouri River at Hermann as a target for how much water they let out at Truman.
As of Thursday afternoon, the Missouri River at Hermann was at 31.2 feet, which is 10 feet above flood stage. Corps officials noted the river has held at 31 feet for the last couple of days so they felt confident they could continue the Truman discharges and not cause the Missouri River to rise.
Joining the media briefing was Scott Dummer with the National Weather Service, who said they are currently monitoring flooding conditions on several rivers in South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri. In Missouri, the rivers they're monitoring include the Grand, Osage and Sac, which all lead into the Missouri River.
"Any significant rains can push discharge operations, and Saturday through Thursday, our forecast shows possible widespread rain, up to 5 inches, on the southern Osage basin and 3 inches for areas along the Missouri," Dummer said.
Rain in the forecast would cause the small rivers to rise and slow the fall of the Missouri River, he said.
"The Missouri has stayed at unusually high levels this year, but 1993 lasted longer," Dummer said. "Those levels were from July through October. This year, it started in March, and we're not expecting the level to go down until late summer. This year will probably be in the top three or five in length for elevated river stages."
As of Thursday afternoon, the Missouri River measured 30.5 feet in Jefferson City, 71/2 feet above flood stage of 23 feet. The forecast called for the river to fall below flood stage around June 23.