The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers assured Sweet Home last week that Foster Lake would be full throughout the summer and that Green Peter Lake would be full most of the summer.
Representatives of the Corps visited Sweet Home last week for its annual report on the Willamette projects.
Willamette Valley Project Manager Wade Stampe said this was an “average water year.” A snow pack that was heavier than usual in February could add to that.
Each year is different, Stampe said. The area had a “huge water year” in 1999. It was slightly less than normal in 2000 and low in 2001. How full the lakes are depends on how much precipitation the basin receives and how the water comes down, and that can vary from sub-basin to sub-basin.
“The bottom line up front, it’s been a good water year,” Colonel Randy Butler said. Flows have been normal and the public should benefit.
“Conditions at Foster Lake, the drawdown is already occurring to support juvenile steelhead migrating,” Willamette Basin Coordinator Matt Rea said. Green Peter will be used to fill Foster by the end of the month for the summer recreation season.
Green Peter will show some effects of drawdown for downstream needs over the summer, Rea said. Detroit will be like “night and day.”
Last year, marinas sat on dry ground. This year, the lake has already been full.
A dry summer may require some drawdown at reservoirs, but Detroit, Fern Ridge and Foster are both last, sixth, on a priority list for drawdown. The lakes are the most popular for recreational use. The first lake to be drawn down if necessary is Lookout Point, which has little infrastructure or use Lookout Point is one of the largest, with Detroit and Green Peter. Green Peter is fifth on the priority list with Dorena, Cottage Grove and Fall Creek for drawdown if needed.
“Hydrological conditions are significantly different than last year,” Chief of Reservoir Control and Water Quality Section Roger Ross said. The snow pack is approaching the maximum ever for the year.
If the weather stays wet like it has been, Mary Karen Scullion of the Reservoir Control Center said, then the Corps should be able to keep the Willamette River above minimum flow requirements all year long at Salem and Albany where measurements are taken.
The Willamette Valley Project includes 13 dams, 11 for storage and multiple purposes and two re-regulation dams.
The lakes are drawn down in the winter to provide space for flood control. The Corps begins filling them from February to May for the summer recreation season.
Foster is drawn down each year just prior to the summer season to help juvenile steelhead then filled for Memorial Day weekend.