OMAHA, Neb. (AP) _ The unusually warm winter weather allowed the
Army Corps of Engineers to clear out some additional flood-storage
space in the Missouri River's reservoirs.

     The corps said Friday it has about 16.8 million acre-feet of
space for floodwater in the reservoirs. That's about 500,000
acre-feet more than normal.

     Jody Farhat, who oversees the six dams along the river, says the
corps was able to release more water than usual from the reservoirs
in December and January because of unseasonably warm temperatures.

     The corps is in the midst of re-evaluating its management plan
for the Missouri after last year's massive flooding along the
2,341-mile-long river.

     Officials are predicting 25.6 million acre-feet of runoff this
year. That would be slightly above normal but well below last
year's record 61.2 million acre-feet of runoff.