OMAHA, Neb. — The amount of water being released into the Missouri River from a dam on the Nebraska-South Dakota border is being decreased because less water is expected to flow into the river this year.
That means the risk of a repeat of last year’s massive flooding along the river has been reduced.
The reduction is possible because the region received less precipitation than expected this spring and the summer is expected to be drier than normal.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimated Tuesday that 31.2 million acre feet of water will flow down the river this year. That is roughly 1 million acre feet lower than the previous forecast.