2009 Flood - Stutsman County

Pipestem Reservoir peaked on April 23rd, 2009 at a record level of 1,492.3 feet (pictured), which was 4 feet below the crest of the emergency spillway and 5.3 feet higher than the previous record of 1,487 feet set in May, 1997.

The peak daily inflow into the Jamestown Reservoir was 10,800 cubic feet per second and into Pipestem it was 9,200 cubic feet per second. Without the dams in place, the total discharge in Jamestown would have been 20,000 cfs. It is estimated that the dams prevented $70 million in damages in the city. The flow volume at the Jamestown gauge for 2009 was 520,000 acre feet. This far exceeds the previous record flow volume of 420,000 acre feet set in 1997.