OMAHA, Neb. — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced today that Pipestem Reservoir will be initiating a water quality release of 25 cubic feet per second on Tuesday, April 2.
Pipestem Reservoir is currently at pool elevation 1442.6 feet with approximately 2 cfs inflow and outflow.Jamestown Reservoir is currently at pool elevation 1429.7 feet with approximately 0 cfs inflow and outflow. All of the flood storage at Pipestem and Jamestown is currently available for the spring runoff.On Tuesday, April 2 a release of 25 cfs will be initiated to benefit water quality in the reservoir. Release of low-level w! ater will provide a benefit to water quality by facilitating aeration of the lake.Following this, small release changes may occur for water quality purposes before the spring snow melt.
During the spring snowmelt emphasis will be placed on evacuating Jamestown Reservoir flood storage by June 1. Pipestem Reservoir flood storage will be primarily evacuated in June, July and August. Current forecasts indicate that combined releases are expected to stay below 1200 cfs with snowpack conditions being compared to 2001. An agency meeting will be held in Jamestown, N.D. in early April and a release schedule will be developed after that meeting.
With the increased releases, river stages are expected to rise approximately 0.5 feet at the James River at Jamestown gage and 0.25 feet at the James River at Lamoure gage. River stages on the James River in North Dakota and South Dakota are available on the U.S. Geological Survey website at http://nd.water.usgs.gov/floodinfo/james.html.
Release no. 20130401-001