Fort Peck Dam Spillways Begin To Open Today

Dam operations manager John Daggett with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said the opening of the first spillway gates will allow 15,000 cubic feet of water per second to flow into the Missouri River.

That figure gradually will increase to a record 50,000 cubic feet per second by mid-June and is expected to cause flooding in downstream communities.

Corps officials conduct annual releases to make way for the melting winter snowpack. This year's releases are larger than ever because of recent record rains and a snowpack twice as deep as average in parts of Montana.

Story from The Associated Press

Federal officials in charge of Fort Peck Dam will start ramping up their water releases Thursday, with plans to reach record volumes in the next two weeks.