• OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- The amount of water released into the lower Missouri River will increase this month as expected but will be less than the amount usually released in March, a move that could affect river shipping and offers mixed news on whether drought will ease or worsen this year.
• The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Tuesday stood by last month's prediction that winter runoff from melting snow and rain into the river above Sioux City, Iowa, will be 80 percent of normal this year. That forecast helped the corps determine how much water to release from the Gavins Point dam on the South Dakota-Nebraska border.
• The corps announced in a conference call from Omaha that starting Monday, the amount of water will be increased from about 14,000 cubic feet per second to between 23,000 to 28,000 cubic feet per second to help support barge traffic on the river. The corps said it plans to increase water releases over several days until the river's navigation channel reaches the 8-foot-by-200-foot mark.
• But that amount will provide only enough water for a minimal channel. A normal navigation channel is 9 feet deep and 300 feet wide, so barges may not be able to carry full loads this spring. Currently, the river is at a level that does not allow barge traffic.
• The corps also anticipates shortening the Missouri River navigation season by four days this year, based on the runoff forecast, said Jody Farhat, chief of the corps' Water Management Division for the Northwestern Division.
• "But if we get much less runoff and things really dry out, our lower basin study indicated that the navigation study could be shortened by as much as 27 days," Farhat said.

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