Home Local News HIGH WATER RELEASES TO CONTINUE FROM SOUTH DAKOTA DAMS

HIGH WATER RELEASES TO CONTINUE FROM SOUTH DAKOTA DAMS

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The amount of water flowing into the Missouri River from Yankton’s Gavins Point Dam will remain high throughout the summer and fall, and that water will likely continue to exacerbate flooding downstream.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it plans to keep releases near current levels of 70,000 cubic feet per second, which are more than double the average amount.

The high releases will likely continue worsening flooding downstream – in Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas – where many levees were damaged during severe March flooding.

Officials say the higher releases are needed because the upstream reservoirs remain quite full.

The amount of water entering the dams in June was 159 percent of normal, and it continues to be a wet year.