Corps Offers Video Replacement For Missouri River Public Meetings
The Corps of Engineers’ Missouri River Water Management Division has released four videos of presentations that would normally be given at public meetings held throughout the Missouri River Basin.
The division normally holds public meetings each spring and fall across the basin. Fall meetings provide an update on the current year’s runoff and reservoir operations, as well as planned operations for the next year’s runoff season. The annual operating plan for the next year is released for public comment in September, presented at the public meetings and finalized at the end of the calendar year.
The spring public meetings provide a status of mountain snowpack, a runoff forecast for the year and how operations during the runoff year will meet the authorized purposes for the Missouri River Mainstem System.
The in-person spring public meetings originally scheduled for April were canceled to further reduce potential exposure to COVID-19. Instead, the agency will host virtual question and answer sessions in late April.
A web page with the videos, a form for submitting questions and call in dates and times is located here: https://go.usa.gov/xvBpc.
The four videos are:
• Messages from Brig. Gen Pete Helmlinger, commander of the Northwestern Engineer Division, and John Remus, chief of the Missouri River Water Management Division: https://youtu.be/0nBvq8urfOg
• The climate outlook and flood outlook from Doug Kluck, NOAA Climate Prediction Center, and Kevin Low, National Weather Service Missouri Basin River Forecast Center: https://youtu.be/ShSNWyRyZws
• A basin overview and runoff forecast from Kevin Grode, Corps of Engineers Reservoir and Regulation team lead: https://youtu.be/r3f2mWFWxM0
• Expected operations for authorized purposes in 2020 from Mike Swenson, Corps Power Production team lead: https://youtu.be/yySsZm_kTlw
These videos are focused on runoff forecasts and reservoir operations. Questions related to levee repairs should be directed to either the Omaha or Kansas City engineer districts.
Conference Calls
Moderated question-and-answer sessions between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the public will be held via conference calls April 20-23.
The phone number is 888-557-8511. The access code is 5866278, and password is 6796.
The number of participants per call is limited to 150. If necessary, additional calls will be scheduled.
The dates and times are as follows (all times Central):
• April 20: 1 p.m.
• April 21: 1 p.m.
• April 21: 7 p.m.
• April 22: 1 p.m.
• April 23: 6 p.m.
Participants are encouraged to submit questions in advance at: www.nwd.usace.army.mil/MRWM/faq/. Questions submitted through the website will be consolidated and answered at the beginning of the calls set for April 20–23; after these questions are answered, participants will be allowed to ask additional questions. The Corps will attempt to answer all questions, but the calls will end after two hours. If a question is not answered, participants are encouraged to submit their questions via the website and participate in the next call.
