"The snowpack normally peaks in mid-April. The low forecast is due to the relative lack of snow on the plains and the continued dry soil conditions as a result of the extended drought in the upper basin," said Larry Cieslik, chief of the corps' water management office in Omaha, Neb.
Runoff for 2008 is forecast to be 20 million acre feet (MAF). Storage in the reservoirs was 37.1 million acre-feet on April 1, 1.2 MAF more than a year earlier.
Last year, releases from the reservoirs were at an all-time record low because of drought conservation measures and high downstream tributary inflow. Corps officials expect releases will continue to be much-below average this year to save water in the reservoirs.
Six public meetings will be held this month to review the corps' operating plan for the six main stem reservoirs. They will be April 15 at Jefferson City, Mo., and Kansas City, Mo.; April 16 at Nebraska City, Neb., and Fort Peck, Mont.; and April 17 at Bismarck, N.D., and Pierre.
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