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OmahaRiverFront.com
- RIVER NEWS
River levels to rise - Gavins Point Dam releases now increased
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 he birds have flown and "coast" is clear! The Army Corps of Engineers
has finally begun to increase Gavins Point dam water release levels. This will allow the Missouri River to return to at least minimum service target levels, necessary for the resumption of impeded barge traffic.
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River
boaters have enjoyed an endless number of
beaches this summer, despite the low water levels.
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The corps halted full releases of water from the dam in South Dakota on July 3 after the
Fish and Wildlife Service warned against moving nests and chicks of the endangered least tern and the threatened piping plover.
The two agencies have negotiated since with no agreement over the corps' request for additional authority to move the nests to a hatchery for captive breeding.
Corps spokesman Larry Cieslik has stated that the volume of water will be increased initially from 25,500 cubic feet per second to 31,500 over two days. "Stage increases of from one to two feet will be experienced as the increased flows make their way downstream over the next 10 days." It will take about 10 days for the Missouri River to rise a foot or more where it meets the Mississippi.
| The Corps of Engineers has been rewriting the Master
Manual, it's procedures guidebook for management of the Missouri River and its six main-stem dams, for almost 13 years. It has studied the issue, sought public comment up and down the Missouri River, met with concerned river interest
groups and river associated businesses, been sued by several affected states and threatened with additional lawsuits.
The Omaha District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was founded in 1934 |
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