Lake Pend Oreille approaches summer pool on June 19

By Ben Olson

Albeni Falls Dam on the Pend Oreille River, which controls the level of Lake Pend Oreille. Photo courtesy U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Reader Staff

After a slow refill due to metal defects discovered on a spillway gate at Albeni Falls Dam, Lake Pend Oreille approached summer pool elevation on June 19. By press time, the elevation was recorded at 2,062 feet, just a half foot below the “normal” summer lake level.

Albeni Falls Dam remains under restricted operations, with one spillway gate remaining fully open. Under restricted operations, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will not move more than one spillway gate; and, if movement is chosen, will move the gate from fully open to fully closed, or vice versa.

The Corps announced the summer elevation band will be between 2,061.75 and 2,062.25, as measured at Hope, in order to not exceed historic high water elevations at the dam.

While we have you ...

... if you appreciate that access to the news, opinion, humor, entertainment and cultural reporting in the Sandpoint Reader is freely available in our print newspaper as well as here on our website, we have a favor to ask. The Reader is locally owned and free of the large corporate, big-money influence that affects so much of the media today. We're supported entirely by our valued advertisers and readers. We're committed to continued free access to our paper and our website here with NO PAYWALL - period. But of course, it does cost money to produce the Reader. If you're a reader who appreciates the value of an independent, local news source, we hope you'll consider a voluntary contribution. You can help support the Reader for as little as $1.

You can contribute at either Paypal or Patreon.

Contribute at Patreon Contribute at Paypal

You may also like...

Close [x]

Want to support independent local journalism?

The Sandpoint Reader is our town's local, independent weekly newspaper. "Independent" means that the Reader is locally owned, in a partnership between Publisher Ben Olson and Keokee Co. Publishing, the media company owned by Chris Bessler that also publishes Sandpoint Magazine and Sandpoint Online. Sandpoint Reader LLC is a completely independent business unit; no big newspaper group or corporate conglomerate or billionaire owner dictates our editorial policy. And we want the news, opinion and lifestyle stories we report to be freely available to all interested readers - so unlike many other newspapers and media websites, we have NO PAYWALL on our website. The Reader relies wholly on the support of our valued advertisers, as well as readers who voluntarily contribute. Want to ensure that local, independent journalism survives in our town? You can help support the Reader for as little as $1.