Flathead Lake Levels Look Solid for Summer

After a huge deluge from the storms in December, the level of Flathead Lake appears to have passed its lowest elevation and is beginning to rise again as warm weather triggers some runoff.

At the beginning of the year, the lake's "elevation" was at 2892 feet, about 4 feet higher than usual. Energy Keepers, which operates the dam at Polson, said the inflows after the December storms had soared some 300%

Now, EKI says the warm, wet weather late last month caused the inflows to pick up again after the long drop since January. The forecasts don't seem to indicate a threat of flooding, so operations appear likely to bring the lake level to full pool by mid-June.

     💦 That's in stark contrast to last summer, with the lake two feet lower in early April, and the tribe asking for changes to alter the outflow in mid-summer to keep the lake closer to full pool.

NRCS sees moderate Montana snowpack

Hydrologists with the Natural Resources Conservation Service say the runoff forecasts improved somewhat during the storms that finally brought some snow to the river basins in early March. The agency reports some locations, such as the St. Mary, Sun-Teton-Marias, Flathead, the Upper Clark Fork, and Bitterroot, saw precipitation run as much as 200% of the median, with a few Snotel sites actually setting new records.

However, that was offset by the warmer weather and rain that meant "quick gains and losses" by the end of March. Some of those basins, as well as the mountains of Central Montana, are showing moderate readings for the percent of normal snowpack, as high as 86% for the Kootenai, but as low as 26% for the Powder Basin.

     That April forecast is a critical one, since it's the final snapshot before the snowpack usually reaches its maximum levels, barring late spring storms.

Koocanusa ruling restores contamination standards

A major victory for conservation groups this week in the fight over limiting selenium contamination for the waters of Lake Koocanusa.

There's been a dispute for the past five years over the selenium readings, due to the coal mining in the Canadian tributaries of the Kootenai River, which some scientists have indicated is settling in the lake.

The Montana Board of Environmental Review had adopted a standard of 0.8 micrograms per liter in 2020. But that was thrown into dispute after new members of the review board reversed the policy in 2021, with Lincoln County Commissioners and Teck Coal Unlimited backing the change.

But this week, a Lewis & Clark County District Court judge is ruling in favor of Montana DEQ, the Clark Fork Coalition, and Idaho groups, affirming that the "science-based limits" are needed to protect fish and other aquatic life. That keeps the original 2020 standard in effect.

Derf Johnson, deputy director for the Montana Environmental Information Center, was "happy" with the ruling, saying the standards are designed to protect both wildlife and the outdoor recreation economy from the impacts of the mines in B.C.

     The selenium contamination has been an issue as the U.S. and Canada have attempted to renegotiate the Columbia River Treaty.