Officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers say Missouri River water releases at Gavins Point Dam near Yankton are being decreased.
As of 6 p.m. Central Time on March 15, releases were at 83-thousand cubic feet per second.
Releases were stepped up to 100,000 cubic feet per second this morning to deal with excess water from heavy rainfalls and the collapse of a dam on the Niobrara River.
During a conference call with reporters, Army Corps personnel stressed that the water is coming from tributaries they cannot control.
Ted Streckfuss is the Deputy District Engineer for the Corps' Omaha district. He says the decision to shut off releases from Fort Randall Dam near Pickstown has was done to limit runoff into Lewis and Clark Lake.
"That action has helped to allow us to capture a component of the unregulated runoff and subsequently then provide a controlled release from Gavins Point Dam into the lower river. From a dam safety perspective all of the gates at Gavins Point Dam are operating as intended and there are currently no dam safety issues or concerns to report."
The Army Corps' runoff forecast for Gavins Point Dam shows releases decreasing to 55,000 cubic feet per second by Monday and to 20,000 by March 22nd.
Missouri River Basin Water Management Division Chief John Remus says releases will start again at Fort Randall Dam at some point this weekend.