Floodwaters swamp areas around Flathead Lake

Flathead Lake was more than half a foot over its full pool mark last weekend, and was projected to stay at that level through the end of June.

Energy Keepers Inc., the CSKT entity that runs the SKQ Dam in Polson, said Friday that the lake level had reached 2,893.55 feet in elevation, which is 0.55 feet above normal full pool.

The lake has not reached that level since the historic floods of 1964, a press release from Energy Keepers stated.

Flows into Flathead Lake from the Flathead, Swan and Whitefish rivers were pushing in more water than the naturally restricted outlet at the U.S. 93 bridge releases at 55,800 cfs.

“Flows into Flathead Lake are still exceeding this amount, but are decreasing and are forecasted to continue decreasing,” the release stated.

The lake was projected to continue to rise until outflows equal inflows, then gradually recede.

The National Weather Service’s Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service showed the lake level peaking Saturday evening, then slowing dropping to normal full pool by June 30.

With the high lake level, many docks were getting swamped, including the dock at Riverside Park in Polson. The swimming access at Riverside Park was temporarily closed due to swift water pushing through the channel below the U.S. 93 bridge. The boat launch remained open.

During the period of high water, low-lying shoreline areas will be particularly susceptible to wave action due to winds, the National Weather Service warned.

The capacity at the SKQ Dam with 14 gates is 112,000 cubic feet per second. Two spill gates are out for planned maintenance bringing capacity at the project to 98,000 cubic feet per second, the release stated.

Also noted by Energy Keepers, the dam was reopened Friday following a “threat to operations” on Wednesday afternoon. The threat was addressed by Lake County law officials and the FBI, the release stated.

Officials at Energy Keepers did not clarify what type of threat was detected.