March 06, 2003
Missouri River Reservoirs Could Sink to Record Lows
LINCOLN, Neb. — The amount of water stored in reservoirs along the Missouri River from Montana to Nebraska could drop to record lows this year as water reaching them from snow melt and rain is predicted to be about three-quarters of normal levels.
"We're watching the snow pack in the high Rocky Mountains very closely," said Larry Cieslik, chief of reservoir operations for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Omaha.
Speaking at a water and natural resources seminar at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Wednesday, Cieslik said the Missouri River's six reservoirs in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska can expect to receive about 19.5 million acre feet of water this year.
"That's about 77 percent of the normal 25 million acre feet of water the reservoir system typically receives from mountain and plain snow melt and from normal rainfall in the basin," he said. An acre foot of water is nearly 326,000 gallons.
Missouri River reservoirs are in their fourth straight year of drought. Fort Peck reservoir in Montana is 23 feet below normal. Garrision reservoir in North Dakota and Oahe reservoir in South Dakota are 18 and 20 feet, respectively, below normal, Cieslik said.
Those three reservoirs and Big Bend and Fort Randall reservoirs in South Dakota and Gavins Point reservoir bordering Nebraska and South Dakota, have a combined water storage capacity of 73.4 million acre feet.
Water flow into the reservoirs from mountain and plains snowpack and spring rains is expected to be well below normal.
"Runoff into the reservoirs since 2000 has been very similar to the drought period of the late 1980s and early 1990s," Cieslik said. "In all, it's possible that the water stored in the reservoirs could hit record lows since the reservoir system was first filled to operating levels in 1967."
In addition to supplying water for municipal and industrial uses, river and reservoir recreation, fish and wildlife and navigation, hydropower units at the system's six dams are expected to generate about 7.5 million megawatt hours of electricity this year. That's about 25 percent less than normal, he said. An average home uses about 1 megawatt hour of electricity per month.
"We're doing our best to manage available water in the Missouri River system to serve all the congressionally authorized project purposes and be ready for any runoff scenario. That's tougher under the current drought conditions," Cieslik said.
3/6/03-SR
Larry Cieslik
Civil Works and Management – Missouri River Basin Wate Management, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Deputy Director
(402) 697-2675
Steve Ress UNL Water Center - Communications Coordinator (402) 472-3305
Department: NU Water Center
|
