Power generation at Missouri River dams rebounds

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The Army Corps of Engineers says electric power generated by Missouri River dams in 2011 was above average for the first time in a dozen years.

Before last year, 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 it's good to have the increased hydropower. But he says it's of little salve for the scores of people affected by the 2011 flood along the river, which flows from Montana through North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and Missouri.

Swenson says Missouri River reservoirs are at ideal levels now.

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