Jerry Nypen, manager of the Lower Yellowstone Irrigation Project, is confident enough water will be available this year.

There are a lot of concerns if we will have enough water to finish the sugarbeet crop, Nypen said. Im confident we will maintain the flow that is needed to meet demand.

Nypen said the river is leveling off to a flow less than the flows of August 1988 (the last critically low year), but still sufficient to do the job. River flow was 1,200 cfs (cubic feet per second) on Thursday, a total of 6,800 cfs below the average flow for this day.

We had a drastic drop in the river up until Aug. 14, but the river has leveled off as it has done in previous drought years, Nypen said.

He stresses that everyone should be aware of the critically low water situation in the area and they should use water conservatively.

Nypen said our project is better off than others in the state.

Anyone that relies on stored water west of here is already done, Nypen said. The rivers are also critically low and well below the irrigation demand.

Flows from Yellowtail Dam are being held constant at 1,600 cfs, which has an influence on the downstream irrigation projects.

The Bureau of Reclamation has assured me that this flow will continue, Nypen said.