The Missouri River has declined below flood stage at the Parkville gauge, which includes the Wyandotte County area, and water releases will continue from reservoirs upstream.
The 70,000 cubic feet per second water releases from the Gavins Point Dam in South Dakota are projected to continue through the month of July, according to John Remus, chief of the Army Corps of Engineers Missouri River Basin Water Management Division, at a news conference on Tuesday.
Remus said the July 1 runoff for the upper Missouri Basin was similar to June 1 and showed a very insignificant decline.
The upper basin saw 8.7 million acre feet of runoff during June. This figure was 159 percent of the average amount of 5.4 million acre feet, officials said.
The projected upper basin runoff forecast for 2019, at 49.9 million acre feet, would be the second highest runoff in 121 years, according to the Corps of Engineers. It was topped by the 2011 figure of 61 million acre feet. It is higher than the 1997 amount of 49 million acre feet. In 2018, the upper basin runoff was 42.1 million acre feet.
Although levee district officials in the St. Joseph, Missouri, area asked the Corps of Engineers to reduce flows from Gavins Point into the Missouri River temporarily to allow them to drain water on the levees, the decision was made to maintain the 70,000 cfs flow.
Remus said it was not feasible, given the amount of water they had to get out of the reservoir system by next year. It wasn’t worth the risk of having to carry over water or raise the flows later in the year, he said. He said if the levees were drained now, they would just have to put water back on them later.
He projected that water releases would be reduced from Gavins Point in late July or early August, depending on the amount of rain in the upper basin. Currently there are above normal rain projections in the upper basin, he added.
He said releases may be reduced to the mid-50,000 cfs level by the end of August, but it is subject to rainfall amounts.
While storms that are forecast in North Dakota and South Dakota this week could produce significant runoff into the Oahe reservoir, Remus said there is probably enough space available to manage that runoff without having to increase releases from Gavins Point.
With rain expected over the Missouri River Basin within the next several days, the small rivers in the basin may rise and slow the recession of the Missouri River, according to a National Weather Service forecaster.
The Missouri and Kansas rivers in the Kansas City area now are below flood stage, with the drier weather that has been experienced over the Missouri River Basin during the past week. Wyandotte County is at the confluence of the Missouri and Kansas rivers.
According to Kansas City district, Corps of Engineers, officials, water is declining in the Kansas and Missouri reservoirs.
Tuttle Creek is releasing 16,000 cfs currently, Milford 9,000 cfs and Perry 6,000 cfs, officials said. Officials are hoping the three reservoirs will be down to the 80 percent level by the beginning of next week.
After they reach 80 percent, releases are expected to continue if the Missouri River’s levels at Waverly, Missouri, allow.
Releases from Clinton reservoir near Lawrence, Kansas, today were increased to 500 cfs, the first significant release above low flow since early March, according to officials.
Truman Reservoir is holding at 71 percent of flood pool occupied, and was releasing 39,000 cfs today. Backwater at the mouth of the Osage River was holding down releases from Truman, and when that backflow declines, releases from Truman may go up to 50,000 cfs, officials said. Releases from Truman were at 45,000 cfs eight days ago.
Depending on the rain and the Missouri River levels, Truman releases could increase on Wednesday to 42,000 cfs and up to 45,000 cfs by Friday, if conditions allow, officials said. The increases could reach 50,000 cfs by the end of the weekend or next week, if the river continues to fall, officials said.
So far, the Kansas City district has received 86 requests for assistance with levees, according to corps officials. Officials asked residents to keep water safety a priority if they are near lakes and levee-protected areas over the holidays.
