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Missouri River to return to normal flow in Oct.

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September 6th, 2011 by Ric Hanson

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Army Corps of Engineers predicts the Missouri River will return to normal levels in Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri sometime in October, and put an end to flooding that began in June.

The Corps’ Jody Farhat said Tuesday the plan to gradually reduce the amount of water released into the river has been going well so far.

The Corps already cut the amount released from Gavins Point Dam in South Dakota from 160,000 to 90,000 cubic feet per second. Officials will wait until Sept. 16 to resume reductions, so there’s time to check levees and make sure they’re stable.

The Corps estimates that 37.5 million acre feet of water flowed down the Missouri River from May to August. That’s significantly more than the normal runoff of 24.8 million acre feet.