Drought throughout the West, in many places extreme, is impacting nearly all aspects of our lives. Farmers and ranchers, river guides, recreationalists, fish and wildlife, and all aspects of our economy are being hurt.
Northwest Montana, often the wettest part of the state, has in recent weeks been torched by temperatures that have cracked the 100-degree mark. The lack of moisture and heat caused early run-off of an already below-normal snowpack. Now we are faced with persistent low flows in the Flathead River drainage.
As the holder of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license to operate Kerr Dam near Polson, NorthWestern Energy operates within strict constraints on how Flathead Lake elevation levels and stream flows on the Flathead River below Kerr are managed. We do this work in close coordination with a large number of state and federal agencies, along with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. We’ve also worked hard to keep the public informed of the drought situation and its effect on the Flathead region.
NorthWestern and others first talked to the public about the impact the drought could have on lake levels and river flows in May. Fortunately, Mother Nature allowed us to bring Flathead Lake to its summer full-pool level in mid-June. Unfortunately, our earlier concerns about the drought have become a reality – stream flows into Flathead Lake are too low to keep it at full pool and maintain minimum flows in the river below Kerr as prescribed in the operating license.
When confronted with the severity of drought that we are currently facing, NorthWestern, per the Kerr operating license, is required to implement the Drought Management Plan (developed in 2002 through a public process). This plan spreads the adverse impacts among all interests and manages the Flathead system consistent with three objectives:
- Use the water storage of the federally-owned and operated Hungry Horse reservoir at the Bureau of Reclamation’s direction while preserving the reservoir’s biological and operational constraints;
- Maintain a reasonable Flathead Lake level for recreational and biological purposes; and
- Maintain reasonable river flows below Kerr for recreation and biological needs.
This structured approach, which balances needs and wants including recreation, commerce, and fisheries, results in adverse effects at all three key geographical areas – Hungry Horse, Flathead Lake, and the Flathead River below the dam. This is an unfortunate result of the drought. However, this approach also minimizes the pain for each area. No one area will bear the full brunt of this drought.
This is why we are working to keep Flathead Lake at one foot below full pool, gradually reducing flows on the Flathead River, and continuing to coordinate with the Bureau of Reclamation for flows from Hungry Horse. (Hungry Horse is already well below full pool.)
As the summer unfolds and assuming these challenging conditions persist, the goal will be to maintain Flathead Lake level at 2,892 feet and provide minimum flows consistent with the Drought Management Plan in the Flathead River. We likely have a hot summer ahead of us; let’s all hope rain and cooler temperatures prevail. Improved weather conditions will certainly help, but in the mean time we will focus on continued coordination and cooperation. This balanced approach makes sense from both a biological perspective and a recreational perspective.
In these difficult times we appreciate the understanding of those most affected as we implement solutions that best meet all of the Flathead’s needs; such understanding is a hallmark of life in Montana and one that we believe will serve all of us well in the coming weeks and months.
John Hines, vice president, supply
NorthWestern Energy