Corps Missouri Flooding Expected To Continue For The Remainder Of 2019

Flooding that started along the Missouri River in March, is expected to continue into December.  Kevin Grode with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said this year is shaping up to be one for the record books.

“The 2019 calendar year runoff forecast for the upper Missouri River basin above Sioux City, Iowa, is 61.0 million-acre feet, which is nearly two and a half times above average. If realized, the forecast for 2019 would equal the previous record runoff which was established in 2011.”

Water releases from Gavins Point Dam, at the Nebraska/South Dakota border, have been increased to 80,000 cubic feet per second, more than twice the average for this time of the year.  Above average releases are expected to continue through the remainder of the year.  Portions of the region received more than twice the amount of normal precipitation in September, and Grode said more rain is on the way

“For the month of October, we forecasted the runoff during this month would be three times the long-term average. Largely in part to the tributaries that are continuing to flow much above average due to September rains along with the soil moisture conditions being extremely wet, and this all limits infiltration from any rain events.”

Again, Kevin Grode with the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers.