October rains fill Flathead Lake

A historically rainy October has forced operators of the Selis? Ksanka Qlispe Dam to push back the typical target date for lowering water levels in Flathead Lake.

Travis Togo, the director of power management for Energy Keepers, Inc., which runs the dam for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, said managers usually try and drop lake levels two feet below full pool by Halloween to avoid shoreline erosion during winter storms.

But due to last month’s relentless rains, which broke records across the Flathead basin, the lake remains within inches of full pool of 2,893 feet. 

“It’s a staggering amount of precipitation,” Togo said. “Our discharges were way above normal.”

Togo said instead of the October target date, the lake will be drafted down during November and December. 

According to a monthly operating report released on Nov. 1, natural average inflow to the lake was 337 percent of normal in October, while precipitation accumulation at the dam site was 347 percent of average. With only two electrical generating units in operation, the dam’s turbines were maxed out by half the total amount of discharge. 

The report states that flows into the Flathead Lake are forecasted to decline in the next few weeks, but predictions for water supply in November remain above average, at 233 percent of normal. 

Energy Keepers plans to maintain current operations through the first week of December, when the dam’s third generator is schedule to returned to service, the report states.