Officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hope to have all Missouri River levee repair projects complete by the end of this year. Last summer’s Missouri River flooding caused significant damage in western Iowa. The Corps’ Omaha District has 11 projects underway, with $99-million in repairs complete.
Brett Budd, chief of the Omaha District’s System Restoration Team, says some already-repaired areas need additional reinforcement.
Budd says, “We anticipate phase two contracts will be awarded in the coming weeks for the Omaha Flood Protection project, levee L-624/627 at Council Bluffs, Iowa, levee L-611/614 south of Council Bluffs, Iowa, L-575 near Percival and Hamburg, Iowa, L-550 near Rock Port, Missouri, and L-536 south of Rock Port, Missouri.”
Releases from Gavins Point Dam in Yankton, South Dakota, are at 31,000 cubic feet per second. Last year at this time, releases from there were at 110,000 CFS, and the Missouri River was more than five feet above flood stage.