The experts are keeping a close eye on Missouri River conditions as they try to predict whether water levels will be high or low in the coming months. Jody Farhat is chief of the Missouri River Water Management Office of the U-S Army Corps of Engineers. Farhat, who’s based in Omaha, says low river levels and above-normal runoff may balance each other out.
“The drought situation in the basin is much improved from a year ago, however, the main stem reservoirs remain drawn down five to 11 feet as result of the 2012 drought,” Farhat says. “Soil moistures going into the winter were quite wet across much of the upper basin, which creates the potential for above-normal runoff this spring, even if precipitation is normal.”

From one point of view, it’s fortunate that river levels are still quite low since the drought, or else significant flooding might be in the forecast. Bill Doan, an engineer in the Corps’ water management office, says they expect higher-than-normal runoff along the upper end of the Missouri River basin. “The 2014 calendar year runoff forecast is 26.7-million acre feet above Sioux City. This is 106% of normal,” Doan says. “Above Gavins Point Dam, we’re forecasting 24.3-million acre feet. This is, again, 106% of normal.” The figures represent an increase since the January forecast due to several factors: a greater than expected January runoff, a higher precipitation forecast for February and slight increases in the runoff forecast for May through July.

(Radio Iowa)

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A 54-year-old registered Iowa sex offender has been given nearly 30 years in prison for child pornography and enticing a child into sexual activity.  Timothy Koenck, of Fenton, was given 355 months earlier this month after pleading guilty to several charges in September. He was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Sioux City.

Koenck also was convicted in 2002 of enticement of a minor and possession of child pornography. Koenck must serve 10 years of supervised release after leaving custody.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A program that assigns a volunteer to speak on behalf of a child in Iowa’s foster care system is looking for more participants. Organizers behind the Court Appointed Special Advocate program say they currently have 460 volunteers advocating for more than 900 children in the system. They want to double the number of volunteers over the next two years.

Jim Hennessey, an administrator who helps oversee the program, says judges and service providers believe an increase in volunteers would benefit the children. The volunteer’s main job would be to represent the interest of a child during any judicial proceeding. A volunteer will complete a 30-hour training course and spend an average of 10 hours per month getting to know the child and his or her circumstances.