The U.S Army Corps of Engineers Missouri River Water Management Office increased releases from Gavins Point Dam from 17,000 cubic feet per second to 20,000 cfs late last month and earlier this month in an effort to offset water lost to ice formation.
In this month’s Corps conference call, Kevin Low, of the National Weather Service Missouri River Basin Forecast Center in Kansas City, said snowpack conditions in the mountains are slightly above normal with the exception of the Platte River system where mountain snowpack is slightly below average for this time of year.
Low said the preliminary January water supply forecast indicates mountain runoff volumes are expected to be about average for 2015.
"Ice jams have been reported the Jefferson River and the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone in Montana, and in the North Platte, the South Platte, North Loup and Republican Rivers in Nebraska. However, impacts associated with these jams have been relatively minor. Ice jamming will continue to be a concern through the remainder of the winter and early spring.”
Low said the National Weather Service is issuing its first official spring flood outlook in mid-February which will provide the first official NWS quantification of flood potential for this spring.