Thanks to heavy rains and melting record snowpack – flows and reservoir releases of historic proportions and flooding are occurring along the Missouri River and many of its tributaries throughout Montana, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri. With conditions worsening and no relief from precipitation – Brigadier General John McMahon – Commander of the Northwestern Division of the Army Corps of Engineers – says the integrity of the system would be jeopardized and loss of regulated flows likely without higher releases. To deal with all the water – the Corps is stepping up reservoir releases and sending record amounts of water downstream. They will soon release 150-thousand cubic feet per second from five of six main stem dams. According to McMahon – this will result in much higher levels on the river downstream at an earlier time than originally forecast.

McMahon says moving water out of the reservoirs is essential. He says more heavy rain storms could cause major revisions to the release plan – which is based on the rain already received and the rain and snow melt forecasted for the next five days.

Protecting lives is the main priority for the Corps right now – according to McMahon – and they are working closely with state and local emergency management teams.