Good Afternoon,
The Corps of Engineers updated the March Flood Control Guidelines this afternoon. The new draft target is now 1244′ by April 30, or an additional 9′ from April 10 to April 30. That is pretty much the number we have been proselytizing for the last few weeks and so there is no surprise. The surprise is that they Corps based the draft upon a Coulee water supply of 99%, not the 102% provided by their sister Feds, the NWRFC. We congratulate and embrace the Corps for their obvious disdain of the RFC’s 102%; the 99% was a better choice.
March Flood Control
February Flood Control
Also note all other flood control projects are lower except Duncan, which is 2′ higher. All said, we expect an additional 5000-10000 cfs average discharge out of Coulee between the April 10 and 30. Not enough to do a lot of damage to an already weakened outlook but its bearish if this hasn’t been priced in, but I’d say a lower draft was already priced in and am calling today’s update slightly bullish.
Mike