Dry runoff conditions persist in the upper Missouri River basin, according to the updated runoff forecast from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

 

Based on the current soil moisture and snowpack conditions, 2013 runoff above Sioux City, Iowa is forecast to be 19.9 million acre feet (MAF), which is 80 percent of normal.

Runoff is typically slowed during winter months as rivers freeze over and cause temporary reductions in inflows into the reservoir system. However, warmer-than-normal temperatures, plains snowmelt and rainfall runoff above Sioux City resulted in slightly above normal runoff during January.

“Based on the current forecast, the total volume of water stored in the mainstem reservoir system at the start of the 2013 runoff season is expected to be 8.3 MAF below the top of the Carryover Multiple Use Zone,” said Jody Farhat, Chief of the Missouri River Water Management Division.

The Carryover Multiple Use Zone is designed to provide service to the eight Congressionally authorized purposes, though at reduced levels, through a 12-year drought like that of the 1930s and early 1940s.

Find the complete report here.