Bismarck  (National Weather Service)  Jan, 2020,  James and Pipestem watersheds have very wet soils, but to compound the risk they are also holding a well above normal snow-water equivalent for this time of the year.

Given that there is roughly 6-7 weeks left of the normal snow accumulation
season, the risk of adding more water equivalent to the snowpack also adds to the overall flood risk.

However, the reverse is also true. If the next several weeks are drier than normal and some of the existing SWE is lost to sublimation and evaporation, one should expect these elevated risks of spring flooding to moderate to some degree.

…Current Conditions…

With the exception of Jamestown and Pipestem Dams, regulated reservoirs across the state are well within their normal operating levels for this time of year and are expected to easily reach their normal spring drawdown levels for flood control.

Jamestown and Pipestem dams remain well above normal winter operating levels, and with existing levels of discharge, they will reach their desired spring drawdown levels in late February. In general, soil moisture across North Dakota remains well above normal. Soils are also considerably wetter east of the Missouri River than they are west of the Missouri River. Some of the wettest soils are found within the James River and Pipestem Creek watersheds.