(NAFB.com) – September runoff in the upper Missouri River Basin was well below average, continuing the below-average runoff in 2024. “Although Montana precipitation was much wetter than normal, much of the Basin stayed dry and warm, causing the September runoff in all reaches above Gavins Point to be well below average,” says John Remus of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. “Runoff in the Basin below Sioux City, Iowa, has also been well-below-average during the late summer and fall, so System releases from Gavins Point Dam have been increased to maintain the flow support to meet downstream navigation targets.” Central Montana saw greater than 150 percent of normal precipitation during a few days in September. The rest of the Upper Basin received less than 25 percent of its normal precipitation. September’s runoff was 0.8 million acre-feet, 66 percent of the average above Sioux City. The total water in the system on October 1 was 53.5-million-acre feet.