The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced plans to step up releases at the Gavins Point Dam this week in response to colder temperatures in the region. The Corps’ Missouri River Basin Water Management Division plans to step up Gavins Point Dam releases by 4,000 cubic feet per second.

In a controversial move, the Corps has recently reduced releases at the dam as a water-conservation measure. That hasn’t sat well with stakeholders along the Mississippi River, where the drought has threatened barge traffic.

The Corps says temperatures are forecast to drop late this week and remain cold through the end of the year building ice on the Missouri River and tributaries. As a result tributary inflow is expected to decrease as those streams begin to freeze over. In addition, some of the flow in the Missouri River will be locked up in river ice, which reduces flows available for downstream water intakes. The increased releases from Gavins Point are intended to maintain steady Missouri River stages downstream of Gavins Point and keep all lower river intakes operational.

Meanwhile, a Corps official says crews scooping out Mississippi River bedrock in southern Illinois are making steady progress. Corps programs director Edward Belk said Wednesday 39 cubic yards of rock had been removed by Tuesday morning, less than 5 percent of the total targeted amount.

Work started Sunday to remove dangerous rock pinnacles along a 6-mile stretch of the river near Thebes, Ill. Barge traffic is threatened because the river’s water level is low between St. Louis and Cairo, Ill.

So far, crews are using excavating machinery to remove the pinnacles, described as six times harder than concrete. Belk says he expects explosives will eventually be used to help remove rock.