River to get help from upped releases
BY JILL DENNING GACKLE
BHG news
The river level at Washburn is expected to rise by approximately a foot over the next week, as releases from the Garrison Dam are gradually stepped up.
As the ice turns to miles of water on Lake Sakakawea, it becomes abundantly clear that the big backyard bathtub is plumb full.
Currently Lake Sakakawea is at 1846.1 mean sea level. Full – when it starts to go over the spillway at Riverdale – is almost eight feet higher.
“We’re fairly high for this time of year but we’d forecasted to come up three feet by the end of May and peaking at 1849 at the end of June,” Todd Lindquist, manager of the Garrison project, said.
“We’ve been at pretty low releases for this time of year,” he said.
The reason: lower Missouri Basin states experienced heavy snow pack, a quick thaw and heavy rain events.
