Missouri River Basin Drought Conditions Persist

July runoff in the Missouri River basin above Sioux City, Iowa, was 3.3 million acre-feet (MAF), 99 percent of average. Runoff was near or above average in all reaches except the Fort Peck reach, which was 68 percent of average.

“Soil moisture conditions deteriorated in Montana, North Dakota, and northern South Dakota over the last month and improved across southern South Dakota and into the lower basin,” said John Remus, chief of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Missouri River Basin Water Management Division.

Precipitation was below normal over most of the upper Missouri River basin last month except for small areas in Wyoming and southern South Dakota. The lower basin saw a mix of above- and below-normal precipitation.

The annual runoff forecast above Sioux City, Iowa is 28.5 MAF, 111 percent of average.

System storage peaked on July 22 at 56.6 MAF. System storage on August 1 was 56.3 MAF, 0.2 MAF above the base of the Annual Flood Control and Multiple Use zone.

Fort Peck Dam

Average releases past month – 8,800 cfs

Current release rate – 9,000 cfs

Forecast average release rate – 7,500 cfs

End-of-July reservoir level – 2230.4 feet (down 0.2 feet from June 30)

Forecast end-of-August reservoir level – 2229.0 feet

Notes: Releases will be maintained at 7,500 cfs through mid-September.

The forecast reservoir releases and elevations discussed above are not definitive. Additional precipitation, lack of precipitation or other circumstances could cause adjustments to the reservoir release rates.

Hydropower:

The six mainstem power plants generated 877 million kWh of electricity in July. Typical energy generation for July is 956 million kWh. The power plants are expected to generate 7.8 billion kWh this year, compared to the long-term average of 9.4 billion kWh.