Master Manual Sees Changes Since First Adopted in 1961

By Roy F. McAllister, P.E.,
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

After the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) builds a dam and reservoir project, the project is operated following guidelines in a water control manual.

Multiple reservoirs within a single basin operated as an integrated system typically have a “master” water control manual providing guidelines for system operation.

One such master manual provides for operation of the six mainstem reservoir projects on the Missouri River.  
Each of the projects – Fort Peck, Garrison, Oahe, Big Bend, Fort Randall and Gavins Point – has an individual water control manual, but the Missouri River Mainstem Reservoir System (System) operates following the Water Control Plan guidelines in the System’s Master Water Control Manual, or “master manual.”

The System was finished in the mid-1960’s and was first filled and operational in 1967.  

Over the next 20 years the first master manual, published in 1961, operated it.  Minor revisions were made to it in the 1970s and it continued meeting basin needs for the next 20 years.

An extremely dry 1988 in the upper Missouri River basin raised questions regarding adequacy of the existing Water Control Plan. This was the driest year in the upper basin since the reservoirs first filled.  Water levels in the upper three reservoirs dropped about 20 feet that year.

A second consecutive dry year in 1989 saw water levels continuing to drop with the recreational use and access to the upper three reservoirs being impacted.

At the request of upper basin governors, the Corps agreed to review the existing Water Control Plan in the System’s master manual in November 1989 to determine if it was the best plan for the Missouri River basin, considering the changes in the uses relying on the System that had occurred since 1961.

The review was completed using documentation and coordination processes required for an environmental impact statement (EIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act.  

The public, federal and state agencies and basin tribes, were provided four consecutive drafts of the EIS from 1990 through 2001.  To facilitate coordination requirements, numerous public workshops and meetings were held from Helena, MT. to New Orleans, LA.

The Final EIS was released in February 2004 and the draft revised master manual (with a new water control plan) was released the following month.  

Operations have followed the new Water Control Plan since it was revised. It has provided greater reductions in releases from the System than the prior plan.  This continues to be important to upper basin states, as the basin has been in another continuous drought since 2000.

The 2004 master manual was a major step toward addressing current needs of the Missouri River basin, but further revisions are needed.  

Based on 2000 and 2003 biological opinions provided to the Corps by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, additional Water Control Plan changes are needed to ensure threatened and endangered species won’t be adversely affected by System operations.  

Beginning this year, the Corps has been working with basin stakeholders to develop a spring pulse plan to incorporate into the Water Control Plan and the master manual.  

Further discussion between the Corps and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this summer will result in developing a plan to follow next year.