The amount of water being released into the Missouri River from Gavins Point Dam will be increased again to free up more space in the reservoirs upstream before spring.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Tuesday that the amount of water flowing out of Gavins Point on the Nebraska-South Dakota border will be increased later this week. The current releases from Gavins Point dam are more than double what is typical for this time of year.
The Corps is working to clear out as much space as possible in the reservoirs ahead of what is expected to be another wet year.
Republican Governor Kim Reynolds says her firing of the former Department of Human Services director is partly related to his response to concerns about increased deaths at a facility for disabled residents. This comes a day after the state released emails showing an administrator under Jerry Foxhoven approved a plan for a “sexual preoccupation” study at Glenwood Resource Center.
Reynolds maintains she only found out about allegations of the study in mid-November when the US Department of Justice sent a letter saying it was investigating.
But she says last spring when she asked DHS about the spike in deaths at Glenwood, the department said it was normal.
“But I said to my team, this is still not acceptable. I want to understand better what’s going on, we need to make some changes. I’m not happy with the response I’m getting.”
Reynolds repeated that “a lot of factors” went into her decision to fire Foxhoven, but she doesn’t know if he knew DHS administrator Rick Shults approved materials for the study.
Shults was allowed to retire weeks after the federal investigation was announced.
