KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District, advises releases from Harry S. Truman Dam have been slowly reduced in recent days due to a lack of channel capacity on the Osage River at St. Thomas.
Harry S. Truman Dam is currently releasing 39,000 cubic feet per second, down from 45,000 cfs eight days ago. These reductions were necessary because while Truman is in phase II of flood control storage, releases cannot cause St. Thomas to rise above 54,000 cfs.
These reductions from Truman have slowed the decline of Truman’s level. This limits and prohibits the ability to make significant releases from the upstream lakes.
The Missouri River at Hermann has begun a slow decline. In recent days, extraordinary flows and high levels on the Missouri River have caused the Osage River at St. Thomas to be impacted by “backwater”. Backwater is a condition during which unusually high water levels occur and disrupt the gage at St. Thomas.
As the Missouri River at Hermann declines further through mid-July, backwater conditions on the Osage River will lessen and releases will again be increased from Truman Dam. After a few days of 50,000 cfs of release from Truman, then there will be room to make significant releases from all the upper lakes – Pomme de Terre and Stockton lakes in Missouri, and Hillsdale, Pomona and Melvern lakes in Kansas.
For additional information, contact the Public Affairs Office at 816-389-3486.
Release no. 19-042