Lake levels to rise by Memorial Day
OLDTOWN — Lake Pend Oreille’s water levels are expected to reach 2,057 feet by Memorial Day, according to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Upper Columbia senior water manager Leon Basdeskas.
The lake’s elevation is currently sitting two feet lower, at 2,055 feet. The Albeni Falls Dam outflow was lowered from 40,000 cubic feet per second to 30,000 cubic feet per second May 20 for roughly two hours while crews worked to assess the dam.
The reason for the lowered water levels came after a defective spill gate was discovered at the dam, creating concerns that other gates — which were built from the same material and installed at the same time — may also be defective.
USACE officials have not disclosed whether the defective spill gate is being repaired and will be reinstalled into the dam, or if the gate will need to be replaced. Staff are also still evaluating the other gates for abnormalities, but have not finished their work.
“It’s an ongoing process and we’re still investigating,” said USACE public affairs specialist Nicole Celestine.
Staff are also working to maintain regular summer lake levels as soon as it is deemed safe to do so.
“Even with very low snowpack being recorded in the basin, there still is significant uncertainty in the inflow forecasts both in terms of total volume and timing — how fast the snow melts,” Basdeskas said. “We are monitoring real-time weather, streamflow trends and updating modeling predictions daily. Once lakeshore flood risk passes, USACE will operate to meet normal summer pool elevations as quickly as possible.”
While the removal of the gate did not result in significant changes in the dam’s operations, staff did notice some differences and reacted to those accordingly.
“The impact we saw when we removed a gate May 14 was the total outflow rate increased by 5,000 cubic feet per second,” Celestine said. “We reduced powerhouse flows to account for the additional spill created by removing one gate.”
Lakes Commission executive director Molly McCahon said the slight lake increase may be helpful for accessing certain infrastructure around the lake. However, the elevated level will leave the lake around two to three feet lower than levels normally seen around this time of year. McCahon said she hopes that USACE will soon determine that flooding is no longer a risk and that the lake will reach its summer pool of 2,062 feet as soon as possible.
“We have received many, many letters and communications from the community with legitimate concerns over economic losses caused by this year's delayed refill and the uncertainty of not being able to plan now or what it may mean in the coming years,” McCahon said. “These low lake level conditions are not something this waterfront resort community has had to navigate in recent memory and it came completely out of the blue.”
The Lakes Commission is currently accepting and compiling the community’s concerns with the lowered lake levels to share them with local, state and federal officials.
USACE will be holding a public meeting Thursday, May 30, to address the public regarding the restricted operations at the dam and its effect on the lake. The meeting will be held at the Ponderay Events Center at 6 p.m.
The Northwest River Forecast Center is documenting projections for the Albeni Falls Dam inflow and outflow, as well as the lake’s elevation at the Hope gauge. Interested parties can see those numbers by visiting bit.ly/3V9BUFT.