OMAHA, Neb. (Iowa Media Wire) — UPDATE (6/23/2024 @ 10:40 a.m.): The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Omaha District has activated its emergency operations center.
The emergency operations center helps support communities along the Missouri River affected by flooding.
They are currently communicating with emergency operations centers in South Dakota, Iowa, and Nebraska to help provide support to where they can.
“The Army Corps of Engineers is fully committed to providing all of the assistance we can to help reduce the threat to life and property,” said Col. Robert Newbauer, Omaha District commander. “Our district not only has an incredible team of experts with vast experience, but we also live and work in these communities, so it’s very personal to many of us.”
They are providing technical assistance to Buena Vista and Dickinson counties in Iowa and are on stand by to help more communities.
“We are being proactive with the states, tribes and local communities so they know what support we can provide and how to request it,” Newbauer said. “We want to do all we can to help minimize the impact of the flood waters and lessen any possible damage.”
PREVIOUS: Releases from Fort Randall and Gavins Point dams will be changing due to rain and inflows from the Niobrara River, officials said.
Releases from Gavins Point Dam are currently 24,000 cubic feet per second (CFS) and will remain at that rate until Sunday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said in a Saturday release.
John Remus, chief of the Missouri Basin Water Management Division, said that by holding releases at 24,000 cfs, the Corps will “have more flexibility to manage releases as the inflows peak later in the week.”
The current pool elevation at Gavins Point is 1208.38 feet.
Inflows into Gavins Point are 35,000 cfs and are expected to increase significantly over the coming days.
Remus added the peak inflows are going to reach the dam later than originally forecast.
“Inflows from the Niobrara River are still higher than the current Gavins Point releases, which will result in increased pool elevations on Lewis and Clark Lake.”
Meanwhile, releases from Fort Randal have already been decreased as low as they can be, even have moments of zero releases.
“We continue to monitor inflows and will reduce releases, as we can without impacting safe operation of the Gavins Point project,” added Remus.
Officials announced Friday that they were lowering releases to help offset flooding. Releases were at 29,000 cfs Thursday morning before being lowered to 27,000 cfs. They were then lowered to 24,000 cfs Friday afternoon.