U.S. Army Corps of Engineers water managers will hold a virtual public information meeting July 23 to share the latest summer water forecast and discuss ongoing drought conditions across the Willamette Valley’s 13 federal reservoirs.
According to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, this year is the sixth-driest across the valley in terms of overall rainfall and snowpack since 1980. The historically low water levels have created widespread drought conditions across the region, making it difficult to refill the reservoirs and keep them at normal summer levels.
The meeting will be from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday, July 23. To join online, visit nwp.usace.army.mil and look under “News” for an announcement of the meeting, which will include a link that is too long/complicated to publish here.
Meeting ID is 993 512 475 785.
Citizens can also dial in by phone at (601) 262-2433. Conference ID: 793 097 017#
As of July 14, Green Peter was at 23% capacity, Foster was at 96% and Detroit at 77%. Overall, Willamette Valley System reservoirs were 48% full.
“We are stretching every drop as far as it can go, balancing upstream reservoir storage and downstream flows needs in support of the authorized purposes and legal requirements,” said Salina Hart, chief of reservoir regulation and water quality with USACE’s Portland District. “We are committed to being completely open about how we make these tough decisions to hold or release water, and this public meeting is part of that transparency.”
Through the year, USACE must balance the congressionally authorized purposes of these dams: The dams must hold and release water to manage flood risk, generate hydropower, supply irrigation, and maintain adequate downstream river flows for fish survival.