News

Minimal Missouri River flooding expected barring heavy rain

An emergency manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers calls spring thaw close to normal.  Jud Kneuvean, who heads emergency management for the corps’ Kansas City District, doesn’t expect much flooding on the Missouri River basin unless there’s a lot of rain.  He expects total estimated run-off of about 29 million acre-feet of water to work its way gradually through the river basin.

“It’s about 115 percent of normal,” Kneuvean told Brownfield Ag News.  “We had a little higher than average snowfall in the mountains, particularly in the Fort Peck to Garrison range, so Montana to North Dakota.”

The system includes several dams and reservoirs in Montana and the Dakotas that hold spring run-off.  The corps releases it gradually from now through the end of the year, but excessive rain can change that, according to Kneubean.

“We had a scenario in 2011 where we had flooding in the upper basin that directly impacted us here in the lower basin, particularly in Northwest Missouri, Northeast Kansas,” said Kneuvian.   “We’re not looking at a situation like that this year.”

The district is prepared, nonetheless.  The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Kansas City District alone has more than 4 million sandbags stockpiled in case they’re needed.

AUDIO: Jud Kneuvean (19 min. MP3)