Missouri River Levels Expected to Decrease

Missouri River levels are expected to slowly trend down for the next several days, according to an email from the City of Chesterfield's email river update service. 

Wednesday morning the river was at 27.2 feet at the St. Charles gauge, which is about a half day downstream from Chesterfield. That number should slowly get lower over the next several days, Chesterfield Planning and Public Works Director Mike Geisel said. 

The predictions are the same at the Hermann, MO gauge, which is about one day upstream from Chesterfield. There, the river is at 24.96 feet.

Giesel said in the email that both of these levels are technically "flood stage." But, that doesn't mean there's flooding or properties are in danger. "Flood stage is simply a gauge reading indicating that the river has exceeded its normal high channel levels," he wrote. "If you happen to drive over the Daniel Boone Bridge, even though the river is at flood stage, you’ll notice that it is still wholly contained within the river channel and as much as a half mile away from the Monarch-Chesterfield Levee."

Geisel said the National Weather Service and Army Corps of Engineers have collaborated to develop a range of predications for the river levels and stages. The predictions take into account the high and low range of normally expected precipitation. The estimates say the river could range between 29 and 37 feet this season in St. Charles.

The river has to reach about 33 feet in St. Charles to overtop the agricultural levee, which is located about 2,000 feet north of the Monarch-Chesterfield Levee. With current predictions, city officials have said they don't expect the Monarch-Chesterfield Levee to be overtopped.

Officials from the City of Chesterfield and the Monarch-Chesterfield Levee District have been closely monitoring upstream Missouri River conditions for weeks. There is some significant flooding on the upper Missouri River, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has begun a controlled release of some of the water from the Gavins Point Dam, which is on the border of Nebraska and South Dakota. Last week, the discharge from the dam was increased to 160,000 cubic feet per second, up from a normal output of about 130,000 cubic feet per second. Chesterfield Public Works Director Mike Geisel has said before that the extra discharge isn't a significant amount.

If necessary, the city will initiate the , but at this point no watch, warnings or advisories are called for.