SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - Runoff from rain was enough to support downstream barge traffic in April, allowing the Army Corps of Engineers to save water in the six reservoirs on the Missouri River.

Fort Peck, Oahe and Fort Randall reservoirs gained from 1.2 to 1.9 feet of water in April. The other three reservoirs - Garrison, Big Bend and Gavins Point - lost from 0.1 to 0.3 feet, the corps said in a statement Monday.

"The rain pushed the Missouri River well above full service navigation flows from Rulo, Neb., to the mouth, allowing us to maintain releases from the reservoir system at extraordinarily low levels for this time of the year," said Larry Cieslik, chief of the water management office at the corps' Omaha, Neb., office.

The steady to rising reservoir levels should provide good spawning conditions for fish, he said.

The report said releases from North Dakota's Garrison Dam averaged 13,500 cubic feet per second during April, and will be increased to 17,000 cfs late this month when birds begin nesting below the dam. Lake Sakakawea ended April at 1,808.6 feet, the corps said.