OMAHA, Neb. – The updated 2024 calendar year runoff forecast for the Missouri River Basin above Sioux City, Iowa, continues to be below average, according to the latest report of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

January runoff in the Missouri River Basin above Sioux City was 56% of average, the Corps reported. Runoff was well-below-average due to much-below-normal temperatures over the whole Missouri River Basin and below-normal precipitation over most of the upper basin.

“The runoff into the reservoir system was well-below average for the month of January,” said John Remus, chief of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Missouri River Basin Water Management Division. “This fact in conjunction with the below-average plains and mountain snowpack indicates a below-normal runoff year for the basin.”

The 2024 calendar year runoff forecast above Sioux City is 73% of average, which is based on current soil moisture, plains snowpack, mountain snowpack, and long-term precipitation and temperature outlooks.

Reservoir information for Garrison Dam shows:

– Average releases past month, 18,300 cubic feet per second.

– Current release rate, 24,000 cfs.

– Forecast average release rate. 24,900 cfs.

– End-of-January reservoir level, 1836.9 feet.

– Forecast end-of-February reservoir level, 1834.4 feet.

Releases were set at 16,000 cfs prior to the river freeze-in at Bismarck. Releases are gradually being increased to 25,000 cfs as downstream conditions permit to benefit winter hydropower generation and to better balance storage in the upper three reservoirs.