The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says releases from Gavins Point Dam in South Dakota will increase to 70,000 cubic feet per second by Wednesday.
The Corps announced Tuesday that increases from the dam would be increased by 5,000 cfs Tuesday followed by another 5,000 cfs increase Wednesday.
John Remus, Chief of the Missouri River Basin Water Management Division for the Corps, says the increased releases are necessary due to heavy rainfall over much of Nebraska, South Dakota and central North Dakota in the last week.
Remus says rainfall has been between 200% and 600% of normal for this time of year, causing increased drainage into the system's lower dams.
The Corps says releases will remain higher than average into the fall in order to create flood storage capacity for the 2020 runoff season.
The announcement is very bad news for Iowa and Nebraska communities along the Missouri River already impacted by flooding from March. Travel times for releases from Gavins Point take two to three days to reach Omaha, three to four days to reach Nebraska City and four to five days to reach Kansas City, Missouri.
“We will continue to monitor conditions along the length of the Missouri River and make adjustments as necessary,” says Remus.