PIERRE, (KCCR) — Runoff into the Missouri River system isn’t improving at all even when decent rail does fall. The U-S Army Corps of Engineers says July runoff into the main stem system above Sioux City, Iowa was two million acre-feet or 61-percent of average. In the three main reservoir reaches, runoff was below to well-below normal at Fort Peck, Garrison and Oahe due to the lack of rain, dry soil and below-average mountain snowpacks. It’s a different story on the southern end, where runoff was above normal in the Fort Randall and Gavins Point reaches. Runoff was near normal between Gavins Point and Sioux City. The 2026 calendar year runoff forecast for the Missouri River basin above Sioux City is 15-point-four million acre-feet. That is 60-percent of average and inline with the forecast last month. If the forecast holds, 2026 could be the 11th lowest runoff in over 120 years of river level record keeping.
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