Corps says it won't release water from Missouri reservoirs

By The Associated Press | Thursday, March 08, 2007

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WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will not release extra water from upstream reservoirs this spring to boost flows on the Missouri River, the agency announced Wednesday.

The corps said the reservoirs' water levels are too low to have the spring rise, which is done to encourage spawning by an endangered fish. Since 2005, agency plans have called for two pulses of water, one in March and one in May.

No release will be conducted this month because reservoir levels have not reached the minimum of 36.5 million acre-feet of water, said Paul Johnston, a spokesman for the corps' northwestern division office in Omaha, Neb.

Water levels must be even higher for the May release, and Johnston said none of the agency's computer forecasts show storage levels getting high enough.

"I suppose if you're a lottery believer, you could come up with an extreme example, but we don't see any way that we're going to get there this year," Johnston said.

The spring rise has long been contentious among states along the river. Missouri officials oppose the plan because of possible downstream flooding and interference with the barge industry. Upstream states are reluctant to part with water that could deplete lakes and harm boating and fishing interests.

Last year, the corps also was forced to cancel the March pulse because water levels were low, but the May release went on as planned, despite a federal lawsuit to stop it filed by Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon. The release caused no flooding and a federal judge later rejected Nixon's lawsuit.

Johnston said a corps report analyzing the effect of last year's spring rise on the pallid sturgeon would be released as early as next week.

The current water level in the Missouri River system is about 34 million acre-feet, more than 20 million acre-feet below normal, as a result of a multiyear drought. An acre-foot is the amount of water that could cover an acre, one foot deep.

This year's navigation season begins April 1, but only minimum flows will be provided because of the drought. The corps expects the navigation season to be shortened by 33 days to 61 days.