By Reader Staff
On April 1, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials at Albeni Falls Dam began summer refill operations for Lake Pend Oreille, limiting outflows and allowing for the lake to take on snowmelt in the lead-up to the warmer months ahead.
The lake will refill from its winter pool of 2,051-2,052 feet above sea level to approximately 2,062.5 feet at the targeted summer pool, with levels measured from the Hope gage. The journey to summer pool is never linear, as temperatures and precipitation affect the rate of runoff through spring and early summer. Right now, USACE officials predict a lake elevation of approximately 2,055 feet by the end of April.
Looking east toward Gold Hill from south Sandpoint. Photo courtesy Rich Milliron.
To track lake level yourself, visit the Northwest River Forecast Center website at nwrfc.noaa.gov and click on the icon over Lake Pend Oreille, titled “HOPI1.”
As for other USACE operations going into summer, the Corps has shared its opening dates for several local recreation areas, starting with the Trestle Creek Recreation Area on April 1. Coming up, the Riley Creek Recreation Area opens Saturday, May 6 while Albeni Cove, Priest River “The Mudhole” and Springy Point Recreation Areas will open for the season Saturday, May 13.
As for camping, sites at Albeni Cove, Priest River, Riley Creek and Springy Point Recreation Areas are available by reservation only, online or by phone, at recreation.gov or 1-877-444-6777.
Public tours of Albeni Falls Dam are available by appointment by calling 208-437-4617, and the Albeni Falls Dam Visitor Center will be open seven days a week starting Memorial Day weekend.
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
Coming up this week! Don’t miss out on Online Auctions, Purse Parties, Parties, Craft Fairs, and more! See the full list of events in the 
