Energy Keepers provides Flathead Lake level update

The tribal-owned corporation managing the former Kerr Dam hydroelectric project provided an update Friday about the seasonal drawdown of Flathead Lake.

Energy Keepers Inc., a corporation of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, reported that the lake’s current elevation is about 2,891.1 feet.

Energy Keepers said “forecasted water supply volumes are below average for the early part of winter.” It said current inflows are about 4,300 cubic feet per second, “close to the physical minimum given upstream constraints.”

Current outflows are holding steady at about 6,100 cfs, Energy Keepers said.

Lake elevations will be on a slow and stead decline in coming weeks, designed to reach 2,888 feet by the end of December.

“As we are approaching the end of the year, it is business as normal here at EKI,” the corporation said in a news release.

Typically, operators of the Selis Ksanka Qlispe Dam allow Flathead Lake to be fuller during the summer to support recreational use and then draw down the lake in winter to help reduce storm-related lakeshore erosion and to prepare for the inflow of spring runoff.