Corps of Engineers increases Lake Darling outflows to 2,800 cfs

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, increased the outflow from the Lake Darling Dam, located northwest of Minot, N.D., to 2,800 cubic feet per second, or cfs, today, April 5.

The Corps initiated the Lake Darling Dam increase based on new release changes in Canada and observations on how well the system is responding to the flows from the Canadian reservoirs.

The Corps’ new plan calls for increasing Lake Darling outflows today and then matching the inflow into Lake Darling until the melt begins. The Corps will then reduce outflows from the dam to allow for the local runoff from the valley and the Des Lacs River.

The Corps and the National Weather Service, or NWS, are working together to incorporate the updated releases into a new river forecast for the basin. For the most recent forecast, which includes the Corps’ latest increase, please visit the NWS website at: http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/index.php?wfo=bis.

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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