POLSON – Flathead Lake is headed down.
PPL Montana, which operates Kerr Dam, has begun the annual drawdown of the lake. It should be a foot below full pool by the end of this month and two feet below the high mark by the end of October.
Jon Jourdonnais is PPL Montana’s director of hydro licensing and compliance. He says lowering Flathead Lake during fall, typically a stormy season in Montana, has significant shoreline benefits.
Jourdonnais says erosion is caused by windswept waves that wear at the gravel shoreline, and is reduced when the lake elevation is lowered.
But just a few inches can make a big difference to people who need to pull their boats out of the lake for the winter, especially those who keep their crafts moored in shallow bays on Flathead.