Published January 13, 2011, 10:45 AM
Big Muddy making big hydropower recovery
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Hydropower production is projected to make a big comeback on the Big Muddy.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Hydropower production is projected to make a big comeback on the Big Muddy.
The Army Corps of Engineers says electric power generation by Missouri River dams is forecast to be above average in 2011 for the first time in a dozen years.
Shallow river levels caused by nearly a decade of drought cut hydroelectric generation at the six dams in the Dakotas, Montana and Nebraska, forcing the federal government to spend more than $1.5 billion since 2000 buying power elsewhere to fulfill contracts.
Corps spokesman Mike Swenson says Missouri River reservoirs began rebounding in 2008 because of rains and robust snow runoff and are at ideal levels now.
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