GARRISON – To assist with the recovery of a tugboat that sank on the Missouri River on Tuesday, May 6, releases from Garrison Dam will be reduced temporarily, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Beginning Monday, releases were being reduced from 21,000 cubic feet per second to about 12,000 cfs. Releases at that rate will hold until noon today.

Missouri River stages downstream of Garrison Dam will drop about one foot near Bismarck by Wednesday.

“River stages will be slightly lower than they were in early May,” said John Remus, chief of the Corps’ Missouri River Basin Water Management Division. “Because reduced releases will also reduce power generation, we have informed the Western Area Power Administration of the changes and the plans to return to forecast operations.”

The daily average release of 21,000 cfs will be restored on Wednesday and increased to 24,000 cfs on Friday.

The change to releases will not impact operations at other Missouri River Mainstem projects, the Corps reported.