Corps of Engineers increases Lac Qui Parle outflows after recent rain events

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, is increasing the outflow from the Lac Qui Parle reservoir to 4,500 cubic feet per second, or cfs, today, June 16, due to recent rain events.

The Corps is increasing the outflow because the reservoir pool is currently at elevation 940.6 feet and
6 inches below the top of flood control elevation.

The Corps held outflows to 2,500 cfs until the pool elevation rose 5 feet into the flood control pool June 7. Since then, the outflows have been increased as needed to keep the pool below the top of flood control level.

Corps staff recorded nearly 7 inches of rain this month, and the storms over this past weekend dropped more than an inch of rain at the dam. The Corps’ water management staff is monitoring the basin and will adjust the outflows as needed to keep the pool at or below the top of flood control (elevation 941.1 feet).

The nearly 650 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.

-30-