Contact: Lynn Melder (206) 764-6641 or Casondra Brewster (206) 764-6958

Sept 4, 2008

SEATTLE—Lake Pend Oreille will begin falling to its winter level about September 15, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Reservoir Control Center. The Corps operates Albeni Falls Dam, which regulates the level of Lake Pend Oreille. The lake is expected to reach about 2061 feet above sea level by Sept.30. During the summer, the lake is operated between 2062.0 and 2062.5 feet as measured at the Hope gage.  The lake is expected to be kept at or above 2062.0 feet through Sept. 14.  

            A winter lake elevation recommendation is expected to be made in late September by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, and the National Marine Fisheries Service. The final decision will be provided in a future Corps news release.  Those agencies and the Corps of Engineers and Bonneville Power Administration must first review results of the annual female kokanee spawner survey, recent winter lake elevation history,  last year’s Lower Columbia River chum salmon spawning success, and predicted November 2008 – January 2009 precipitation in the Columbia Basin. 

Lake Pend Oreille’s winter level is managed in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service and Idaho fish managers to benefit reproduction of the lake’s kokanee. Kokanee, which are small, lake-resident sockeye salmon, are not native to the lake, but their population has been in decline, and they serve as a major food source for Lake Pend Oreille’s threatened native bull trout.

Information about the lake level for Lake Pend Oreille is on-line at:

http://www.nwd-wc.usace.army.mil/nws/hh/basins/pend.html.

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