By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Water releases from Gavins Point Dam are being lowered by the Army Corps of Engineers over concerns the level at Lewis and Clark Lake is dropping too low for municipal water intakes.
The Corps had kept releases at Gavins Point at the South Dakota border upstream on the Missouri River higher than normal to evacuate excess water and prepare the upstream reservoirs for spring runoff.
Releases have been at 30,000 cubic feet per second since January 7th, dropping total storage at Gavins Point by 124-Thousand acre feet. The pool elevation has dropped from 1207.7 feet to 1201.9 feet. They are being lowered to 27,000 cfs tomorrow, still well above normal winter releases.
"The pool level fluctuations at Gavins Point Dam have led to concerns that the lower pool level may affect access to water at some municipal water intakes on Lewis and Clark Lake," John Remus, chief of the Missouri River Water Management Division, said in a written statement released by the Corps.
Lewis and Clark Lake is located on the South Dakota and Nebraska border at Gavins Point Dam.