Corps nearly complete with its Red River of the North reservoir drawdowns

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, is nearly complete with the drawdown of its Red River of the North reservoirs in preparation for potential flooding due to the spring melt.

The Corps’ water management team has drawn down Lake Ashtabula, near Valley City, N.D., to 1,257 feet as of late March, and Homme Lake will be drawn down to 1,064 feet by early next week.

Near the river’s headwaters, the Corps’ Lake Traverse elevation is near its drawdown elevation of
974 feet. The reservoir elevation is currently 974.2 feet.

The current level at Orwell Dam, near Fergus Falls, Minn., is 1,051.6 feet, and the Corps continues to lower the reservoir toward the elevation goal of 1,050 feet.

The Corps and the National Weather Service are working collaboratively to incorporate these drawdown actions into the outlooks for potential spring flooding.

The nearly 700 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, employees working at more than 40 sites in five upper-Midwest states serve the American public in the areas of environmental enhancement, navigation, flood damage reduction, water and wetlands regulation, recreation sites and disaster response. Through the Corps’ Fiscal Year 2011 $175 million budget, nearly 2,800 non-Corps jobs were added to the regional economy as well as $271 million to the national economy. For more information, see www.mvp.usace.army.mil.

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