The Mighty Mo is not immune to drought. This September showed the lowest inflow on record for the Missouri River. This record low follows last year’s record flooding.
This year the corps is continuing normal fall releases out of the main stream dams to support the full eight-month season of barge traffic downstream. Jody Farhat is with the Army Corps of Engineers. She says the Corps is still prepared for a worst case scenario.
“We are simply one year into this drought the system was designed to serve those authorized purposed through a twelve year drought and that’;s why those reserves are very large up here on the Northern Plains,” says Farhat.
Some critics of the Army Corps of Engineers say the Corps Master Manual is unable to deal with the extremes of flooding and drought that may become more common under climate change. But Farhat says the Corps is prepared to operate the river under all conditions.
Farhat says the Army Corps is holding a Public Meeting in Pierre on October 30th.