Army Corps announces spring refill, shares gate replacement progress

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began the gradual spring refill of Lake Pend Oreille on April 1 and plan to manage the 2025 summer lake levels within the normal elevation band of 2062.0-2062.5 feet, according to a recent press release.

Corps Public Affairs Specialist Nicole Celestine confirmed with the Reader that Albeni Falls Dam will perform under restricted operations again in 2025 following the structural defects discovered in multiple spillway gates that pushed back the date for reaching the high summer pool level in 2024.

“The restriction to minimize gate movements as much as possible will remain in place for 2025 to ensure our personnel and infrastructure are safe,” Celestine said. “However, the restriction that reduced the summer elevation band to 2061.75’-2062.5’ has been lifted for 2025. We plan to operate within the 2062’-2062.5’ elevation band during the summer.”

Celestine said the Corps expects to follow operations “as close to normal as possible” while minimizing gate movements to prioritize flood control and “… refill to 2062.0 feet by mid- to late-June, depending on flood risk, forecasts and snowpack conditions in the Pend Oreille Basin. USACE will manage refill dynamically and will complete refill once significant flood risk has passed.”

Under restricted operations, gates are only moved one at a time when necessary to control lake refill and manage flood risk. When possible, operators will only move the gates to a fully open or closed position. In a worst-case scenario of a gate failure during high spring inflows, the Corps could lose the ability to control the lake level all season, if not longer.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers representatives speak to the public at a meeting held in Ponderay in May 2024. Photo by Ben Olson

Snowpack is close to normal this year, though slightly below average over the entire 24,000 square-mile watershed basin above Albeni Falls Dam. Still, Celestine said snowpack is only part of the planning considerations for dam operations.

“Weather conditions can change quickly, and as we come into spring, the risk from rain-on-snow high runoff events is present any year,” she said. “How fast the snow melts can be even more important in most years.”

Celestine also gave an update on the spillway gate replacement, stating that the Corps is actively working on repairs for Gate 3, which kicked off the issue when it was removed in fall 2023 for routine rehabilitation and was found to have steel defects. Because all 10 gates were manufactured at the same time using the same steel, they have all been slated for replacement.

“The gate is expected to return on site in the coming weeks, where it will be treated with a fiber-reinforced polymer before being reinstalled in its original position, which the spare gate currently occupies,” Celestine said.

“The design for the new spillway gates is progressing ahead of schedule and now expected to be completed by July, two months earlier than initially planned. We anticipate advertising a contract for the new gates by the end of the year.”

Celestine said the first gate is expected to arrive on site in 2027, with subsequent gates following at six-month intervals until all ten gates are replaced. If the progress holds to the Corps’ time estimates, the gate replacement project could be completed around 2031.

“This timeline was confirmed after a successful Industry Day held in January 2025, when industry representatives and contractors verified their ability to meet these project requirements,” Celestine said.

The Corps plans to hold a public meeting to share progress on the gates at some point in May, with a confirmed date to be announced in this newspaper.

The Corps has faced increased public scrutiny ever since announcing the gate defect in 2024, with several contentious meetings providing locals a chance to comment on the issue.

Dist. 1 Sen. Jim Woodward, R-Sagle, and Dist. 1 Rep. Mark Sauter, R-Sandpoint, have been working closely on the issue.

“I think most of us have been disappointed with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ initial delayed response to [defective gates] as well as the extended timeline proposed for repairs. It should not take four times as long to change a set of car tires as it took to first build the car,” wrote Woodward in his article, “Protecting Our Idaho Waters,” in the Reader [See Page 13]. 

Woodward stated that he and Sauter are encouraging the Corps “to move faster on the Albeni Falls Dam gate repairs. If the gate failures require emergency water level operations, then correcting the deficiency is also an emergency.” 

He added that both he and Sauter are pushing for an extended full pool period on Lake Pend Oreille, “… more in alignment with the original agreements that authorized construction of the Albeni Falls Dam. Operating the lake at higher levels provides quicker access for emergency response, greater recreational opportunities and safer navigation. Higher lake levels are possible while still providing for fisheries, flood control and power production.”

Woodward said he and Sauter hope to request action from the federal government next week through Senate Joint Memorial 105, which can be viewed on legislature.idaho.gov.