PIERRE - A South Dakota official said higher water levels on Lake Oahe are providing boaters with the best access in four years.

"We're really back to an access point that's in decent shape," said Doug Hofer, director of Parks and Recreation for the state Game, Fish & Parks Department.

The huge reservoir is about seven feet higher than a year ago - at 1,583 feet above sea level - but it's still well below normal for this time of year.

Hofer said 20 boat ramps are open from the Oahe Dam just north of Pierre to the North Dakota border on the Missouri River.

"People should be able to get onto the lake during the holiday and well into the rest of summer," he said.

Decent rains have allowed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to keep water levels higher than anticipated on the Missouri River reservoirs.

Paul Johnston, a corps spokesman from Omaha, said the snow melt is done running into the river, and top storage for the season in generally reached in late June or early July.

"But the longer we get even the localized rains, the more we'll be able to keep reduced releases from the dams," he said.

Releases at Gavins Point are about 18,000 cubic feet per second. Normally at this time of year, the release rate would be 30,000 feet per second or more, he said.

Rising water from runoff and heavy rain and snow along the river basin prompted Hofer in April to suggest that 17 ramps would be in operation during the spring. He anticipated that the lake drawdown after that would leave 12 or 13 ramps in usable condition through the summer.

But instead of losing ramps, boaters now have access to two that were not available in 2005 - East Whitlock near Gettysburg, and Lighthouse Pointe near Pierre.

"It's really encouraging," Hofer said.