Reservoir Level To Decrease In April
Reservoir inflows in the Missouri River basin above Sioux City, Iowa, were well-below average in March. The March runoff of 1.5 million acre-feet was 48 percent of average for the month. The updated 2022 upper Basin runoff forecast is 17.8 MAF, 69 percent of average, approximately 2.6 MAF less than the March 1 forecast.
“Runoff was well below normal due to dry soil conditions and well below normal precipitation across the entire Missouri River basin,” said John Remus, chief of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’, Missouri River Basin Water Management Division. “Due to the lack of plains snowpack in 2022, below-average mountain snowpack, and dry upper Basin conditions, we expect upper Missouri River Basin runoff to be below average.”
The runoff forecast is based on soil moisture conditions, plains snowpack, mountain snowpack and long-term precipitation and temperature outlooks.
Mountain snowpack in the upper Basin is accumulating at below-average rates. The April 3 mountain snowpack in the Fort Peck reach was 75 percent of average and the mountain snowpack in the Fort Peck to Garrison reach was 71 percent of average. By April 1, about 95 percent of the total mountain snowpack has typically accumulated. Mountain snowpack normally peaks near April 15. The mountain snowpack graphics can be viewed at go.usa.gov/ xARQC. Currently, plains snowpack in the upper basin is essentially non-existent with only trace amounts in southern North Dakota and northern South Dakota remaining.
Seven public meetings will be conducted throughout the basin April 11-13 and April 15. The purpose of these meetings is to update the region on current hydrologic conditions and the planned operation of the mainstem reservoir system during the coming months. A local meeting was held Monday, April 11, in Fort Peck.
