NEBRASKA CITY – Navigation season along the Missouri River will end three days early due to low water levels.

Normally the navigation season ends Dec. 1, but this year it will end on Nov. 28.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will provide flows from Gavins Point at 500 cubic feet per second above minimum through the end of the navigation season.

Releases of 30,000 cfs are gradually reduced to 12,000 cfs beginning Nov. 19. Flow support is expected to end at Nebraska City on Nov. 22 and Kansas City on Nov. 24.

Winter releases from Gavins Point Dam this winter will be similar to last winter, said water management division chief John Remus.

The six mainstem power plants generated 689 million kWh of electricity in October, about 128 million khw below normal. The year’s generation is  1.9 billion kwh below normal due to low river levels.

90 percent of the Missouri River basin is experiencing some form of abnormally dry to drought conditions.