For the first time in nearly a decade, water levels in the Missouri River basin are near normal, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Tuesday.

Bountiful runoff from rain and snow has refilled all but one of the six Missouri River reservoirs and provided for a full-length, full-service 2009 commercial navigation season, the corps said in a news release.

Reduced releases from the reservoir system during the drought years also contributed significantly to their recovery.

The reservoir storage check on July 1 was 56.8 million-acre-feet, enough water to meet nearly all the needs of both upstream and downstream users, the corps said. The navigation season length and service levels for the remainder of the year are based on this storage check.

Both Garrison and Oahe reservoirs are in their flood control pools. Only Fort Peck has not yet refilled. It is about 10 feet higher than last year at this time, but still 14 feet below its desired level.

"The return to more normal conditions in the basin eases the challenge of balancing the often-competing needs of people that depend on the Missouri River," said Jody Farhat, chief of the Water Management office here.

"The needs of reservoir interests concerned about water supply and recreation are being met. At the same time, the downstream interests concerned about water supply and navigation are also being met. Hydropower generation is up as well.

"The only downside is the loss of habitat and nests in the reservoirs used by the protected piping plover and interior least tern. Initial reports from the annual adult census show a decline in the number of both species, but especially the plovers. They have extensively used the exposed shoreline of the reservoirs during the drought years," she added.

The current forecast for runoff is 31.9 million-acre-feet, 129 percent of average. If the forecast verifies, the level of Garrison will peak near 1,841 feet this summer. Fort Peck is forecast to peak near 2,222 feet by the end of the year. Oahe crested near 1,614 feet in June. Storage in the system of reservoirs will peak above 57 million-acre-feet later this month. The last time it was at this level was in July 2000.

Flow support for the commercial navigation season will end Nov. 30 at the mouth, just north of St. Louis. Releases from Gavins Point Dam will be adjusted as necessary to meet full service target flows of 31,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) at Sioux City and Omaha, 37,000 cfs at Nebraska City and 41,000 cfs at Kansas City.

Oahe reservoir is 7.7 feet above its normal elevation for this time of the year. The reservoir is currently 6 feet into the flood pool and is almost 21 feet higher than it was last year at this time.

Garrison reservoir is 19.1 feet higher than last year at this time.

Fort Peck is currently nearly 10 feet higher than last year at this time.

The six main stem power plants on the river generated 659 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity in June, only 72 percent of normal because of lower pool levels and reduced releases from the dams. This is significantly higher than the last two years when generation was less than half of normal. Total energy production for 2009 is forecast to total 7.1 billion kWh, compared to the average of 10 billion kWh.