By Katie Knapp Schubert
Omaha, NE – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to reduce the amount of water being released from Gavins Point Dam.
Corps officials say releases from the South Dakota dam will decrease to 150,000 cubic feet per second on August first. Right now, 160,000 cubic feet of water is being released from Gavins Point every second.
Jody Farhat, Chief of Water Management, says that won't cause a significant drop in river levels. "I think it's a little too early to say that things are much better. We still have more water stored in the reservoir system than at any other time in history. But by the end of the month, assuming we don't get any heavy rainfall, the system storage will start to decline and we will be able to gradually start reducing our releases."
Farhat says Nebraska and Iowa residents living in flood-prone areas along the Missouri River should still prepare in the event of evacuations or levee breaches. She says the Corps isn't sure how long the 150,000 cubic feet per second releases will go on once they resume.
The Missouri River remains about six feet above flood stage at Omaha.