The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Thursday that water releases from Gavins Point Dam in South Dakota will be increased.
The water released from the dam has been increased to 50,000 cubic feet per second and will be increased further to 60,000 cubic feet per second Thursday afternoon.
The Corps says that efforts are being made to minimize downstream impacts and are aware of flooding happening or forecast along the Missouri River.
"We know there are communities experiencing flooding, or nearing that condition, along the Missouri downstream of our dams,” said John Remus, chief of the Corps’ Missouri River Water Management Division in Omaha. “We are managing releases from Gavins Point as judiciously as we can in order to lessen the impact downstream.”
The Omaha District has provided approximately 25,000 sandbags to Columbus, North Bend and Holt and Howard counties. One water pump has also been provided to Waterloo, Nebraska.