Priest River Watershed Group prepares for dry year, hosts steering committee meeting

By Reader Staff

The Priest River Watershed Group will host a steering committee meeting Thursday, May 1, from 4:30-6:30 p.m. at the Priest River branch of the West Bonner County Library District (118 Main St., Priest River). A panel of experts will discuss the current snowpack, river and tributary temperature monitoring and Priest Lake Outlet Dam operations, among other topics.

Warm spring temperatures have melted Priest Lake Basin’s low-elevation snow, raising the lake levels, and all floodgates are currently open and passing maximum flow. 

Members of the Idaho Department of Water Resources continue to monitor SNOWTEL (snowpack telemetry) sites at Bunchgrass Meadow, Wash., and Hidden Lakes, Idaho, to determine when peak flow into Priest Lake will occur.

Both SNOWTEL sites are above 5,000 feet in elevation and have yet to experience a melt.

As of April 22, Priest Lake’s water level was 1.89 feet, according to a reading taken by the U.S. Geological Survey at Outlet NR in Coolin, Idaho. The IDWR anticipates the lake level will rise to more than three feet by Memorial Day weekend, May 24-25, and will peak above 3.5 feet later in the year.

According to a recent news release, IDWR hydrologists predict a dry year, though that could change depending on precipitation. 

“If this is a dry year, the department will ‘catch’ the lake level as it falls and aim to hold the lake level between three and 3.5 feet once the lake level is stabilized,” the news release stated.

Holding Priest Lake at or above three feet allows for recreation in “extreme temperatures,” while maintaining aquatic habitat during late summer in Priest River.

The IDWR estimates it will announce this year’s summer lake level on or around Wednesday, May 7.