The Army Corp of Engineers is addressing conditions and a reservoir release forecast for the Missouri River Basin area to determine the navigation service level and season length. Corp officials say the service level is used to determine releases from Gavin’s point dam to support navigation and provide a channel downstream. Gavin’s Point Dam is in southeastern South Dakota on the Nebraska border.
Joel Knofczynski is a hydraulic engineer with the Army Corp of Engineers. He says a minimum service flow is currently being provided.
“Flows for this level of service are designed to provide an eight-foot-deep by two-hundred foot wide navigation channel and would require Gavin’s point monthly average releases ranging from approximately eighteen thousand cfs to twenty-eight-thousand cfs. The service level for the remainder of the navigation season and the navigation season length are based on the July 1st system storage. Under the basic forecast, flow support for the navigation could be near minimum service and the navigation season would be shortened two days. If the drought deepens, the navigation season could be shortened by as much as fifteen days,” says Knofczynski.
While locations south of the Missouri river basin depend on sufficient water levels for barge traffic, South Dakotans rely on dam releases to support outdoor recreation. Officials say there are some parts of South Dakota that are still affected by drought conditions and that they may be hard to overcome given the low moisture in the latest snow pack.