By Staci DaSilva
sdasilva@kcautv.com
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was back in town Wednesday to talk Missouri River management for the upcoming seasons. But don't expect any changes to the Master Manual.
The Army Corps of Engineers uses a Master Manual to operate its numerous river systems, dams, and flood control procedures.
Written in 1978, many folks told the corps they wanted it rewritten. But...
"The decision was not made to reopen that Master Manual, however, a number of recommendations, we're taking into account. You know, how climate conditions impact the basin, doing a better job of monitoring the Plains' snow pack and collaborating more with our sister federal agencies," said Monique Farmer with the Corps of Engineers.
The past year and a half has been one for the record books for the Corps.
You'll remember the sight at Gavins Point Dam. Summer of 2011 saw months of record high runoff on the Missouri River. 2012, though, a different story. September saw record low runoff.
The Corps is now preparing for the winter, focusing on drought conservation starting on December 1st.
"Decreasing the amount of releases out of Gavins Point Dam. We will be on the lower range of what we put out throughout the winter so that's between 12,000-17,000 cubic feet per second of water," said Farmer.
Continuing dry conditions are expected for the near future, but if the past says anything its, "you never really know."
We also learned some big news regarding Gavins Point Dam near Yankton.
Starting after Thanksgiving when the flows go down, contractors will start filling in gaps in the concrete base that they have found.
David Becker, Gavins Point Dam Project Manager said, "The contractor will be drilling approximately 30 holes through the concrete spillway down into the gravel frost blanket just to see what the condition of the frost blanket is underneath."
Debris accumulated over many years like rip rap, garbage even boat docks will be removed from the water as well.
